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Dead-eye of the Tigers: The stat driving Richmond's resurgence​

Gemma Bastiani

Richmond's Katie Brennan celebrates a goal against Gold Coast in round four, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

RICHMOND'S improvement may not be reflected in its wins and losses to date this season, sitting ninth on the ladder with two wins, but the side's efficiency in attack is close to the best the AFLW has seen.

The Tigers came out of the blocks in round one and recorded not only the highest score in the club's history, but also the most accurate, kicking 10.1 (61) at 83.3 per cent goal accuracy. They have since broken that high score again, kicking 10.8 (68) against West Coast in round seven.

While such high numbers haven't been sustained consistently throughout the season, Richmond has led the competition this year for efficiency once inside 50. In 2022, the club is averaging a shot on goal from 45.4 per cent of its forward entries, and scoring a major from from 51.9 per cent of those shots, according to stats provided by Champion Data.

Only twice in AFLW history has a team averaged more than 50 per cent accuracy in front of goal across the length of a season – North Melbourne in 2020 and Carlton in 2017 – and Richmond is three home and away matches away from joining that exclusive club.

Richmond's Tayla Stahl celebrates a goal during round seven, 2022. Picture: AFL Photos

Step one: more opportunities​

This improvement in attack for Richmond has developed in two distinct phases. After a winless inaugural season in the competition, the Tigers got to work on phase one: creating more realistic opportunities at goal in 2021. This saw them average 7.6 more inside 50s in 2021 than in the previous season, and 62.8 per cent of their points in 2021 came from within 30m of goal. By creating better opportunities to score, the Tigers nearly doubled their average score last year.

	AVG POINTS FOR	% POINTS SCORED <30M OF GOAL	AVG INSIDE 50s	AVG GOAL ACCURACY
2020	19.2	44.2%	20.5	25.0%
2021	34.7	62.8%	28.1	38.6%
2022	39.9	55.5%	24.9	51.9%

2021 they used run in attack to generate 23.1 per cent of their goals – think kicking on the run or playing on from a mark – and while that speed proved fruitful, they were only goaling 38.6 per cent of the time.

Step two: make more of those opportunities​

Phase two has come this year: turning up the efficiency on those increased opportunities. This has been done in two ways – improved accuracy from more scoring shots.
While they are registering fewer inside 50s than last year, the Tigers are averaging a club best 10.6 scoring shots each game and kicking a goal 23.6 per cent of the time they go inside 50 – the fifth-highest goal efficiency the competition has seen in any season, assisted by the aforementioned goal accuracy of 51.9 per cent.

This has been driven by their leading goalkickers' methodical approach. Katie Brennan has kicked 11 goals at 55 per cent accuracy, Tayla Stahl five goals at 71.4 per cent, Christina Bernardi four goals at 44.4 per cent and Tessa Lavey three goals at 100 per cent.

Put simply, once inside 50 Richmond is the most dangerous team in the competition as it stands.

A step back​

Since 2020, Richmond has steadily worked to force more turnovers up the field in order to launch attack. In its 22 games, the club has kicked 99 goals in its three years and just two of those have originated from a kick-in. The Tigers aren't a coast-to-coast side; they work hard defensively through the middle of the ground to win the ball and transition forward. This year 61 per cent of Richmond's goals have come from turnover, an increase on 59.1 per cent in 2021 and 57.1 per cent in 2020.

	% OF GOALS FROM TURNOVER	% OF GOALS FROM STOPPAGE
2020	57.1%	35.7%
2021	59.1%	38.6%
2022	61.0%	39.0%

The remainder of Richmond's goals this year have come from stoppages, which has also seen 22 per cent of goals come from snap shots.

As Richmond looks to end the season strongly, the only concern about their attacking game is the reliance on captain Katie Brennan. Brennan has kicked 26.8 per cent of the side's goals this year and has kicked at least one in each of her last 13 games, the AFLW record.

What alleviates this concern, however, is their spread of individual goalkickers. The Tigers are averaging 4.4 goalkickers per game, well up on their 3.2 of last year, to lead the competition so far this season.

Despite what could have been some season-shaping injuries from the Tigers, they have worked through those difficulties and combated player absence with pure efficiency from the greater opportunities they've created.