Richmond has returned to the winners list in Round 10 of the Australian Football League’s 2018 season, stomping St Kilda at the MCG on Saturday in front of more than 48,000 spectators in beautiful conditions.
Richmond finished on the right side of a 15.15 (105) to 12.5 (77) scoreline.
While the yellow-and-black army was thrilled to see a return to form after a crushing defeat last round against West Coast, the majority of the attention coming out of this contest belongs to St Kilda and their stunning ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
If ever there was a match St Kilda should have plucked it was this one.
In the opening minutes of the first quarter, St Kilda defender Jake Carlisle caught Richmond full-forward Jack Riewoldt with a late blow to the head in a marking contest. Riewoldt was immediately removed from the contest and played no further part.
Given Richmond’s precarious forward line set up – one tall forward and five smalls, maybe one medium forward if you want to count Josh Caddy as a larger target – Richmond found itself on the back foot in a big way early.
That’s not touching on Riewoldt’s seniority on the ground or his position as vice-captain.
Up next was running half-back Bachar Houli, removed from the game after injuring his groin.
With two key senior players removed from the equation, Richmond lined up against St Kilda with 20 players for most of the match. Despite this huge disadvantage the Tigers only showed intense signs of fatigue in the third quarter, slipping behind after a four-goal run to the Saints.
That run was quickly rectified and Richmond set up another 10-point advantage heading into the last term and managed to run the Saints off their legs in the last.
St Kilda dominated possession, particularly of the uncontested variety, for the majority of the match – leading the final count 440 to 365.
What the Saints didn’t win was the contested possessions, trailing Richmond by three.
Maybe the most concerning statistic under the microscope would be the tackles inside 50.
Richmond finished with 10, playing without Riewoldt and anchored by the cumbersome Callum Moore in his third game.
St Kilda registered just one all day. One tackle inside 50, coming from 48 inside 50s.
St Kilda has some big questions to ask about its gameplan. At one stage the Fox Footy commentators began mocking the Saints for ‘Supercoach driven play’ and it’s hard to disagree.
Seb Ross was the leading disposal getter on the day with 37, closely followed by teammate Jack Steven (36), Jimmy Webster (36), Josh Geary (32), Shane Savage (31) and even Jake Carlisle (27) found a stack of the ball.
But what did it all account for? 440 disposals for a grand total of 77 points on the board. It took St Kilda nearly 40 possessions on average before scoring a goal. 36.6 to be exact.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are getting on the board at an average of 24.4 disposals. The modern game swings fast in either direction and the Saints take entirely too long to get anything done.
St Kilda’s Ross, Steven, Webster, Geary, Savage and Carlisle all finished with more possessions than Richmond’s Dustin Martin but watching the tape there can be no doubt about who had more of an impact.
Martin finished with 26 touches and two goals, coupled with six clearances and four inside 50s. Entering the contest at a crucial stage in the second half, Martin got more done in tiny select passages of play than the majority of the Saints’ midfield did for entire quarters.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images)
Martin was eclipsed by Richmond captain Trent Cotchin with 32 disposals (17 contested possessions), nine clearances, seven inside 50s and a goal.
It would be remiss of me not to mention St Kilda’s Jade Gresham and just how lethal he was in front of the big sticks. Gresham finished with six goals straight from 15 touches with four tackles and two inside 50s. A very memorable outing for the young gun in his 50th senior match.
Gresham must have some sort of vendetta against the Tigers. In the final round of the home and away season last year, he booted five majors.
If we’re talking about goal kickers it would also be silly to not give a nod to the winner of the Ian Stewart Medal – Richmond’s Josh Caddy.
Caddy slotted six goals in the absence of Riewoldt to go with 24 touches (13 contested), seven tackles and five clearances.
Caddy seems to fly under the radar as a half forward with 23 goals sitting in the top five of the Coleman Medal. It’s going to be interesting to see where he sits when All Australian speculation begins.
Caddy in his current form reminds me of a once-premium Jake Stringer, capable at ground level and very strong above his head and within packs, producing consistent bags of two and three goals each week this season while also chopping out in the middle.
Richmond was the probable victor heading into this encounter, particularly bouncing back off a tough loss and lining up against a weaker opposition at a venue that has rapidly become a fortress for the reigning premiers.
The focus then turns to St Kilda and locating the bite that has evaporated from their performances.
Pressure inside 50 will be the biggest thing that will need to change because the ball will need to be trapped inside the Saints’ forward 50 for much longer passages of play if they’re going to consistently concede 100-plus points to teams without a full forward.
The Saints’ second-highest tackle count came against Greater Western Sydney in a Round 5 draw – 79 tackles.
Since then they’ve recorded counts of 64, 63, 63, 50 and 52. Before that, it was 61, 51, 75 and 48.
Deliberately setting out with the intention of boosting these numbers will probably take the Saints a lot closer to consistent wins with more pressure on the opposition ball carriers coupled with longer, more direct football.
But that’s easier said than done, and it’s possible they simply lack the players to apply the necessary tension. Only time will tell.
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