Tigers' Horizen Dark

wrennyboy

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RICHMOND plunged to new depths of despair last night when it was thrashed by 75 points by bottom-placed Adelaide at Telstra Dome.
Round 5 photos
Fans fire up again



Dark mood: Richmond coach Danny Frawley fumes as he walks off the ground at three-quarter time last night.
Picture: Michael Klein



Fans abused, and in one case, spat at the hapless Tigers as they left the arena after their fourth consecutive loss for the season and 17th from their past 19 encounters.

If coach Danny Frawley felt under siege after last week's loss to Geelong, he can expect the blowtorch to be really applied over the weekend as frustrated supporters vent their spleen.

The Tigers are parked at the bottom of the ladder and things are not about to improve any time soon.

Significantly, football director Greg Miller, who sat alongside Frawley in the coach's box against Geelong, sat with disgruntled former football director Tony Jewell in the stands.

It was Jewell's resignation and forthright views on Frawley's coaching that helped undermine the Tiger coach from the start of the season.

Last night, the Tigers were outplayed almost from the opening bounce as opposition captain Mark Ricciuto ran free in the midfield.

Although Adelaide was winless after four rounds, it was obvious that the Crows were the better prepared and more committed outfit.

Their nine-goal second quarter ended the match as a contest and their lead at halftime was 62 points.

So dominant were the Crows that 13 players had joined the scoring spree, sharing 26 kicks, eight handballs and 13 marks inside the forward 50m arc, compared with the Tigers' seven kicks, two handballs and four marks from six players.

Whereas Richmond had only Brad Ottens as a viable forward, Adelaide had Ken McGregor, Wayne Carey and Scott Stevens as high-marking goalscorers.

While Ottens was also expected to compete for centre-bounce hitouts, the Crows trio concentrated on kicking goals.

They combined for eight of the side's 13 first-half goals, with Carey and McGregor bagging three each.

Ottens hurt his cause early when he was continually caught behind Ian Perrie and conceded several free kicks.

Carey, who has kicked more goals than any other current player (708), was in the thick of the action when the game was at its fiercest.

It emphasised that he is not a spent force.

McGregor easily took care of Darren Gaspar, who endured another terrible night, being shuffled between opponents to try to keep him in the game.

Eventually, Gaspar finished on first-gamer Nathan Bock, who will always remember his debut after kicking goals with his first two kicks.

Apart from Ricciuto, the Crows had the luxury of playing dual Norm Smith medallist Andrew McLeod in a sweeper role across half-back, and McLeod relished the freedom, launching many forward thrusts with runs through the midfield.

In the second half, McLeod was pitted against Tiger opportunist Nathan Brown and, although Brown was arguably the Tigers best, he had to roam far and wide for his kicks. He contributed only one goal, although he set up several others.

The Crows had a multitude of dominant players, including Brett Burton, who started on the wing against Ray Hall, but was virtually a free agent as he ran deep into attack and defence.

Burton even kept his high-flying attempts in check until the last term, when he launched himself for a speccy that resulted in the Crows' 19th goal.

Richmond surprised by not starting last year's best-and-fairest Mark Coughlan in the midfield, and then running him on and off the bench.

Not surprisingly, he struggled to exert any influence on the match.

Rumour has it Coughlan is struggling because of an achilles or groin problem.

But one thing is certain: last night he was only a shadow of the player he was last season.

To be brutally honest, Tiger fans have precious little to look forward to for the rest of the season judging on last night's effort.

Andrew Krakouer manufactured two goals out of nothing late in the match and another youngster, Brent Hartigan, was not fazed by the avalanche of opposition numbers driving the ball deep into attack.

He even managed to kick one of the Tigers' three goals in the miserable first half when they could not buy a goal.

Votes

M Ricciuto

(Adelaide)

K McGregor

(Adelaide)

A McLeod

(Adelaide)

B Burton

(Adelaide)

N Brown

(Richmond)

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,9374090%5E19742,00.html
 

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