Australian Football

Match Report

Richmond has secured the coveted double chance—it’s first top four finish since 2001—by soundly beating St. Kilda at the MCG on Sunday afternoon. A loss would have seen the Tigers slip to sixth, so the importance of the game was self-explanatory. For St. Kilda, even a significant win was unlikely to be enough to force their way into the eight, so attention centred on the final appearance of club champion Nick Riewoldt.

The last time these two teams met, at Docklands in round 16, St. Kilda dealt Richmond an almighty shellacking, the margin of 67 points flattering to the Tigers, who simply went missing for most of the game. This time around, things were different, and an impressive degree of Tiger intensity was apparent from the first bounce.

The game started scrappily enough, but it was the Tigers who settled first and goaled first, a major to ‘overnight’ sensation Jacob Townsend after a smooth team run from the half back line. Shaun Grigg followed up a few minutes later after a solid mark. The play then seesawed before Townsend found himself at the end of another brilliant chain of passing and slotted through his second. The Saints looked to be in trouble as the Tiger pressure mounted, compounded by a concussion to skipper Jarryd Geary that spelt the end of his afternoon. At the 23-minute mark, Jade Gresham finally broke through as the Saints began to lift their game, although late in the quarter Dustin Martin put through a huge 50-metre plus goal to give the Tigers an 18-point lead at the first break.

The second quarter opened with the Tigers starting where they left off in the first. Within a minute Shaun Grieg had a major on the board, courtesy of a quick snap. Dion Prestia shot truly two minutes later after the ball was worked forward from the Tiger backline. The irrepressible Townsend bobbed up again to kick his third after a tackle from Rioli led to another Saints turnover, and the situation was looking dire from the Seasiders’ perspective. More pain was to follow, as first Jack Riewoldt, marking strongly, and then Jack Graham, from another Saints turnover, hammered the Saints coffin shut, or so it seemed. Half way through the quarter and St. Kilda were staring down a 50-point deficit. It seemed like a complete reverse of the round 16 encounter was on the cards.

To their credit, the Saints boys fought back, and dominated the next ten minutes of play, with goals to Jake Gresham, twice. Cotchin got one back for the Tigers, but a questionable ruck free, which resulted in a goal to Billy Longer looked to have brought the Saints some respectability. Their efforts were negated, to a certain extent, when Dan Butler shot truly in the last second of play to make the margin 44 points.

The momentum St. Kilda had generated late in the second quarter continued through to the third. Josh Bruce goaled early after a strong mark, and for the next ten minutes, they dominated the play albeit failing to convert that form to the scoreboard. The second eventually came at the 12-minute mark from Tim Membrey, but thereafter the pattern continued as St. Kilda tried but failed to do justice to their efforts. A long-range bomb by Jack Riewoldt rubbed salt into the wounds, but thereafter the Saints finally earned some reward, through goals to cousin Nick Riewoldt, and to Jack Billings, to leave the margin 25 points at the last break.

Richmond fans were confident, but still cautious, heading into the final quarter, but they needn’t have worried as the state of mind of the Tigers appears more resolute than was the case earlier in the season when they lost a number of games from comfortable positions. An early goal to Dustin Martin from an awkward looking banana was just the trick to get the team going. Townsend followed up a few minutes later after another Dusty run, and the 'Tigs' looked home. The Saints never threw in the towel and maintained the pressure, but they couldn’t reduce the margin from there. Another ten minutes of see-saw action during which St. Kilda peppered the goals to no avail, was followed by a dead-eyed shot by Grieg running out of the centre. It summed up the day.

The game opened up in the last fifteen minutes, as the pressure came off and the Tigers went into cruise control. In that final period, Gresham snapped two more goals, making it five in total, his best return in his career so far. Membrey posted another for the Saints, but the Tigers were not to be denied a comfortable margin, as Prestia, Riewoldt, Butler, and Townsend all goaled for Richmond, another nice bag of five for the latter.

For Richmond, Martin was clearly best afield, winning the Ian Stewart medal for his efforts. Other good players were Grigg, Prestia, Cotchin, and Astbury. For St. Kilda, Gresham, Steele, and Billings were standouts. Nick Riewoldt, in his 336th and last game, tried hard all day and bows out of the game on top as far as personal form is concerned.

It was a solid win for Richmond, enough to secure them third place on the ladder and a meeting with Geelong in two weeks time. As for coach Hardwick, he summed it up such: "I'm really proud. It was a tough game against the Saints, who were possibly playing for a finals spot, and a champion of the game retiring as well,".

"It was always going to be a tough ask, and I thought the boys handled themselves really well. We started well, which was pleasing. We've still got some areas of our game that are a little bit frustrating at times, but some of that was due to the Saints' good play as well. We're really happy to have earned the double chance, which is great."

According to St. Kilda coach Alan Richardson: We just weren't able to cope with Richmond's pressure”. "That's as much pressure as we've been under for a long time (and) I thought they were outstanding early … our inability compared to Richmond's at the coalface to be really strong and aggressive (was telling).

"The third quarter was positive and we were able to flip that a bit. I thought we hunted much more aggressively. (But) their better players probably had too big an influence on the game."

For long suffering Tiger fans, the Qualifying final can't come quick enough.

GOALS
Richmond: Townsend 5; Riewoldt, Grigg 3; Prestia, Martin, Butler 2; Graham, Cotchin
St. Kilda: Gresham 5; Billings, Membrey 2; Bruce, Riewoldt, Longer

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Richmond: Martin, Grigg, Prestia, Cotchin, Townsend, Vlastuin, Nankervis, Houli
St. Kilda: Steele, Gresham, Billings, Sinclair, Ross, Dunstan

BEST - THE AGE
Richmond: Martin, Astbury, Cotchin, B Ellis, Nankervis, Townsend, Grigg
St. Kilda: Gresham, Billings, Dunstan, Longer, Steele

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
St. Kilda: Geary (concussion)

UMPIRES: Donlon, Nicholls, Hosking 

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Hamish McLachlan, Brian Taylor, Leigh Matthews, Brad Sewell