Tigers decide to go straight
22 April 2003 Herald Sun
By MICHAEL GLEESON
THE Tigers scored fewer times yesterday, they beat a side they should have beaten and they are three and one.
They are fourth on the ladder, but are they any good?
For now they don't need to be, they are good enough. They've won three games they should have won and have set themselves up for a month's time when they get their best team back out there.
Duncan Kellaway, Brad Ottens and Ben Holland should make a reasonable difference. That said, the way the Tigers played yesterday was as good as many full-strength Tiger line-ups have looked.
They played as well as they have all year, and a good part of last year as well. They were direct, tougher at the footy than they have been for some time and moved the ball well in numbers.
Players like Greg Tivendale, when allowed to run forward, will hurt sides with their delivery. Yesterday he did.
Maybe it was the fact Danny Frawley and Stewart Loewe were sitting in black and yellow, or perhaps it was the drubbing the Saints copped in Perth. But there was plenty of feeling in this game right from the start.
The Tigers jumped out early when Tivendale gave a sign of his day, streaming through half-forward to kick the first of the match. Lenny Hayes and Steven Lawrence responded, and it seemed the Saints had come to play.
But Mark Coughlan quickly shut Hayes out of the game, and while Nick Riewoldt was getting his hands on the ball, his impact was contained.
The Tigers slammed on another six goals to one to effectively set up the winning margin. The Saints were playing catch up from there, and while they looked threatening, they could never bridge the gap.
Seven-goal quarters without Matthew Richardson and Ottens (out injured) kicking a goal must be rare for the Tigers. When was the last time Richmond kicked seven in a quarter with seven different goalkickers?
Sure, they were helped by some straight kicking. But as Frawley pointed out, you kick the goals because the ball has been delivered to the right spot, setting up the safer shot. It was about better ball use. And clearly Richmond prevailed.
St Kilda, however, was never really out of the game, even when it had played poorly and trailed by 36 points in the third quarter. The Saints were still getting to the ball, even if they were all too often turning it over. They were in it right up until the last quarter when their seven wasted shots in 10 minutes destroyed any hope they had of stealing a win.
Richmond was thriving on the efforts of its onballers. Kane Johnson is copping such a weekly pounding that he must look back and marvel even more at Andrew McLeod and Mark Ricciuto.
With those blokes around him, he got less heat; now he gets more attention than anyone. Which speaks volumes about how well he is going.
Mark Coughlan has rapidly become one of the Tigers' most important onballers. He shut Lenny Hayes out of the game yesterday in probably the most important one-on-one battle on the ground.
Richmond looked more dangerous up forward, not simply because Richardson was back, but because Richo didn't need to do it all himself.
"You become very predictable when you continue to go to one or two talls and it was common knowledge that with Ottens and Richardson if you kept them down you beat Richmond," Frawley said.
To combat that, Richardson ran harder up field almost as a decoy forward at times, drawing one and often two defenders in his wake, creating opportunities for others up forward.
"If you are dragging two with you someone else is going to pop up and kick the goals and Adam Houlihan was lucky to be the player to do that today," Frawley said.
"We told Richo his athleticism and his ability to run all day is something we need out there and he opened up a vacuum for other players to slot into today. And he also went and kicked two really telling goals. Our midfield are kicking goals now, so that to me is exciting."
Frawley is as mindful as anyone that while Richmond is 3-1, the test of how good it is this year will come in a month's time.
"We are going to get better when we get a little bit more structure and are able to get on the front foot.
"Holland played this weekend. Ottens is running now, D.Kellaway. They are all about a month off. If we can keep that consistent effort going and they can add to that they are going to make the job a little bit easier."
22 April 2003 Herald Sun
By MICHAEL GLEESON
THE Tigers scored fewer times yesterday, they beat a side they should have beaten and they are three and one.
They are fourth on the ladder, but are they any good?
For now they don't need to be, they are good enough. They've won three games they should have won and have set themselves up for a month's time when they get their best team back out there.
Duncan Kellaway, Brad Ottens and Ben Holland should make a reasonable difference. That said, the way the Tigers played yesterday was as good as many full-strength Tiger line-ups have looked.
They played as well as they have all year, and a good part of last year as well. They were direct, tougher at the footy than they have been for some time and moved the ball well in numbers.
Players like Greg Tivendale, when allowed to run forward, will hurt sides with their delivery. Yesterday he did.
Maybe it was the fact Danny Frawley and Stewart Loewe were sitting in black and yellow, or perhaps it was the drubbing the Saints copped in Perth. But there was plenty of feeling in this game right from the start.
The Tigers jumped out early when Tivendale gave a sign of his day, streaming through half-forward to kick the first of the match. Lenny Hayes and Steven Lawrence responded, and it seemed the Saints had come to play.
But Mark Coughlan quickly shut Hayes out of the game, and while Nick Riewoldt was getting his hands on the ball, his impact was contained.
The Tigers slammed on another six goals to one to effectively set up the winning margin. The Saints were playing catch up from there, and while they looked threatening, they could never bridge the gap.
Seven-goal quarters without Matthew Richardson and Ottens (out injured) kicking a goal must be rare for the Tigers. When was the last time Richmond kicked seven in a quarter with seven different goalkickers?
Sure, they were helped by some straight kicking. But as Frawley pointed out, you kick the goals because the ball has been delivered to the right spot, setting up the safer shot. It was about better ball use. And clearly Richmond prevailed.
St Kilda, however, was never really out of the game, even when it had played poorly and trailed by 36 points in the third quarter. The Saints were still getting to the ball, even if they were all too often turning it over. They were in it right up until the last quarter when their seven wasted shots in 10 minutes destroyed any hope they had of stealing a win.
Richmond was thriving on the efforts of its onballers. Kane Johnson is copping such a weekly pounding that he must look back and marvel even more at Andrew McLeod and Mark Ricciuto.
With those blokes around him, he got less heat; now he gets more attention than anyone. Which speaks volumes about how well he is going.
Mark Coughlan has rapidly become one of the Tigers' most important onballers. He shut Lenny Hayes out of the game yesterday in probably the most important one-on-one battle on the ground.
Richmond looked more dangerous up forward, not simply because Richardson was back, but because Richo didn't need to do it all himself.
"You become very predictable when you continue to go to one or two talls and it was common knowledge that with Ottens and Richardson if you kept them down you beat Richmond," Frawley said.
To combat that, Richardson ran harder up field almost as a decoy forward at times, drawing one and often two defenders in his wake, creating opportunities for others up forward.
"If you are dragging two with you someone else is going to pop up and kick the goals and Adam Houlihan was lucky to be the player to do that today," Frawley said.
"We told Richo his athleticism and his ability to run all day is something we need out there and he opened up a vacuum for other players to slot into today. And he also went and kicked two really telling goals. Our midfield are kicking goals now, so that to me is exciting."
Frawley is as mindful as anyone that while Richmond is 3-1, the test of how good it is this year will come in a month's time.
"We are going to get better when we get a little bit more structure and are able to get on the front foot.
"Holland played this weekend. Ottens is running now, D.Kellaway. They are all about a month off. If we can keep that consistent effort going and they can add to that they are going to make the job a little bit easier."
