AFL fans starved of football over a long off season could not have asked for more. The opening game of the 2016 AFL season between Richmond and Carlton was an enthralling contest.
In the end the Tigers did just enough to escape with a 9-point win over a much improved Carlton side.
Although they won the game, Richmond would have been disappointed with their performance, for long periods of the match the Blues looked the better side.
Right from the start of the match this looked a different Carlton side. Their ball movement was slick and precious, their forward line was unpredictable and they played with real speed and dare. Sound familiar?
There was a lot of Hawthorn in the way the Blues played on Thursday night and with all Carlton’s new recruits this year perhaps their most important will be Brendon Bolton.
It was a great advertisement for the Hawthorn system and Alastair Clarkson. All the assistant coaches will have to get their resumes ready because they are all going to be in high demand in years to come.
The Blues still have plenty of holes in their list, and if you put the two teams from tonight side by side the Tigers have a real advantage in class and experience, which makes the performance of Brendon Bolton and the Carlton team even more impressive.
It all started according to plan for the Tigers, kicking the first two goals of the game but you could sense early on that this wasn’t going to be the easy Richmond win some had predicted. And by the end of the first quarter with the Blues in front by three points the Tigers knew they were in a fight.
The second quarter was a real arm wrestle, with Carlton having the best of the first half of the quarter, only for Richmond to fight back in the second half and take a slender lead into half time.
The Carlton midfielders really had the better of their Richmond opponents in the first half with captain Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and young midfield brute Patrick Cripps all having very good first halves.
For the Tigers superstar full back Alex Rance was an imposing figure in the backline and Jack Riewoldt and Dustin Martin looked dangerous up forward.
It looked like Richmond might blow the game open in the early stages of the third quarter and you couldn’t help but think that the Blues had run their race and the Tigers would come away with an easy win.
However the momentum of the game swung again after a free kick to Jack Riewoldt was paid right in front of goal only for young first gamer Daniel Rioli to play on and dribble a kick into the goal post for a behind.
After that, the Blues kicked four answered goals and went into three quarter time with the lead, and a big upset looked on the cards.
But to Richmond’s credit they dug deep in the last quarter and on the back of a couple of freakish goals from small forward Sam Lloyd, came away with a hard-fought win.
The Blues had a couple of chances to steal the game, after ice man Andrejs Everitt slotted a late goal from 50 metres out, but a gallant Carlton team simply ran out of time.
For a Richmond team with high expectations this year there is much work to do, apart from Kane Lambert who had a great second half and probably let the Tigers to victory the Richmond midfield was disappointing, captain Trent Cotchin struggled and Dustin Martin drifted in and out of the game.
For Richmond to take the next step this year they need greater output from their next tier of midfielders players like Anthony Miles, Brandon Ellis, Jacob Townsend and Corey Ellis.
Another concern for the Tigers will be the output of their tall forwards and ruckmen, Shaun Hampson and Ben Griffiths really struggled to get into the game and although Ty Vickery finished with three goals he only took four marks and had six kicks and was unsighted for large parts of the game.
Carlton will go into next week full of confidence and belief. Young midfield bull Patrick Cripps is an incredible young player who gets better every week. His meteoric rise to the top echelon of AFL midfielders will help take the pressure off Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs, who have been carrying the Carlton midfield for many years.
No.1 pick in last year’s draft Jacob Weitering looks all class and will have Blues fans very excited.
Richmond 4.1 7.2 10.6 14.8 (92)
Carlton 4.4 5.7 11.9 12.11 (83)
Goals
Richmond: Vickery 3, Menadue 2, Riewoldt 2, Lloyd 2, Lambert, Edwards, Vlastuin, C.Ellis, Miles.
Carlton: Wright 3, Everitt 2, Lamb, Gibbs, Kreuzer, Murphy, Cripps, Phillips, Walker.
Best
Richmond: Rance, Lambert, Riewoldt, Menadue, Martin
Carlton: Murphy, Cripps, Gibbs, Docherty, Simpson
Umpires: Stevic, Fleer, Mitchell
Crowd: 75,706
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