Zhǐlǎohǔ (Chinese word for ‘paper tiger’) – Something that seems as threatening as a tiger, but does not withstand challenge.
The lid was supposedly off at Tigerland last week. After Saturday’s events it should be firmly back on, so much so that the Hulk himself couldn’t remove it.
In Round 1 Richmond put their Carlton hoodoo to rest, but the mental scars of not being able to close out matches, so prevalent in 2012, were shown to be unhealed.
The Tigers led by 42 points halfway through the third quarter on that Thursday night, and arguably should have been further in front such was their dominance. In the end, they were lucky to hold on for a five point victory.
While the celebrations of the players were understandable, it shouldn’t have gone unnoticed that the Blues had three relatively easy shots at goal in the dying minutes to win the game, but couldn’t convert truly.
A side without such mental insecurity wouldn’t have allowed a significant lead to be in such jeopardy, especially against what had proven to be inferior opposition.
Richmond has finals pretensions, while their Round 2 opponent, St Kilda, is a bottom six side at best. The Tiges once again were by far the better side in a scrappy affair, but continued to allow the Saints back into it rather than shutting them out.
Late in the game a 24 point lead was cut to four points, and Tigers fans were once again reaching for the heart pills. This time, they were able to stabilize, as they should against a lowly opponent, but once again the signs weren’t great.
No credits were earned with either win.
In the big game on Saturday at the MCG in front of 81,950 people, Richmond had control in the first quarter, running Collingwood off their feet through skilful ball use to players who run hard into space. The 11 point lead at quarter time was the minimum required.
The Pies worked their way back into the game, as a good side is going to do. But this was a team coming off a 55 point thumping at the hands of Hawthorn, missing a minimum six players of their best 22. The view of the football world was that the Pies were ‘gettable’.
Richmond resumed at the half time break with a three point lead and credibility on the line. Were they going to stand up with the eyes of the football world on them?
Minds went back to the corresponding match-up last year when the Pies put on five goals in seven minutes of football to start the third term, ripping the game away from the hapless Tiges.
Sadly for fans in the black and yellow army, a year later, and the more things appeared to have changed, the more they’ve actually stayed the same.
This time Collingwood, inspired by a rampant Travis Cloke, slammed on eight goals among twelve unanswered scoring shots as Richmond folded quicker than a Texas Hold ‘Em player with two-seven unsuited after a pre-flop raise.
As a unit, these paper Tigers were unable to offer any resistance. They couldn’t get their hands on the ball at the stoppages or around the ground, and refused to keep it when they did. Melbourne fans know the feeling.
The upcoming Star Trek movie will have less men in space than the Pies had in their forward fifty at various stages throughout the match. And when Cloke was getting a hold of Rance, who is an overrated defender at the best of times, no teammates were working hard enough to give him a hand as third man up.
Are Richmond still on track under the guidance of Damian Hardwick? There’s no doubt they are, having improved season upon season since the former Essendon and Port hardman took over.
But even if they win enough games to play finals this year, a likelihood given the amount of talent on the field combined with a reasonably friendly draw, the mental gap between the Tigers current level and those of the sides that will finish above them is stark.
Fremantle at the WACA is next for Friday night football, followed by a big Saturday night at the MCG against Geelong. Drop both of those, and the resurgent Port is waiting at AAMI Stadium. All of sudden, a 3-0 start could be 3-4, and all the positivity from the early season will have been blown away.
‘Paper’ Tigers would lose all three of those matches. Will Richmond stand up to the challenge?
Brendon
Guest
Justification.....Leigh Matthews is saying the same thing as me today, I should get a professional gig writing about footy ;)
nmj1654
Roar Rookie
He was on fire years ago, it's taken him 4 or 5 years but he's actually doing reasonably well now. 30 touches and 2 goals in the wet mudfest at AAMI when the team lost by 52 tells me he's doing well. Swan gets touches but often does nothing with them. He's either a link player or a shank. He does find the goals often enough though. Credit to him, for an average looking rig he gets around the ground pretty damn quick.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
You just might be right there Bogga. And a few others as well. To use the old cliche, good teams base their success on a four quarter sustained effort. You can get away with it against the strugglers, but not against perennial finalists. A 15-20 minute burst can wreck up and comers. Having said that, I have to agree with David King in that the Richmond of recent times would've gone under by twice the margin of this game once the opposition gained the upper hand. Some small consolation.
big dallo
Guest
nmj1645 you must be joking mate.i can see you are a one eyed supporter but cooney fell into that brownlow.he is one of the greatest waste of talents since mayby fevola.swan is in another league.
Bogga
Guest
The problem is not Cotchin and Deledio underperforming. The glaring problem is that these are the only guys performing consistently to an AFL level. Even Jack cracks the sads and lets his teammates down on occasion. There just isn't the depth of talent there to last out 4 quarters. Cotchin and Deledio run themselves into the ground and when they tire, the other sides motor over the top of them. They fell over the line in their other games, but as the season wears on, they'll fall over earlier and earlier. Lose Cotchin or Deledio for a length of time and they can forget about finals altogether. As it stands, they might fall into them.
outohere
Guest
What was Malthouse's famous line ? The ox is slow, but the earth is patient ....or something? I reckon this applies to the Tigers. Media hype, that's all it was last week. Financially, the Tigers won with the big crowd that turned up because of that hype. And dont forget, we are still above collingwood on the ladder.
Terry
Guest
Richmond has serious midfield problems but these aren't with Cotchin. Richmond's midfield is currently too reliant on Tuck, Jackson and Martyn, who are only valuable in the first half of each game. Martyn still doesn't have the engine to play midfield in the 2nd half, and Tuck and Jackson get found out when the game opens up and is more about possession and skill than about congestion. Maybe Foley can help give them some run when he returns, or maybe someone like Nahas, White or Conca could be rested more during the first half so they can take on a bigger midfield responsibility in the 2nd half. Richmond will continue to get overrun if they can't adapt when the game opens up.
Brendon
Guest
Not knocking Cooney mate, pointing out he was on fire when he was young. Don't think Swan is over rated though, get's quality touches and kicks goals, that blokes a gun!
Brendon
Guest
Lol, no, no dollars, I'm not silly enough to put my hard earned on them. Be interesting to have abreak down of those stats into effective, ineffective & pressure acts. I am yet to be convinced, 28 touches means nothing, it's a stat, you can have 28 touches by Ablett and then there's 28 touches by Clinton Jones or Kane Cornes, I know which I'd take, I do concede he is a very good player, but second in the Brownlow, not yet, not saying it won't happen but he's not there yet. You know, I think I'm just annoyed at how a club can be so unsuccessful and yet still bring in members, you only have to look at Geelong, St Kilda and North Melbourne, all these clubs have tasted success (Saints got to the GF x 2) and yet they have nowhere near the number of members these lot have, my lot Port have played in two grand finals in the last 9 years and won the minor premiership 3 times, yet we struggle to get 30k to the game, Richmond could turn up wearing gumboots and get 40k to a game, so I might be a bit jealous. As for Cotchin, he's the captain and in my humble opinion he's doing what we've become used to from Richmond players, I think there's more deserving players of the superlatives that get thrown at him every week. Watch him when the going gets tough next time, he still racks up the possessions but they are often pretty ordinary.
nmj1654
Roar Rookie
If you were going to call anyone overrated it surely can't be Cooney. He won a Brownlow with a cracked kneecap, breaks games apart as well as Judd or Ablett, however McAvaney, Taylor and co. don't froth over him like they do with the others. There's no doubt Cotchin is up there when he's disposing of the ball well but he hasn't been in recent weeks. If you were going to pick anyone to call overrated I'd be looking at Swan. Butchers the ball to a ridiculous extent. Would rather have Pendlebury - half the touches, double the efficiency, and a touch more class, on and off field.
nmj1654
Roar Rookie
Yes, but don't forget that the Bulldogs and St Kilda were in the top four 3 years ago. Things change. Richmond's first 3 games showcased the future if they keep on the right track and overcome their long-time mental instability. The point wasn't that Richmond aren't any good, it's just that mentally, they drop the bundle too often. They buy into their own hype or forget how to run out a game. I hope for the supporter's sake that they can do reasonably well with this list.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Sounds like you did more than tip them Brendon, perhaps you threw a few dollars on them too?? In the games Richmond have lost since the start of 2012, he's averaged 28 touches and a goal, which is hardly going missing. He's also averaged 4.7 tackles and over 5 clearances in that time, so he hasn't been shirking the issue. It's also interesting to note that Cotchin had more contested possessions than uncontested over 2010-11. We know he can get it inside, but because he can be so damaging on the outside, the instruction may have been to use him wherever possible. Extra fitness after some interrupted pre-seasons would also help him spread. Richmond have still got many mental problems to overcome, stemming from what was a poor culture for so long, but I think Cotchin is one leading them out of the darkness, not keeping them in it.
Brendon
Guest
How long can you guys build to make the finals, you're talking three years for Geelong to progress from the prelim, you have to make one first and didn't the plow have a five year plan 8 years ago?
Brendon
Guest
Hardly a Tirade Cam, just sick of the hype, he gets put up by the Melbourne media as the golden boy every week and in my eyes he's one of the biggest offenders, when the Tigers go missing it's usually on the back of Cotchin fading from the game. Even on the weekend, mid third term one of the commentators said "Cotchin can't do it all on his own" implying that the guy was trying to get them over the line on his own back, but it's just tyre pumping, he stopped the elite stuff we see when the teams playing well and went back into his shell. I tipped them this weekend, I thought we'd seen the last of these type of performances, but it's the same old story, or at least looks like it from afar. To Col, I ask, how good was Ablett (who Cotchin beat in the Bownlow last year, how does that even happen?), Judd, Pendelbury, Selwood and Swan at the 90 game point, how many games had Cooney played when he won the Brownlow? I"ll wager they weren't that far off what they are now. have a good look at Ollie Wines, Jaeger O'Meara and Chad Wingard at the moment, these guys are first and second year players that do it when it counts already in the early stages of their career, as did Selwood from almost game 1, could it be that Richmond's culture is the issue? I want the Tige's to be a force, I'm not a supporter of theirs as such, but gee it'd be good to see them make the finals for once, I just feel that they listen to their own hype and Cotchin isn't exempt from criticism because he's Cotchin the protected species.
Shiney McShine
Guest
G Ablett No 1 example...
D.Large
Guest
hao jiu bu jian le Cameron, Yes, I can't help but agree with your summation. Ultimately the Tiggs need bigger contributions from the 2nd tier players, the percentage of times that Cotchin and Deledio are your best 2 players is far too high.
Cameron Rose
Expert
To me Brendan, three of the four results have been underwhelming this year if you look past just the four points. It was unfortunate that Cloke had a career best match (and he's played some rippers), but the Tigers were unable to get hands on the ball at all. I think they let themselves down mentally and were nowhere near prepared enough when the Pies stepped it up a few levels. Even when 'off' for 20 minutes, a decent side can still limit the damage to maybe four or five goals and get one themselves. Not 8.4 to 0.0 after taking a lead into the quarter. That sort of lapse is unforgivable.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Also missing were the likes of Johnson and Goldsack, which are still assumed to be in the the Pies best 22. The tirade against Cotchin seems a little harder to digest. He's certainly ahead of Cooney if nothing else. That's an overrated Brownlow medalist if there's ever been one, and I'm even talking about before his knee problems. That said, he can still play to excellent football. Cotchin averaged about a goal a game over 2011/12, and needs to impact the scoreboard this year, but he is an incredible talent both inside and outside. Every elite player wins a lot of touches from inexperienced players giving them the ball, it's just the way it is.
Col
Guest
Yep, the Pies had all those blokes out, yet still ave 15 more games played per player than the Tiges. The Pies have deep pockets, which equals great playing depth. They put out a very good side. Might not have been their best, but it would have beaten most teams. Re Cotchin, yeah he is not quite imposing himself on the game when its there to be won, like those other players you have mentioned. But that comes with experience. So lets have a look at the experience of those other blokes you mention: Judd - 243 games Ablett - 236 games Selwood - 139 games Cooney - 186 games Swan - 200 games Pendlebury - 152 games McVeigh - 198 games Dangerfield - 93 games Boak - 112 games Cotchin - 90 games. Most of those blokes bar Dangerfield have played twice the amount of football as Cotchin, and the majority of them in good teams, where they consistently have had the chance to impose themselves on games. Richmond have only just started to consistently get in positions to win games. Cotchin will learn with more experience, how to win games for his team. For me, he is still too small around the shoulders, but a couple of more pre seasons and he will be dynamite.
Brendan
Guest
Cameron i think you are being a bit hard on Richmond give them a few weeks before calling them paper tigers.No one outside the inner sanctum of each club really knows how the coaches go about structuring there rotations/ sides to compete for an entire match.Watching Geelong who seem to play good last quarters and poorly early on i noticed in the first half both ruckmen were on the field keeping fresh runners for later in the game (sub included).Maybe Hardwick realises the team cannot yet compete for four quarters so he has a catch me if u can approach to coaching until the team develops enough to play four hard quarters.The Tigers copped Cloke at his best on the weekend so there is no shame in that loss.Geelong made the 04 prelim but it took them another three years to develop enough consistency to win a flag.