Do we choke?

[Madison]

Or is it just inexperience?

Where do you distinguish between us choking, and a lack of composure from a young team?

In every game (except Collingwood) we have drawn level or taken the lead in the last quarter (Carlton we had a set shot from 30m to level). Now, these teams are a lot more experienced than us. Carlton, Geelong and WC are all finals hardened teams, and Essendon is the form team of the comp.

Did we choke against these teams? Or is it just inexperience and next year we win these games because we've been through it this year?

How do you distinguish?

 

[Bojangles17]

No, our forward line is a mix of battlers , scrubbers and i dunno whats...Not goog enough to finish the work off, in 1st 2nd 3rd or 4th qtr...Let me say this and it will cut to the core and it hurts like hell....Id swap ESS front half with ours ea day of the week, take that to the bank

 

[Frank Grimes]

I'm convinced we choked against Collingwood. We were something like 3 goals 12 behinds going into half time. Collingwood then had a purple patch in the first 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter which blew the lead to about 48 points. Once they had a match winning lead all of a sudden we were kicking goals which we were missing in the first half and got within 14 points in the last quarter (before losing by 21).

I also think that Riewoldt and Delidio choked kicking for goal in the last few minutes against West Coast.

As for the other games I just think the other teams just dug deeper then we did to get over the line in the end.

 

[rammbo]

Yes there is chokers within the side but they should grow out of it.

 

[tugga]

We don't choke. We are just not good enough to put together 4 whole quarters yet.

 

[RichoLedio]

Its the same thing really, we choked because we're inexperienced, hopefully when we are more experienced we won't

 

[BF Tiger]

We didn't have much going forward last night. Every time it did it seemed that it was very crowded. Some poor execution of basic skills cost us dearly too, but I am not sure if that was due to pressure.

So I would say not choking, just not good enough really*.




* - yet

 

[Livonski]

No, our forward line is a mix of battlers , scrubbers and i dunno whats...Not goog enough to finish the work off, in 1st 2nd 3rd or 4th qtr...Let me say this and it will cut to the core and it hurts like hell....Id swap ESS front half with ours ea day of the week, take that to the bank

If it was just the front half missing the shots then you'd have a point Bo. But when it's Cotchin, Martin and Deledio missing the shots at goal are you going to swap them?
The difference last night was missing shots at goal, it's not seizing the moment, and it was those 3 mentioned that could've led the way.

 

[Tiger2709]

No, our forward line is a mix of battlers , scrubbers and i dunno whats...Not goog enough to finish the work off, in 1st 2nd 3rd or 4th qtr...Let me say this and it will cut to the core and it hurts like hell....Id swap ESS front half with ours ea day of the week, take that to the bank

But it is our consistent scorers that are letting us down at the end of games, I would say at the moment we have chocked in 3 winnable games, then again thank god we fight games out these days, I'm sure the more we play in front of big crowds against top sides the less we will do it.


The players are primed to start winning some big games and must by now be realising they can win these games, we are still very young and are probably still a year away from a consistently good team.

 

[Spluff]

Its the same thing really, we choked because we're inexperienced, hopefully when we are more experienced we won't

This. Not sure last night was a choke though. When you combine how far down we were coming back from, and our terrible inaccuracy, I think we just ran out of legs in the last quarter, instead of choking a la West Coast and Geelong where players suddenly went to water under pressure in the last quarter when we were close.

 

[richmond_14]

We are just inexperienced. No teams all of a sudden become good without experiencing these growing pains. It is a part of all sport. We are competitive and we are on the right track. It'll all come through for us. Right now we don't quite have all the talent we need, but over the next couple of years through drafting, free agency and development of our current players I'm 100% confident we will have the talent required to push for a flag. We are currently one of the lowest spending teams in the AFL, we have plenty of room for growth.

 

[Blood Meridian]

We don't choke. We are just not good enough to put together 4 whole quarters yet.

I'm in disagreement. Putting four quarters together is dominating inside 50s and shots at goal. Missing easy shots like we have against Collingwood, West Coast and Essendon is symptomatic of choking.

 

[Ralll]

Its becoming all too familiar.

Top team sets up a comfortable lead
Richmond fights back to almost hit/hits the front
Top team steps it up again and wins game

Its not choking we're just not good enough yet.

It used to be
Top team sets up lead
Richmond give up
Top team wins by 70+

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

We don't have the depth to get the job done . Our best are as good as any sides best players our bottom 5 ain't any if much worst , however our 10-17 ain't as good as others sides IMO .

 

[Livonski]

If it was the 10-17 missing shots I'd agree, but it's the senior guns. martin, cotchin, deledio. And the goalkicking was the difference last night. Shoot them and it's game over.

 

[Dave Stevens]

Its becoming all too familiar.

Top team sets up a comfortable lead
Richmond fights back to almost hit/hits the front
Top team steps it up again and wins game

Its not choking we're just not good enough yet.

It used to be
Top team sets up lead
Richmond give up
Top team wins by 70+

Hope it's part of our natural progression.

Last year we got a belting from the top teams.
This year we get into winning positions against the top teams, but cannot maintain it.
Next year we win them!

 

[Paul Kersey]

I watched the Geelong, WCE and Essendon games. I was hoping Richmond would get up in each of these games though was frustrated with decision making and quality of disposal. From where I stand this is due to a mixture of inexperience and quality of player.

 

[Infamy]

I watched the Geelong, WCE and Essendon games. I was hoping Richmond would get up in each of these games though was frustrated with decision making and quality of disposal. From where I stand this is due to a mixture of inexperience and quality of player.

You do know that leading into this round Richmond had the highest disposal efficiency in the AFL? Not sure if it is still the case after this round, but we're still up pretty high.

 

[The Goon]

You do know that leading into this round Richmond had the highest disposal efficiency in the AFL? Not sure if it is still the case after this round, but we're still up pretty high.

Thats more to do with our style of gameplay though. Not discounting it, but if you switch it across the half back line as often as we do and don't screw it up (like we did so often in the last 2 years) you're bound to have a high DE%.

 

[camiam]

would you rather us last year or this year. IMO we have grown so much from last year. We are only going to get better from here.

 

[CoggaRules]

I wouldnt call it choking, its purely a symptom of wanting to win badly and regaining some respect and basically having the opportunities to have the whole footy world on the bandwagon, i.e. eagles, swans, bummers and it just translates into rushing the kicks....unfortunately it might have set in now, since the pressure ups with each "honourable" loss. Its all about confidence and winning a few on the trot, if it happens, will address that.

 

[richolovesgoal]

We don't choke, we just don't have the experience, or the winners mentality.

 

[johnno77]

would you rather us last year or this year. IMO we have grown so much from last year. We are only going to get better from here.

Agree with this. At the start of the year, we were considered on a par with Melbourne and North (and many considered them both in a better position than us). Who would you rather be now?

A lot of people on this forum predicted we would struggle to win 3 out of our first 10. I know it bloody hurts but we have to be patient. The pain of these losses will hold them in good stead come finals time (prob not this year now but next year and beyond).

Make no mistake, we are improving and improving at a rate beyond my expectations. Our biggest concern ATM is depth and that will only be fixed with more good drafting/recruiting.

 

[WATiger86]

Yeah, choking is to lose when you should win (i.e us vs GC last year) or to lose from a winning position (Norf on the weekend). We are fighting our way back against some good opposition and coming up just short.

Like many have said, the fact we're getting ourselves back into winning positions shows our improvement - next step if to finish the job!

 

[True Thylacine]

I wouldnt call it choking, its purely a symptom of wanting to win badly and regaining some respect and basically having the opportunities to have the whole footy world on the bandwagon, i.e. eagles, swans, bummers and it just translates into rushing the kicks....unfortunately it might have set in now, since the pressure ups with each "honourable" loss. Its all about confidence and winning a few on the trot, if it happens, will address that.

Agree Cogga. We've actually taken the next step. Last year we werent good enough to win, this year we are, just need to know how to. Its a habit we will learn in time. Can't belive the consistent negative comments on the Board when this year has shown huge improvement, how quickly our expectations change. The 2nd half of the fixture should help that winning feeling no end and look out 2013