Australian Football

Match Report

Richmond’s recent record against Geelong has been lamentable, particularly so at the Cats' home ground, Kardinia Park, where they haven’t won since 2006. Tiger fans were hoping for a reversal of fortune for what was one of the most vital matches of the season.

Of course, the same was the case for the Cats, sitting in fourth, only half a game behind the Tigers, and still not guaranteed of a top four finish. The loss of Joel Selwood (injury)  and Tom Hawkins (suspension) was, therefore, keenly felt.

Apart from a difficult to read breeze, conditions were good for football when the match got underway at the once traditional Saturday afternoon time of 2:10. Richmond was the most impressive team early, running hard and putting heaps of pressure on the Cats at every opportunity. The early intensity was reflected on the scoreboard, with former Cat Josh Caddy goaling from a snap off the pack after only two minutes, closely followed by a strong mark and goal by the returning Jack Riewoldt.

It wasn’t until the twelve-minute mark that Rhys Stanley won a free kick and put the first goal on the board for the Cats. But this passage of play marked the turnaround for Geelong, who managed to pile on the next two goals to upend Richmond’s ascendancy. Harry Taylor, breaking free of Alex Rance, marked strongly and goaled, while the ever-improving Cam Guthrie popped another through after a speedy run. Dustin Martin, spending more time at full forward than has been the case, wrestled the lead back for the Tigers after outmarking the feisty Tom Stewart next to the behind post and then swinging around to sideswipe it through. The quarter ended with Richmond two points in front, but a man short with Caddy out for the day with a hamstring strain.

The second quarter also opened well for Richmond with Dan Butler putting one through after a free kick close to goal. But the eight-point lead this established was to be the largest margin in favour of Richmond and from that point on the local team controlled the game. A portend of Richmond’s troubles was the performance of Taylor on Rance. Two successive times in the second quarter the Geelong defender turned forward outmarked his rival, resulting in one goal, and also out-anticipated him to swoop on an awkwardly bouncing ball to put through another. As has been the case several times this season, when Rance is outplayed, and/or isolated behind the play, the Tiger defensive system flounders, and such was the case today.

Adding further to Tiger woes, Sam Simpson goaled after brilliantly roving the pack, and Daniel Menzel added another from a free - after being shepherded away from a marking contest. Just before the half time siren, after the Tigers muffed an easy chance at goal, Geelong stalwart Andrew Mackie let go a bomb to put the Cats twenty four points clear at the change.

The third quarter was a torrid affair, as Richmond strove to force their way back into the game. Geelong wasn’t letting go easily and maintained the fight, missing several chances to further their lead. But it was Richmond, through Daniel Rioli on the run after a handball receive from a Martin mark, that broke the goal drought at the twelve-minute mark. The Tigers followed up ten minutes later when Bachar Houli, who had had hitherto missing two relatively simple shots, guided one home, and it was game on. A beautifully roved goal off the pack from the skipper Cotchin reinforced that point, and at the last change, Geelong’s lead had been cut back to six points.

In keeping with the pattern of the match, the final quarter started at a frenetic pace, with both teams creating scoring opportunities but failed to capitalise. Taylor continued to be a focal point up forward, and Dangerfield was dominating around the ground, but it was the forward runners, Motlop and Menzel, who were the first to get the major scores on the board. A series of poor handballs, a problem for the Tigers all day, led to the Motlop goal, while Menzel’s was a case of great running to position and a soccer boot at the right time. About five minutes later Martin created a ‘do it yourself’ kind of goal that only he, and a few others, could, and pegged the margin back to fourteen points. It seemed the Tigers still had a sniff, but that was quickly extinguished by another Taylor mark and goal at the other end. Shane Edwards snapped a miraculous goal-line major with less than a minute to play, but it was too late for Richmond. The final margin was fourteen points.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said of the game: "It was going to be one which required consistency and unity across our whole 22 [to win and] I think we got that."

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said: "We just couldn’t get any scoring presence. I thought they just out hunted us around the contest. Essentially, we lost contested ball by 20 and what is normally a strength of ours, we were beaten up around post-clearance contested ball, which is disappointing”. "I thought their work rate, contest to contest, was better than ours and they got the result they probably deserved."

Best players for Geelong were Taylor, Dangerfield, Menegola, and Guthrie, while for the Tigers, Lambert, Vlastin, Prestia and Martin outperformed.

Next week, Geelong take on Collingwood at the M.C.G, a danger game for them, while Richmond head west to meet Fremantle, who this week suffered a 104 point loss to Sydney, whose late run for the four has astounded the footall world.

GOALS
Geelong: Taylor 4; Menzel 2; Motlop, Stanley, C.Guthrie, Mackie, Simpson
Richmond: Martin 2; Riewoldt, Houli, Butler, Caddy, Cotchin, Rioli, Edwards

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Geelong: Taylor, Dangerfield, Menegola, Kolodjashnij, Tuohy, Smith
Richmond: Lambert, Martin, Cotchin, Prestia, Grimes

BEST - THE AGE
Geelong: Taylor, Motlop, Dangerfield, Lonergan, Tuohy, Smith, Mackie
Richmond: Prestia, Martin, Cotchin, Lambert

INJURIES
Geelong: Stanley (right calf)
Richmond: Caddy (left hamstring)

UMPIRES: Stevic, Meredith, Mitchell

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Eddie McGuire, Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy, Brad Johnson, David King