Review R4: Dees v the Tigers - the Great, the Good and the Reasonable

[d33my]

The fact I saw TMac at Falls Festival a few years ago (complete w/ MFC backpack) is becoming more and more impressive now, I think. Might be one to tell the grandkids.

 

[Cannon82]

Dawes was quiet but did his job.

Easy fix when you think about it. If the ball keeps flying over his head, turn the *er around and make him run towards goal. I don't like him but he was one of our better players last night. Still hope he gets dropped next round though.

 

[HTPunter]

Great: I felt you guys scrapped for goals in the 1st half, and thought sooner or later the bounce would go the wrong way and the Tiges would get a run-on.
Turns out the defensive efforts and transition execution went to a whole new level. Surprised me but I was thrilled to be wrong.

Hogan, McDonald, Brayshaw, Vandenberg all looked fantastic

The senior guys (Jones, Vince, Lumumba down back, Dunn, Cross) did their job

And Jeff Garlett could have dropped his head after a very quiet first half, in the past he would have. But turned it on in the 3rd. Love the fact he is turning things around for himself

Ugly: young Kent injured

 

[Cannon82]

The only bad was Watts, Tys, Bray and Vanders being ball butchers.

Everything else was great after the first 10!

How do you pick those guys out? Easier to pick out the ones who didn't routinely butcher it or try to get their team mates killed (Salem).

 

[Black Saab]

And just on the free kick count I've always found it odd that fans and media alike believe the umpiring must have been ok if the free kicks are even. We played WCE in 2012 or maybe 11 and it was something like 21 frees to them and 2 to us in the first half. And people were going nuts, despite the game being umpires really well - we were just clumsy as ****.

Last night I though (though I was at the game so it's hard to tell) we were getting killed by the umpires until the 3 qtr. and than it seemed like it was evened up and we were being rewarded. I hope the umps don't look at the stats and try to even up the count though. It's a stats that doesn't need to match up to be fair. If Richmond had 30 frees and we had 10 but they were all there the count should matter.

From what I could tell we DID give a few frees a way but Richmond seem to get a lot of gifts too.



I don't think anyone but the most boozed up supporters are suggesting we are off to finals based on that game. We as a whole are really bloody happy because this season we've played 3 games for four quarters. Last year in total we played only about 6 or 7 games the whole way through. And those 3 games we've shown some passion.

Playing 4 quarters and giving a s**t may not seem like much to most people as it's what footballers should do. But we have just had 8 seasons prior to this one where we've been barely seen this.

We've had 8 seasons prior were we have barely seen a team of competing footballers.

I completely understand. Apart from a couple of seasons here and there that has been my entire journey with Richmond. Last night was infuriating because they lost again to a team that has performed so poorly for so long just as you put it which only tells me the Tigers will never change and I can't stand them for it. Richmond are a terrible team with such historic ineptitude. St Kilda have had dreadful times but when their team became good they were a dominating force and would never have had games like last night. Richmond in their good times continue to be mediocre. These are the best days for Tiger fans and they still stink as if it were anywhere in the 80's or 90s or 2000s. Believe me I know what it is to follow a team that cannot perform. And at the moment I really wish I followed someone else.

 

[LeverPuller]

Forgot about Dunny's torp, that was awesome

 

[Sylvia Saint]

Great: I felt you guys scrapped for goals in the 1st half, and thought sooner or later the bounce would go the wrong way and the Tiges would get a run-on.
Turns out the defensive efforts and transition execution went to a whole new level. Surprised me but I was thrilled to be wrong.

Fair call. Richmond were winning ALL the stats that bob up on the big screen at half time. To come out in the rain and monster them in the second half was doubly pleasing as a result.

 

[stretcharmstrong]

ManWithNoName if you're going to make gifs i request Dunn's huge kick

Wow, reading that too quickly the first time made me choke on my wheaties!

 

[Tulip]

Tonight was the first night in a long time Melbourne looked to be the ones doing the bullying rather than the other way around.

Roos has put you guys on the right track

Well said. It wasn't a plucky victory, but a legitimate 'try and stop us' win.

 

[PerfectFooty]

The fact I saw TMac at Falls Festival a few years ago (complete w/ MFC backpack) is becoming more and more impressive now, I think. Might be one to tell the grandkids.

Watts was there last year, a melbourne friend of mine saw him

 

[Proper Gander]

Uhoh. Seriously hungover

 

[1980GFVideo]

Well done guys. Like the influx of new players and mature recruits.

Can you let me know if Hogan and Vandenberg were compensation players from Skully leaving.

If so then you would be laughing at ever hoping Skully would stay.

 

[Amarula]

Hogan easily one of the best young KPF atm, better than Lynch/Dixon/Boyd right now and only slightly behind Cameron

On the other hand, what role does Lumumba actuallyplay...

This is actually a good pick-up, because the answer is "Wherever the team needs him most."

I thought with you guys, H was a bit one-dimensional. With us, I've been surprised so far with his versatility.

In Rd 1 he got a fair bit of ball & made us move it quickly & go direct, which we've had big problems with before.
In Rd 3 he played a great role in the trenches, and was one of the reasons we were able to close up Adelaide's midfield for a lot of the game.
Last night he had trouble getting into the game for the first 3 quarters, and was played as sweeper for the last quarter, which I think he did great. He was one who stood up when Jetta (our best small defender) couldn't continue after half time, and with Salem & Garland stepped up a level or two in the last.

So obviously you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. And Roos clearly has much more trust in him than FIGJAM. So I'd expect he'd be loving the challenge of having to play unaccustomed roles.

And Hogan is "slightly behind" Cameron? Please! Cameron got absolutely towelled by McDonald when we played them, even tho' they thrashed us, and he didn't give a whimper, just watched TMac run off him all game. Hogan would never do that.

 

[Cannon82]

Good
Hogan - been said already
McDonald - All Australian? Certainly did much better than the bloke at the other end who is the "best defender in the league" according to the commentators
Salem - defended well, used the ball well
Garland - defended well, composed, s**t holding the ball call
N.Jones - usual
vandenBerg - big body, tackles hard, can take a grab and kick a goal, disposal can be iffy but generally okay and he's got some brains to go with it. Draft bargain of the year.
Brayshaw - love the way he hunts the ball or ball carrier, great to see him slot that goal
Dawes - surprisingly useful in the wet, definitely a level or two above his normal s**t shifts

Bad
Watts - again, been covered... really needs to do better.
Howe - mark of the year contender, otherwise defended badly (Edwards toweled him up multiple times in the first 5 minutes of the game) and looked disinterested
Jamar - struggled badly in the first half in the ruck, worked his way back into it but we are going to be in the market for a ruckman at the end of the year
Lumumba - s**t defender, but ball disposal was amazing. I've seen hospital passes and this guy dishes up morgue handballs.
Garlett's finishing - pressures well, gets in the right places, murders the finish. Only bloke in the AFL whose skills get better in the wet.
Vince's tackling - umpiring was terrible but a lot of those frees he gave were really unnecessary. Hit the guy hard if you want, but keep it below the shoulders.

Ugly
First minute - Edwards steps 3 Dees for the first goal of the game and no one stuck an arm out or laid a finger on him. Not a great way to start.
Disposal - lots of hospital hand balls, missing targets 5 metres away by metres, kicking to 2 on 1s, sitting passes on a guy with a defender hot on his hammer, etc. We made the game messy and beat the Tigers in a scrappy game, but we're still going to get slaughtered by better teams who can keep the ball under pressure and punish our (many) mistakes. Better than getting thrashed every week though.
Umpiring - some terrible and inconsistent calls. Cotchin 4 frees for, 0 against despite some tackles resembling a child getting a ride on their dad's shoulders, below the knee contact sometimes, head high contact others, a lot of holding calls missed, holding the ball having around 0.08 seconds to get rid of it, reversing a free kick decision for Tyson because vandenBerg went shoulder to shoulder with someone but nothing when Dunn gets knocked over, etc. Too many grey areas or conflicting rules have been introduced to add to the fact that umpires are the dregs of society.

 

[Black Saab]

Fair call. Richmond were winning ALL the stats that bob up on the big screen at half time. To come out in the rain and monster them in the second half was doubly pleasing as a result.

Monster them? You'd just have to sneeze and all the Richmond players would wimper, look up at the coaches box to see if Hardwick was on his way down to call them in for a cuddle on the side lines. Richmond are pathetic and no monster type of physicality is ever needed to frighten them.

I was at the game last night and the ball was in the Dees forward 50 and I heard little Jeff Garlett growl at nick vlastuin and vlastuin said 'please don't eat me, please don't eat me, here have the ball will that make you go away and be my friend? After you hit the point post do you promise to come back and have one of the mud pies I have been pretending to bake?'

 

[LeverPuller]

The Great:
I just PM'd Tiger71 with the Sig and Avatar...pretty happy

 

[Jordie_tackles]

Well done guys. Like the influx of new players and mature recruits.

Can you let me know if Hogan and Vandenberg were compensation players from Skully leaving.

If so then you would be laughing at ever hoping Skully would stay.

I think hogan was recruited with the Scully compo picks, Vanders was a rookie pick last year I believe, literally only been in any professional system for 5 months coming from Canberra

 

[GHardeman]

Actually yes it must be said that there's nothing like a Friday night win to set up a great weekend.

That's based on a sample of 1. We have played 3 in the last five years and were thrashed the other times. This is way better than that.

 

[Topkent]

Managing to get Bernie Vince to become a team man who still impats the game instead of adelaides Colin Sylvia has been great coaching

Best part is there is still a shitload of room for improvement

Vanders, Salem, JKH, brayshaw, hogan, Newton, lumumba etc are still fitting into there roles and will find the right balance with every game

Jack watts and Dom tyson 2 of our classier players are out of form and will improve our ball movement

Garletta goal kicking has been woeful but surely a big bag is around the corner

I can't think of more than jones kick to hogan which actually hit a leading forward in the 50 for a clean entry

Our second ruck position leaves us vulnerable and I know everyone hates it but I'd throw hogan in there as the second ruck because he can get it at ground level

We have no real outside speed
Potentially having stretch toump Petracca in there next year solves that

 

[Rack Watts]

Thank you for the money
Threw a cheeky 50 on you lads, was tempted to put a couple of hundred on.

 

[Sylvia Saint]

Thank you for the money
Threw a cheeky 50 on you lads, was tempted to put a couple of hundred on.

You are a very smart man. We were paying $4! Can't believe how many people were tipping Richmond after the team sheets came out. They deserved to be slight favourites but Pendlebury was the only one to tip us in the Herald Sun (out of 30 tipsters). I was always confident.

 

[Rack Watts]

You are a very smart man. We were paying $4! Can't believe how many people were tipping Richmond after the team sheets came out. They deserved to be slight favourites but Pendlebury was the only one to tip us in the Herald Sun (out of 30 tipsters). I was always confident.

Me too, I was talking you guys up all week, Richmond just aren't tough enough to beat you. (Essendon supporters rate you higher than anyone I think, as you always beat us)
My mates and I do a 5 dollar multi every week.
I am the only one alive this week out of 8 of us, everyone was saying "Lolol, you're going out first game".
Who's the only one alive, bitches?

 

[Garf]

Well done Dees. You've got some good young players there. All week I was thinking it was about time we had a close game to watch on a Friday night. In the end, it wasn't really close after all.

Well done again, and beware the power outages in the inner-east because of all those microwaves firing up.

 

[GHardeman]

The great: This interview: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/2015-04-25/brayshaws-big-day-a-beauty
If it doesn't make you smile you are hard as cat's head.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

How do you pick those guys out? Easier to pick out the ones who didn't routinely butcher it or try to get their team mates killed (Salem).

Because they should be kicking it a bit better, plus most of their errors were decision making - ie. kicking into the corridor.