Game Day 2019 Grand Final

Who will you be barracking for on Grand Final day ...


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Almost half of Richmond’s goals came in red time.
By design.

Their bottom 10-12 players are all elite middle distance runners, who play with the express goal merely of harassment and if they find the ball to get it into Dusty, Cotchin, Edwards, Houli, Prestia's hands. These blokes get more of a rest than their teammates, so naturally they're fresher than their counterparts who play for their opposition, stuffed from effectively playing against a completely negative opposition if their clearance setup isn't designed to clear the ball suuuuuper quickly. They'll beat you up, perfectly happy to be in an arm wrestle, knowing that there is precious little chance that you can go with them for as long as they can go with you, and realistically they don't even want to win the clearances. They want you to bomb the ball, so they can intercept, switch and go.

You beat them by smashing the ball clear of the clearance, avoiding possession within 20m and then beating them out to it, and once clear keeping it clear. Bear in mind, that kind of game is something they're good at, and there aren't many teams that possess better or more seagulls than they've got. They get away with being absolutely shocking at maintaining possession by ensuring that even if they turn it over they're already set up behind the ball and there's already six blokes on scene ready to tackle. So, a risky game. But doing so means - if you get it right - you can absolutely blitz them if you sustain it. It's getting harder to do, though.

Anyway, they score late in quarters because that's when their opposition are at their most worn, where the good players from Richmond are fresher by far and thus better at executing their skills. Dusty in particular is the one that is made to look miles better/stronger than his opponents, because he is deliberately held back early in quarters and early in the game in order to make the most of his strength, and he knows where the goals are.
 
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