Australian Football

Match Report

Sunday’s afternoon’s game between Richmond and Hawthorn was vital for both clubs. For the Hawks, a loss would, in effect, signal the end of their finals chances for 2017, while for the Tigers, they simply need to keep winning to ensure a top four finish.

Over the years of Hawthorn dominance, Richmond was one of the few teams that had a reasonably good record against the Hawks, playing a stop-start possession game that more often than not frustrated the otherwise unflappable champs. This time around, the Tigers employed a very different game style to counter Hawthorn, a game style of fast movement and intense forward pressure that has served them well this season. And that is exactly how the game began, with the Tigers cranking up the pace from the get go.

The Melbourne weather was at its fickle best, heavily raining just prior to the game, but within minutes of the start, players were having to shade their eyes from the sun.

The Hawthorn defence was strong enough to thwart Richmond’s early attacks, but at the seven-minute mark Josh Caddy was on the end of a ‘joe the goose’ pass and posted the Tigers first. The Hawk’s third gamer, Teia Miles, responded shortly afterwards from a free kick, but from then on Richmond gained and maintained the ascendancy.

Richmond forward pressure eventually started to tell on the Hawthorn backline, which without the likes of Gibson and Hodge, was looking decidedly unsettled. Turnovers were mounting as the Hawks struggled to clear the ball out of their forward fifty. Cory Ellis goaled after a mark and this was closely followed by a Daniel Rioli goal, also after a mark created by intense pressure. Play continued in a back and forth manner until Trent Cotchin goaled from a free, and Corey Ellis notched his second. Richmond went to the break twenty-five points up, and things were looking grim for Hawthorn.

The second quarter was very different than the first, with the play closing up and goals hard to come back. Not very much of note happened, and that suited Hawthorn just fine, as they scrambled to subdue the Tigers run and turn the tide of the game. They succeeded in the former but were unable to achieve the latter. Hawthorn scored early through Ryan Schoenmakers but could not capitalize on the possession they were getting. Richmond was likewise frustrated but plugged away manfully until reward finally came, at the twenty-two-minute mark through a goal from Ivan Soldo, his first in AFL ranks. The teams went into the half time break with the Tigers leading by twenty- seven points, the second quarter having been a stalemate.

The third quarter opened much like the first with the Tigers bursting out of the blocks. At the six-minute mark, Dustin Martin, solid but not outstanding in the first half, scored his first goal after a move that began on the half back line, and followed it up a few minutes later with a second, from an over the top goal square shot. Josh Caddy, playing his best game for the Tigers, followed up with another major, and the team was cruising, up by forty-five points. As events transpired, that was to be the largest margin of the day, as the Hawks, down for the count but not out, countered with goals to Teia Miles and Jarryd Roughead. The margin at the last change reduced to thirty-two points.

The final quarter began with several missed chances from both sides before Luke Breust posted a major. Caddy replied for the Tiger, his third for the afternoon, after another launch from the half back line, but it was Hawthorn that was putting on more pressure. A second from Breust started to rattle Tiger fans as the Hawks were only 20 points down with fifteen minutes to play. Tensions rose as an apparent goal to Dustin Martin was overturned by video replay, but justice was done when a matter of seconds later Martin passed to Prestia who converted, making the Hawks task next to impossible. Credit to the brown and golds that they never threw in the towel as they continued to push forward and score, three more goals in fact. But of those goals, to Schoenmakers, Mitchell, and Roughead, two were counted with a Tiger reply, to Nankervis, and Caddy, for his fourth. The final margin was twenty-nine points, a just reflection of Richmond's overall dominance.

Best players for the victors were Caddy, Prestia, and Martin, and for the vanquished, Mitchell, Sicily, and Howe were the standouts. Sicily's marking continues to improve, while Howe's tackling impressed throughout.

Ater the game, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said: "I was happy our boys started well. We knew they were a fast-starting side, and our guys came to play early….there are a lot of sides thankful for us beating them, because they were coming and playing those guys in September is a bit of a concern, so it was a good win."

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said: "They're [Richmond] as good as any side in the competition at making you pay on the turnover and getting open goals…I think of their 13 goals, nearly seven or eight of them were goalsquare goals and that's a reflection of just how easily the ball moves from one end of the ground to the other.

"Our goals were so hard to come by. We worked hard through the course of the game, but we just didn't have that polish and hardness in close that Richmond demonstrated tonight and it probably cost us the game."

Richmond’s win, coupled with Adelaide’s demolition of Port Adelaide, means that the top four, in which the Tigers are third placed, are now two games clear of the fifth placed Port. Only a disastrous finish to the home and away season would deny them the double chance. Which makes next week’s game, against Geelong at Kardinia Park, all the more significant. Hawthorn takes on fellow Tasmania-aligned club, North Melbourne, at York Park, a game that is now of academic interest only.

GOALS
Richmond: Caddy 4; C.Ellis, Martin 2; Rioli, Cotchin, Soldo, Prestia, Nankervis
Hawthorn: Miles, Breust, Schoenmakers, Roughead 2; Mitchell

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Richmond: Caddy, Prestia, Martin, Lambert, Nankervis, Rance, Grimes
Hawthorn: Sicily, Mitchell, Smith, Howe, Roughead, Gunston

BEST - THE AGE
Richmond: Caddy, Prestia, Martin, Lambert, Astbury, Rioli, C Ellis, Rance
Hawthorn: Mitchell, Sicily, Breust, Roughead, Burton

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil

UMPIRES: Fisher, Schmitt, Findlay

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Hamish McLachlan, Leigh Matthews