Preview Round 6 2019 - Richmond v Melbourne, MCG. Wed April 24th 7.35pm

[Tiger Toffee]

They'll come out firing is much more likely than not with all the media heat and ANZAC buildup. But we'll see if they can sustain it for 4 quarters. If we can bring our intensity of the last 2 weeks, or even go up another level, we'll overpower them at some point.

We never came out firing in 2016 after getting bashed weekly by the media.

 

[TigerImposter]

It was Sat 26th Aug 2017, and the air was thick with hope, yet one could also feel the trepidation in the hearts of the smattering of Dees supporters amongst the Magpie throng.



This once mighty club had been through the ringer, time and time again. No flag since 1964, no finals since 2005, no finals wins since 2002. They plunged into debt, got fined $500k for tanking-not-tanking, but they had righted the ship, and things were on the up.



I was there to support a mate, MJ. A mate who had not at all been kind to me. In fact he had death ridden the Tigers all year, to no effect. We were safely ensconced in the 8, destined for greater things. But I’m a magnanimous fellow, so I went along to watch, and be happy for him if his beloved Dees could see September action. I was a guest in the MCC, as is a Demons fans want. They don’t buy memberships. Why would they when they are members of the MCC? w***ers.



This was the day for Melbourne, the Demons, the Dees. They were going to play finals, it was really going to happen. I mean, the club had already sent out the packages. What could go wrong? They were 7th, all they had to do was win against the 13th placed Magpies, and no one could take it away from them. Right?

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Unfortunately for the Dees, and MJ, they were a rabbit in the headlights as the expectation again proved too much. Jack Watts did Jack Watts things, Gawn was huge with 8 disposals. The Dees, with everything to play for, shat the bed against the Pies, with nothing to play for. Delicious

It was all too much for old mate. I looked beside me as he had not said a word as the inevitable happened, and I was immediately concerned. His eyes were bulging and his face was a sort of purpley blue colour. MJ, MJ what's wrong? He was furiously pointing to the half eaten cheeseboard and then to his mouth. As each second passed slowly the panic grew as he tried to force the food down his throat. He had to breathe. The burning in his chest grew worse by the moment as he writhed in pain. Slowly the world started to spin, to fade, as the sound of the crowd grew dull. A world of black rushed over him, pulled him down, and his body went limp in his seat.

MEDICCC!!!!!! The ambos come over and went all heimlich on him, thankfully managing to save the day. "Will he be alright?" I asked. "Sure mate" said the ambo, "he'll be fine. Nothing unusual here. We see this a lot in people affiliated with Melbourne".

Knowing he was going to be ok was great. "MJ, any chance of some finals tickets?".



It's fair to say he wasn't enjoying life. This bloke, as soon as Dees didn't make finals, was into us. Straight sets, he said, straight sets. You can't beat Geelong, you're gone. Waste of a season. Haven't won a final in blah blah blah.

We beat the Cats. One and done he says, one and done. No mate, try again. So we were there.


As much of a knob jockey as he had been all year, he as least did provide tickets to the Granny. Can you believe it, at the ground, he's in to me. You're no chance, Crows unbeatable, you got smashed by them. They'll smoke you. Waste of time. For ****'s sake mate, I'm at a GF, let me soak this in. What a campaigner.

We all know it was the greatest day. I'll happily admit I cried. And every time I see the footage or hear the commentary, it still gets me. Prestia goal, final quarter. Every. Single. Time.

The game came to it's conclusion, the crowd absolutely euphoric and going nuts. This was the best day of my life, no question. Wedding? **** off, this s**t on it. Birth of my children? Pretty good, but this s**t on it.


I was lost in my own world, and completely forgot about MJ. Hugging strangers, kissing men, brilliant. I turned, and saw him. Crestfallen was the best word I have. He really didn't want this, truly. If the Dees couldn't win, he didn't want us to. Petty campaigner. He was staring, empty, lost. The most vacant stare I have ever seen. He was wishing he was anywhere but at the G that day. He was broken.

"Hey MJ, MJ!!!" I yelled above the throng. His head slowly lifted and his dead, soulless eyes met mine. "Hey MJ............GO TIGES!!!".


View attachment 658847

Well, I didn't expect to be where we are today.

The Dees. Pre season, they were my pick for the flag. I thought they had the mix pretty much right. I thought Lever and May were decent ins. Depth was pretty good.
Put it simply, they've been deplorable. Their system is breaking down badly at the moment. Both forward and back. They are currently scoring 26 points a game less than last year whilst conceding 24 points a game more. Not great reading for Dees fans.

Defensively they've let streaks of goals happen against them on multiple occasions. R1 v Port 5 goals. R2 v Cats, two streaks of 6 goals. R3 v Bombers 8 goals. And again yesterday, v Saints, another streak of 8 goals against. They really need to address this.

The Tigers. Regulation Round 1 win, soured by the loss of the defender of his generation. And it's taken the Tigers a while to recover from this. Apart from being a bloody great player, the fact he was also basically an on field coach is where it's really hurt. We were headless in Round 2, running around like chooks. Collingwoods chippy game tore us apart. I actually thought we were OK against GWS and faded late, and then good against Port. We should have beaten Sydney by more. Grimes, as everyone knows, has been enormous. It's actually funny watching the media give him long overdue plaudits. campaigners.

Player Focus

Clayton Oliver - campaigner. Insanely punchable head. Bloody good player though. So clean in the contest, lightning hands. Phenomenal work rate. Professional diver, will be at Tokyo 2020

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Steven May - Fat campaigner. Won't play.
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Jordan Lewis - Bald campaigner, but won't admit it. Puts shoe polish on his head to cover it. Was a good player. Now slow as treacle.

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Shane Edwards - never get sick of watching this bloke through traffic. Slippery sucker.
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Sydney Stack - courageous little midget isn't he? A bargain.
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Tom/Tim Lynch/Lunch - Delicious. Loves the contest and usually a very good set shot.
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The Midfield

This is an interesting battle. When firing, the one thing Dees have in spades is inside grunt. Solid group of contested ball winners and Oliver is elite. Add Jones, Viney, Brayshaw into the mix. The thing that goes against them is it's all very much the same. If you can go close to matching them inside I think teams can really burn them getting away from the contest. This is where I believe we can get on top. Our midfield may not have the same base power contested ball wise, but I believe the balance of inside /outside mix is far superior to Melbourne.

Forwards v Backs

If Melbourne play like they did against the Saints, this could be ugly. With Jack due back, you'd think he'd play a higher role as Lynch has done a bloody good job from deep. So who plays on Jack? This will be a real issue for the Dees. Looking foward to the Jetta/Rioli and Hibberd/Caddy type battles. I think our pressure, which has thankfully returned, will see the Dees struggle a bit in transition. I expect goals from Lynch as I can't currently see a Melbourne defender than will dominate him. Hopefully the umpires are looking out for holding because he copped a fair bit of that against the Swans. Up the other end Buddy goes all WWE on Grimes head but gets a free. Go figure.

Backs v Forwards

A surprise for the Dees is that Pruess is kicking goals. Massive unit. Pruess, meet Astbury. David, this is Pruess. Grimes to McDonald who is horribly out of sorts. Edwards off half back has been a massive win for us. I think after 3-4 weeks without Rance we have settled a bit and the pieces are just about all where they need to be.


Mentality

This is where, forgetting about one on one battles for a moment, this is where we win the game. We're a tough, hardened team. And the young players we've bought in, Stack and Ross, are not wallflower types. I'm wondering how much damage was done to the Dees in that Prelim, because they don't look like they believe at the moment. Gawn you know you can put off, he's also incredibly flaky in front of goal, which tells me a lot. Petracca should be tearing the competition a new one, but he is your absolute looks like Tarzan plays like Jane footballer. He's dead set going at 60% and seems happy with it.



Line ups not announced, but we know Cotchin isn't playing. Jack likely. This is a bloody great spectacle under lights, a superb occasion. As a former serviceman, I really love what ANZAC Day is, and how we as a nation properly pay our respects.

Tiges by 27pts

Aaaabsssssollllllluuuutely brilliant mate.
Well done for all of you hard work and input.
Almost better than Harlem winning the Australian Cup.

 

[Makeshft_Mauler]

Nooooooo why Shai Bolton?

my guess hes the one in the forward line least likely to back up a 4 day break

 

[shaky]

Reckon we'll lose this one.

Every chance to.

When was our last moral victory by the way?

 

[THE_GUN]

With the loss of Preuss, reckon Balta might be a late out for Graham?

Why ??

We have an opportunity to totally smash their backline with Lynch,Riewoldt,Caddy in our foward line and Balta being the player that gives not only Nank a chop out but also is the player used foward when the fowards are resting on the pine - No let up for their defence

I have no doubt that the Dee's midfield will win the clearances so no point in even thinking we might have a chance in there
Viney , Oliver , Brayshaw , Jones are all machines getting the ball and we just need to accept this and have Balta drifting between HB and HF on the rebound.

Rioli might not get up for this game after getting smashed 2 weeks in a row , Bolton might be a late in for Rioli
Castagna was awesome in his chasing and tackling against the swans and deserves to stay in this week , He has looked better and hopefully improves again and kicks some goals

 

[theflea]

Tough on Shai, but someone had to go and 0.2 from 10 touches was always going to leave him venerable

Also it means we keep a 2nd ruck in as well.

 

[Lsta062]

They'll come out firing is much more likely than not with all the media heat and ANZAC buildup. But we'll see if they can sustain it for 4 quarters. If we can bring our intensity of the last 2 weeks, or even go up another level, we'll overpower them at some point.

It depends who you are talking about. If it was Collingwood or Hawthorn, then I certainly would agree because they are a little like us in that regard. Melbourne though is a little bit different. I don’t think they are guaranteed to come out firing. The most concerned I’d be heading into a Melbourne match would be if they are firing and red hot. With a team like Collingwood though, the most concerned I’d be playing them would definitely be if the media bashes them like they are bashing Melbourne now. They usually will come out firing after that whereas Melbourne are more likely to go on a bit of a lull for a few weeks from what I have observed.

I don’t know, I could be wrong but I am not as concerned about the media bashing Melbourne unlike many on here I suppose.

 

[Lsta062]

Seriously, this Jeff Garlett guy has never missed a Richmond H&A match since coming to Melbourne and has played against us every single year since he started at Carlton, with many years twice. If he did miss Richmond in his career, it would probably be on one hand. Not surprised at all that he is an in.

Preuss would be a bit of an out for them in my opinion. He was one that I was worried about.

 

[Roksman]

Why ??

We have an opportunity to totally smash their backline with Lynch,Riewoldt,Caddy in our foward line and Balta being the player that gives not only Nank a chop out but also is the player used foward when the fowards are resting on the pine - No let up for their defence

I have no doubt that the Dee's midfield will win the clearances so no point in even thinking we might have a chance in there
Viney , Oliver , Brayshaw , Jones are all machines getting the ball and we just need to accept this and have Balta drifting between HB and HF on the rebound.

Rioli might not get up for this game after getting smashed 2 weeks in a row , Bolton might be a late in for Rioli
Castagna was awesome in his chasing and tackling against the swans and deserves to stay in this week , He has looked better and hopefully improves again and kicks some goals

Agree with all of that except Jones.... He's just a plodder who stays on the outside now. Well and truly on borrowed time.

 

[Tonymontana344]

Unfortunate for Shai, absolutely loved what he has done the last couple of weeks and as his match fitness gets better will be a super long term player for us. Doesn't need to touch the ball many times to damage the opposition. Will be seeing him back sooner rather than later hopefully.

 

[Grrr]

George was always staying. To me it was either Bolton or Baker. Bolton may be a bit sore. Bolton has more upside, but it is round 6 and he will be back in shortly. One of the new boys was always going to make way.

 

[jc12]

Give Cotch a month off and just make sure he’s right for when it really matters.
Also I really loved reading about Brando and just his professionalism in regards to preparation focusing on how he sleeps/eats on short break. That’s the s**t we do that really makes the difference i reckon and he’s a genuine leader in that area of footy and you can see it with his endurance.
Just gave me a lot of positive vibes and tells me that they are very switched on.

Is there an article on that regarding Brando ? Would Love to read it

 

[jc12]

Caddy on SEN confrmed Jack is in
Will be the first time he has played with both Jack and Lunch in the same team

Go tigers

Can we confirm where the tom lunch name came from hahah

 

[Elton Johns Wig]

Almost better than Harlem winning the Australian Cup.

Thanks for bringing that up......

 

[69vintage]

Jetta out for Dees is a huge loss .Expect pur small forwards to get a hold of them .Hunt will be their rebounding defender .Hibberd will take Dusty and Caddy .

 

[megatiger]

Melbourne gonna be spanked hard

 

[Zoom]

I think their changes are solid. Those Wagner brothers are VFL players and as good as Preuss has been for them, we would’ve walked the ball out of our defensive fifty with him, McDonald, Weideman and their lazy forwards applying zero defensive pressure. Now they’re playing genuine smalls with Garlett, Lockhart and ANB. I reckon it will be close. Just get the four points.

 

[juss]

Incredibly disappointed to see Bolton dropped. Hopefully back very soon. I hope he doesnt see it as a slap in the face because I reckon we should have dropped a couple others for Riewoldt before Bolton. Hes been very important recently.

 

[Barnzy]

Incredibly disappointed to see Bolton dropped. Hopefully back very soon. I hope he doesnt see it as a slap in the face because I reckon we should have dropped a couple others for Riewoldt before Bolton. Hes been very important recently.

Who are the couple players deserving to be dropped before Bolton?

Tivendale and Hyde?

 

[Jurica Stockade]

Reckon Rioli late out sore and Bolton in

 

[Tenacious T]

Will remain as selected.
Have 10 days to recover.

 

[banana_bus]

Richmond folk are funny.

 

[CaptchaProofBot]

wanka that reported Dusty is back for this game

https://aflua.com.au/nathan-our-new-umpire-from-the-west/

 

[Muddiemoose]

wanka that reported Dusty is back for this game

https://aflua.com.au/nathan-our-new-umpire-from-the-west/

I’ll fight him

 

[THE_GUN]

Seriously, this Jeff Garlett guy has never missed a Richmond H&A match since coming to Melbourne and has played against us every single year since he started at Carlton, with many years twice. If he did miss Richmond in his career, it would probably be on one hand. Not surprised at all that he is an in.

Preuss would be a bit of an out for them in my opinion. He was one that I was worried about.

Good Challenge for Sydney Stack