The first great game of the season took place Thursday night at the MCG.
And the first premiership-defining result did, too.
Richmond and Collingwood played at a very high level throughout the night, two uber-talented teams giving everything they had. Alex Rance haters won’t want to hear this, but his absence in the Tiger backline was the entire difference.
In a game that was no more than a three-goal gap throughout the evening until the end, there were easily four occasions on either end of the stadium where the Magpie defence worked together to save a goal that Richmond could or should have scored, and where the Tigers’ defence couldn’t coordinate well enough to stop a Collingwood goal that frankly should have been stopped.
In the fourth, of course, the Tigers did what they had to do: take chances down the spine and try long, risky kicks that would regularly get intercepted. Losing by two goals isn’t inherently more impressive than losing by seven, so Hardwick was right to risk possession for the chance to make up several goals in the final period.
Would Richmond have won with Rance present (and Jack Riewoldt’s wrist healthy)? Probably not – Collingwood executed its midfield game better than they did throughout the night – the Pies kicked for 174 marks, exactly what they wanted to do against the pressure D of the Tigers, methodically probing the midfield for fifteen-metre chunks of real estate, never regretting a backwards kick if it kept control of the footy.
Alex Rance won’t play again in 2019. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
But the game was played on very even terms through three periods, excepting a few defensive lapses in yellow and a lack of corresponding breakdowns in stripes. Rather than three-goal losers at three-quarter time, Richmond would have been within a kick at worse with their defensive structure of two weeks ago intact.
And when they’re in the thick of the fight, they react differently than they had to in the fourth Thursday night.
Collingwood was the absolute worst opponent they could have faced the first week out from losing the defenceman of the decade. The Tigers already had the albatross around their neck from the way Mason Cox and friends splayed them on a platter three “rounds” ago (in footy time), and their psyche did them no favours when the American scored the first goal of the game.
Mason Cox of the Magpies celebrates a goal (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
But the game exposed what we feared: taking away Alex Rance from the Richmond defence was more than taking away his statistics, daunting though that alone would be. Bob Murphy showed why on AFL 360 the other night – his influence across the entire back and halfback line is unparalleled.
His leadership on the field can’t be duplicated by players who have never had to fill Rancian shoes at the AFL level before, at least not on a whim. There are some who can fill in the posts sufficiently as individuals, but where they broke down last night was when team coordination was demanded.
Team coordination certainly isn’t going to get replaced, Not in the next few games, at least.
Their next few games match them against superb offensive threats – the Giants, the Power, Sydney, and Melbourne. It’s not unimaginable to see them get to 1-5 before they figure this out, especially if Jack Riewoldt’s wrist is underdone and he is ineffective or watching from the sideline.
I’m praying this isn’t about to become Richmond’s own “annus horriblis” – they deserve better.
When they play their brand of ball, that Sherrin flies down the field as it did on many occasions last night, barely impeded by the best of defences before splitting the uprights. But they may not get that opportunity often enough without their star defenceman controlling the sound board in the back that allows the musicians up front to make their beautiful music.
And those people who haven’t understood just how good Rance is are about to find out in the ugliest way possible – through his absence.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
He did cover a lot of ground, often spoiled and marshalled the troups….. but his best skill was diving.
Peter Warrington
Guest
1. Lynch looks like a guy who has played a couple of games in a year. Fair enough. 2. Lynch looks like a guy settling into a new team. Fair enough. 3. Lynch looks like he might be better as a sole target. He gets his chance. The issue for me in recruiting a guy like him was always whether we had the kicking skills coming off the back and centre to get the ball to his sdvantage. We hadn't shown that in the Snow White and the 7 Dwarves era. I didn't think we had the right mids for him. Then we sold C Ellis, who is at least trying to be that guy. Cotch - ball beast but mediocre efficiency. Dusty - better kick over 60 than 30. Prestia - my daughter disposes better. Grigg - skies it. Arguably we need to try a new set up e.g. Short or Markov, and maybe Butler or rioli. I wanted to mortgage the farm to get Bontempelli, because HE would be great at feeding Lynch, and/or Jack, picking the right option. (If we had Lynch last year we would have another flag. oh well...)
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Hardwick hasn't had to coach around both Riewoldt and Rance being absent for a long time and long-term injuries at that. If Tom is as good as Jack, that still leaves them a forward down and with Caddy off the field for a couple of weeks yet, their mids might have to kick goals as well.
Peter Warrington
Guest
Yep
Peter Warrington
Guest
They have been old and slow for two years but won’t do anything about it. See llast night..:
Peter Warrington
Guest
Yes he was dire. Meant to be a leader. Lead...
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
You want Prestia out Peter?
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
Yeah I guess people are quick to jump off but I suppose there is a time where a voice can get stale or a premiership coach get out of touch with the modern game. I don't think horse is out of touch, but his voice up there seems to have got a bit stale.
Peter the Scribe
Roar Guru
I thought Jacks 2018 was the best season of his career and I agree, he looks quicker than Lynch. I know it will always sound like sour grapes as Lynch chose the Tigers over the Pies and Hawks but last night, as good as Lynch is, he can look slow.
Chancho
Roar Rookie
It'll be interesting to see how the Tiges deal with their injuries.... they've been pretty fortunate the last couple of years with few injuries compared to other clubs. I think they have the depth, but it'll be interesting to see how Hardwick coaches around this and see if he really is a good coach or just a lucky one.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Logue will be the equal and Pearce is already better. Pearce is likely to be equal to the best of the 21st Century...Luke McPharlin. Have a look at Pearce, Nick. There's a treat awaiting.
Nineteen
Guest
No Rance, No Richmond.
Aligee
Roar Rookie
At the end of the day unless you are supremely fit and motivated it is very hard to sustain, i enjoy watching a skilled team such as the old Hawthorn with a precise kicking game (although I don’t like Hawthorn)
Peter Warrington
Guest
and as with many contending teams (we were thereabouts in 13, 15, 17 and 18), we haven't got enough games into the next group to have them ready to step up. Markov looks the goods -until he has a brainfade like that handpass to triple-threated Prestia last night. get Bolton, Naish, Balta and Garthwaite in for the Giants, and houli if fit. riewoldt = balta Ellis = Garthwaite Castagna = Bolton Prestia = Naish Weller = Houli (Butler and Markov only saved by the need to develop them. Ditto Rioli.) if Grimes goes, give Callum Moore one last chance, put Balta back.
Slane
Guest
@Croker It was beautiful and mesmerizing and the most frustrating thing I've ever seen. I lost count of the number of times one Collingwood player would be able to weave through 3 Richmond players while all 3 Tigers guarded against a handball that never came.
Slane
Guest
I didn't say Cox is slow or uncoordinated. He is a professional athlete. I said he was the slowest most uncoordinated player on the field on Thursday night. 9 times out of 10 that honour would go to one of the teams Ruckmen. Nankervis is a beautiful field kick and kicks goals regularly during general play. Brodie Grundy is Brody Grundy. What I'm saying is that last season and the one before, no player ever had enough time to do what Cox did on Thursday night. Nobody got the time to lumber around in the forward line. They got tackled as soon as they touched the ball. Richmond let the slowest, least football savvy, most uncoordinated player on the field do whatever he wanted. Last night there was no pressure at all coming from the Richmond players. Last year, Cox would have been tackled by all 6 of those players. They would have driven him into the dirt and the infered pressure would have effected the rest of the game. Even if Cox was savvy enough to fire off a handball or kick he still would have been hit. All the intensity that is the Richmond brand was absent. If Richmond can't recapture the intensity they need to sustain their style of football, it is going to be a very long year.
User
Roar Rookie
And horses record being questioned pete
Cat
Roar Guru
Pete, Depends if Richmond make the mistake of becoming even more Lynch focused without Jack out there demanding at least some of it. I think Jack is a far more dynamic player than Lynch.
Cat
Roar Guru
The rules changes were always going to make that more difficult. I said the Tigers would struggle but no one wanted to listen.
Nick Croker
Roar Guru
It was beautiful and mesmerizing haha