_RT_
Hall of Famer
- Sep 17, 2006
- 44,921
- 83,947
- AFL Club
- Richmond
- Other Teams
- Furies Premiers 2010
Season So Far
Richmond stared off the season in promising fashion by giving Carlton a bit of a touch up, but lost Alex Rance in the process.
Round 2 saw the Pies land a massive blow after giving us a touch up on the scoreboard, not as big a blow as losing Riewoldt to go with Rance.
Round 3 a trip to Sydney to face the Giants was both sweet and sour. The debut of Sydney Stack was the sweet but a horrific injury to Short and Cotchin tweaking a hammy and Dusty getting suspended for potential to cause injury made it sour.
Round 4 saw an undermanned Richmond go across to Adelaide Oval and pick up an unexpected 4 points with no new injuries
Round 5 Dusty returned and the Tigers picked up another win against the Swans
Round 6 Riewoldt returned and the Tigers inflicted more pain on the hapless Dees with a 7 goal win. Jack injuring himself again and Astbury getting hurt heaped more pain on Tigers fans
Round 7 saw the 2017 Premiers fall to the 2016 Premiers as Naughton had his breakout game as a forward clunking everything and booting 5. Yet more injury concerns with Vlastuin and Rioli joining the ever growing list of premiership players on the side lines.
Round 8 Tigers picked up another unexpected win over in WA in exceptional circumstances given more injuries struck early with Nankervis and Ross going down. Youngsters in Bolton Balta Baker Menadue Stack & Garthwaite showing that the future is bright.
Round 9 another 4 points in the bank on the back of a strong team performance against Hawthorn. Dusty put in a 2017 type performance, Edwards was a revelation at CHB and the injury crisis deepened with Lambert getting hurt.
Round 10 Saw Sydney Stack set the tone by joining the war cry, on the back of that the Tigers toyed with Essendon for 3 quarters before putting the cue in the rack. Dustys resurgence continued with another 35 disposals and Houlis annual Ramadan purple patch hit high gear.
Round 11 back to earth with a thud as the Kanagroos inflicted an unexpected loss on the Tigers who looked quite ordinary.
Round 12 Tigers outscored Geelong in 2 quarters yet loss by 11 goals. On the positive side Naish finally debuted. Astbury and Ellis missed through injury
Round 13 Tigers put up a brave effort against the Crows but fell short heading into the bye. Cotchin missed along with Edwards.
Heading into the bye the Tigers had a 7-6 record and an injury list that included premiership players Cotchin Rance Riewoldt Edwards Astbury Nankervis Short Lambert & Ross who was establishing himself in the 22 before being hurt.
Is The Crisis Over?
The question on every Tigers fans mind is have we finally turned the corner after a horror first half of the season injury wise. Heading into this game we're expected to get back Cotchin Edwards Astbury with Lambert and Short possibilities. That is a handy bunch to add into the mix as we begin the run to the finals. In the next couple of week Riewoldt Nankervis and Ross are also due back which would really make a massive difference to our chances of being a genuine contender come September.
Opposition Analysis
After a promising start to the season where the Saints were 4-1 after 5 rounds, they have since gone 2-5 to sit with a 6-7 record heading into their game against the Lions this week. A win against the Lions would see them level on wins with us and a similar % which would make this game even bigger than usual. The Saints are getting a couple of their own injured stars back with Hanneberry and Carlisle coming back into their line up this week as well but have lost Jack Steele and are struggling up forward without McCartin as a focal point. This could make them a little unpredictable to defend and we've shown a tendency to struggle against sides like that with Pies Giants North & Dogs being able to expose our back line when getting the game on their terms. Forget their result against Port before the bye as half the team had gastro don't we know what that feels like.
Expected Changes
Based on the expectation that Cotchin Edwards Astbury Lambert & Soldo are all available I'm predicting 6 changes for this week with Bolton also getting a recall after dominating the VFL the last 2 weeks after being dropped. So who makes way for these guys to come back in.
Butler - had 11 tackles against the Cats but followed that up with 0 against the Crows and at times lacked the commitment to the contest.
Menadue - didn't do a lot wrong but again there were times where he just didn't go hard enough which was costly
Garthwaite - battled as best he could against the Crows as an undersized KPD but with Astbury right to go he makes way.
Higgins - has struggled to reach the same heights this year and a raft of best 22 coming back can go back to the VFL and find some touch and confidence
Castagna - another who hasn't done a lot wrong but when it comes to the crunch he can often let the team down with poor skills i.e. goal kicking.
Chol - unlucky to make way after showing some good signs against the Crows early but noticeably dropped away after half time.
B: Grimes Astbury Broad
HB: Edwards Balta Houli
C: Ellis Cotchin McIntosh
HF: Baker Caddy Lambert
F: Rioli Lynch Bolton
R: Soldo Martin Prestia
INT: Stack Vlastuin Graham Naish
That side looks noticeably stronger than the last 2 games in particular. I also believe that we'll see another step forward in the changes to the game plan that Dimma mentioned we were training for. Balta to CHB would allow Vlastuin to move into the midfield rotation. Baker Lambert Caddy pushing up into the midfield in general play with Lynch Rioli and Bolton to be given space up forward. I also expect Bolton to spend some time in the middle with Stack also getting more time through there as well.
Prediction: After a slow start coming off the bye the Tigers should be too strong in the end and get a 3-5 goal win to kick start the run to the finals.
Given this is Maddies Match I'm including a link for anyone who wants to donate to a worthy cause: https://www.mrv.org.au/donations
Richmond stared off the season in promising fashion by giving Carlton a bit of a touch up, but lost Alex Rance in the process.
Round 2 saw the Pies land a massive blow after giving us a touch up on the scoreboard, not as big a blow as losing Riewoldt to go with Rance.
Round 3 a trip to Sydney to face the Giants was both sweet and sour. The debut of Sydney Stack was the sweet but a horrific injury to Short and Cotchin tweaking a hammy and Dusty getting suspended for potential to cause injury made it sour.
Round 4 saw an undermanned Richmond go across to Adelaide Oval and pick up an unexpected 4 points with no new injuries
Round 5 Dusty returned and the Tigers picked up another win against the Swans
Round 6 Riewoldt returned and the Tigers inflicted more pain on the hapless Dees with a 7 goal win. Jack injuring himself again and Astbury getting hurt heaped more pain on Tigers fans
Round 7 saw the 2017 Premiers fall to the 2016 Premiers as Naughton had his breakout game as a forward clunking everything and booting 5. Yet more injury concerns with Vlastuin and Rioli joining the ever growing list of premiership players on the side lines.
Round 8 Tigers picked up another unexpected win over in WA in exceptional circumstances given more injuries struck early with Nankervis and Ross going down. Youngsters in Bolton Balta Baker Menadue Stack & Garthwaite showing that the future is bright.
Round 9 another 4 points in the bank on the back of a strong team performance against Hawthorn. Dusty put in a 2017 type performance, Edwards was a revelation at CHB and the injury crisis deepened with Lambert getting hurt.
Round 10 Saw Sydney Stack set the tone by joining the war cry, on the back of that the Tigers toyed with Essendon for 3 quarters before putting the cue in the rack. Dustys resurgence continued with another 35 disposals and Houlis annual Ramadan purple patch hit high gear.
Round 11 back to earth with a thud as the Kanagroos inflicted an unexpected loss on the Tigers who looked quite ordinary.
Round 12 Tigers outscored Geelong in 2 quarters yet loss by 11 goals. On the positive side Naish finally debuted. Astbury and Ellis missed through injury
Round 13 Tigers put up a brave effort against the Crows but fell short heading into the bye. Cotchin missed along with Edwards.
Heading into the bye the Tigers had a 7-6 record and an injury list that included premiership players Cotchin Rance Riewoldt Edwards Astbury Nankervis Short Lambert & Ross who was establishing himself in the 22 before being hurt.
Is The Crisis Over?
The question on every Tigers fans mind is have we finally turned the corner after a horror first half of the season injury wise. Heading into this game we're expected to get back Cotchin Edwards Astbury with Lambert and Short possibilities. That is a handy bunch to add into the mix as we begin the run to the finals. In the next couple of week Riewoldt Nankervis and Ross are also due back which would really make a massive difference to our chances of being a genuine contender come September.
Opposition Analysis
After a promising start to the season where the Saints were 4-1 after 5 rounds, they have since gone 2-5 to sit with a 6-7 record heading into their game against the Lions this week. A win against the Lions would see them level on wins with us and a similar % which would make this game even bigger than usual. The Saints are getting a couple of their own injured stars back with Hanneberry and Carlisle coming back into their line up this week as well but have lost Jack Steele and are struggling up forward without McCartin as a focal point. This could make them a little unpredictable to defend and we've shown a tendency to struggle against sides like that with Pies Giants North & Dogs being able to expose our back line when getting the game on their terms. Forget their result against Port before the bye as half the team had gastro don't we know what that feels like.
Expected Changes
Based on the expectation that Cotchin Edwards Astbury Lambert & Soldo are all available I'm predicting 6 changes for this week with Bolton also getting a recall after dominating the VFL the last 2 weeks after being dropped. So who makes way for these guys to come back in.
Butler - had 11 tackles against the Cats but followed that up with 0 against the Crows and at times lacked the commitment to the contest.
Menadue - didn't do a lot wrong but again there were times where he just didn't go hard enough which was costly
Garthwaite - battled as best he could against the Crows as an undersized KPD but with Astbury right to go he makes way.
Higgins - has struggled to reach the same heights this year and a raft of best 22 coming back can go back to the VFL and find some touch and confidence
Castagna - another who hasn't done a lot wrong but when it comes to the crunch he can often let the team down with poor skills i.e. goal kicking.
Chol - unlucky to make way after showing some good signs against the Crows early but noticeably dropped away after half time.
B: Grimes Astbury Broad
HB: Edwards Balta Houli
C: Ellis Cotchin McIntosh
HF: Baker Caddy Lambert
F: Rioli Lynch Bolton
R: Soldo Martin Prestia
INT: Stack Vlastuin Graham Naish
That side looks noticeably stronger than the last 2 games in particular. I also believe that we'll see another step forward in the changes to the game plan that Dimma mentioned we were training for. Balta to CHB would allow Vlastuin to move into the midfield rotation. Baker Lambert Caddy pushing up into the midfield in general play with Lynch Rioli and Bolton to be given space up forward. I also expect Bolton to spend some time in the middle with Stack also getting more time through there as well.
Prediction: After a slow start coming off the bye the Tigers should be too strong in the end and get a 3-5 goal win to kick start the run to the finals.
Given this is Maddies Match I'm including a link for anyone who wants to donate to a worthy cause: https://www.mrv.org.au/donations
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