Richmond may have suffered another significant blow to their stuttering AFL premiership defence after Shane Edwards limped off with an apparent ankle injury late in the 63-point thrashing from Geelong.
The Tigers were left licking their wounds after a comprehensive 19.12 (126) to 9.9 (63) defeat on Friday night that saw them slip to 4-4 after eight rounds.
They entered the contest without a host of flag winners as key defender Dylan Grimes (concussion) and star midfield trio Trent Cotchin (hamstring), Dion Prestia and Kane Lambert (both calf) watched from the sidelines.
Edwards was hurt during the final quarter against Geelong when the result was well beyond doubt and the All Australian midfielder’s possible absence could further test the Tigers’ depth when they host Greater Western Sydney in Round 9.
“I’m not too sure (how bad Edwards’ injury is)… but there will be some form of doubt over next week at this stage,” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said.
(Photo by Graham Denholm/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The Tigers led Geelong by 18 points at quarter-time but fell apart during the third term and conceded 13 goals to two after the main break in their heaviest defeat of the season so far.
“We’ve got some quality players out but we still expect to be better than what we were in that second half,” Hardwick said.
“There’s a way to lose and we don’t like to lose the way we did.
“The way we got belted around the contest in the second part of the game was incredibly disappointing.”
Richmond have overcome slow starts to win the premiership in three of the last four seasons and are now facing a similar hurdle this time around.
But Hardwick feels they are still in the hunt to complete a hat trick of flags despite the Geelong defeat and significant injury toll.
“I think this year’s going to be pretty open,” Hardwick said.
“It’s similar (to previous years), but we’ve got to play better.
“We’ve got some players that we’d love to have back in the side but they’re not going to be back for some time.
“We’ve got to hang tough, but that’s what we do.”
Grimes is a chance to return against GWS, while Dustin Martin (concussion) and Nick Vlastuin (knee) came back into the side on Friday night.
Martin served a mandatory week out because of concussion and started well against Geelong but was subdued in the second half under the watch of Tom Stewart.
Bangkokpussey
Roar Rookie
The thing that would concern me if I was a Richmond supporter is that I can see a similarity with Geelong a couple of seasons ago. Their good is very good but there next best players are a fair way behind ATM. That's why the injuries are biting. Bolton will be a real blow considering the others already out. Their saving grace is they have 5 shoe ins, plus GWS at home, a should win and 2 x 50/50 aways with west coast and Brisbane out of the next eight rounds. Even if they drop both, which I doubt, they can still make the top four, providing they have all their players back. That said, I believe Richmond wont be fazed finishing 5th. They are too good to be fazed by any team outside of the top 4.
nics
Roar Rookie
It's ok WCE have managed to oblige with another W Rioli drug incident...
nics
Roar Rookie
Still early days. Plenty of games to go and it looks like both teams will have the cavalry back at the back end of the season.
sven
Roar Rookie
yeah both clubs been hit hard in different ways, the only positive u can take is that some young blokes should get some games into them .. didnt see the cats belt weagles but our belting was pretty bl00dy ugly, bit scary to see how well the cats are going
nics
Roar Rookie
Welcome to the life of an Eagles fan over the last 3 weeks (at least you didn't get belted by 97 points to the Cats). We've basically been carried by Nic Nat and an efficient forward line.
bench sitter
Roar Rookie
Midfield decimation……….. No Cotch, no Lambert, no Prestia no Edwards and now no Bolton……….. Nank taps it to Dusty and that’s it………..? Ross and Graham?…………. Good grief, it never rains but it pours.
sven
Roar Rookie
the tiges season just got better with the news rioli & bolton were involved in an incident where rioli got belted & bolton had his wrist busted ... looking forward to the frenzied glee of the haters over this one
Peter Warrington
Guest
You missed both points but didn’t split the middle You proposed a binary where both were false I’m not buying into the rest of the blue.
Liam
Guest
I am saying that injuries are allowed to be an excuse for top 8 sides, where they are not mentioned for bottom 4 sides. I am saying that AAP - which stands for Australian Associated Press, which supplies the basic briefs to all associated news including the SMH, the Herald Sun - is placing the injuries front and centre to a match report about the game, which is an entirely narrative based choice. You are welcome to disagree if you wish, but that's absolutely what's happening here.
RT
Roar Rookie
I haven't missed anything. I am sure there are plenty of articles about Geelong's performance. AAP can write an article about whatever they want and I am sure they put out an article about the actual game as well. You are claiming the article is about making excuses, which it is not.
sven
Roar Rookie
maybe anyone considering writing an article better check in that its meets your approval Liam, just so they dont upset u….. pretty sure the whole world knows the cats were great & tore my tiges a new a*rseh*ole, the author was writing an article about the injuries the tiges have, pretty sure he doesnt once mention these were a reason for the loss or that their injury list is any worse than any other teams, if u need to read about how well the cats are going there are plenty of articles about stating that, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Let me know if someone else has ever mentioned this to you. … looking for that type of content in an article headlined ‘tigers injury toll mounts after cats loss’ is prob gunna leave u all bitter & upset … pointy enough for ya ?
Liam
Guest
You also seem to have missed the point. I'm not arguing against the facts. I'm disputing the fact that the author chooses to discuss the game against Geelong via Richmond's injuries. Lower ranked sides do not get extended the same courtesy that Richmond is being afforded here.
Liam
Guest
I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Let me know if someone else has ever mentioned this to you. The author of any article gets to choose where to direct your attention. This article is pushing you to look at Richmond's injury list, to look at the players that were out, in conjunction with the loss to Geelong. I am disputing not what the article says, but that it chooses to direct your view in that direction. This is how you have missed the point.
Bangkokpussey
Roar Rookie
Of course injuries matter and at times the reporting of games tend to gloss over the number of injuries or discount them completely. Richmond did not have its best 22 on the park against Geelong that is just a fact and therefore needs to be taken into consideration in the context of the game and Richmonds performance, but neither did Geelong. Dangerfield is the biggest loss but other "best 22" players were out as well. Likewise with in game injuries that also impact the team durin the game. The same goes with free kicks. Goals from frees can and do influence the result of some games. 10 free kicks on the wing, I would argue is not as significent as 5 free kicks in front of goal. It has nothing to do with whether they are deserved or not but they, like injuries, can impact the result if not, certainly the scoreboard. Simply pointing to a free kick differential does not tell the story. Both of these statistics should be taken more into account when judging the performance of a team, the same as we do with other statistics including wayward kicking for goal, resulting in a high percentage of points. I believe that generally reporting of games does need more of a holistic approach when analysing the match, by giving more emphasis to these points and others and will give a better indication of where a teams' performance is at during the season.
RT
Roar Rookie
The part you are quoting is a simple statement of fact. It is an article primarily about injuries, not so much a match report. Regardless, it states that Edwards was injured when the result was already beyond doubt. No where does it claim injuries are a reason for the loss. You are interpreting something that is not there, almost like you wrote the comment and then went looking for an article to post it on. So yes, I maintain you haven't read the article properly, or perhaps it is just that you don't understand it.
sven
Roar Rookie
"Why is this article not about that???" .... ummm cause then it wouldnt be an article headlined 'tigers injury toll mounts after cats loss' ?
liam
Guest
You seem to have missed the point. Injuries are a fact of life in the AFL: either they exist for everyone and serve as a mitigating factor for everyone when they lose - top or bottom - or they don't serve as a mitigating factor for anyone. Why do injuries exist for Richmond, but didn't exist as a reason for Carlton in 2017-18, when they were bottom 4 and got smashed with injuries to every player on their list who had ever played in the back half? Why do injuries not exist for Collingwood this year? Why are injuries allowed to be an excuse for Richmond, but not North Melbourne? Press looks for the cheap kick at the beaten dog. Geelong had 50+ contested possessions in the third term. They laid 75 tackles for the game, whilst having the ball 52% of the time. And they did this when down to two on the bench. Why is this article not about that???
Liam
Guest
Article states, as part of a match report: "They entered the contest without a host of flag winners as key defender Dylan Grimes (concussion) and star midfield trio Trent Cotchin (hamstring), Dion Prestia and Kane Lambert (both calf) watched from the sidelines." ... and you're insisting that I haven't read the article properly?
Peter Warrington
Guest
It’s neither We have injuries this year. Some dross playing. Had injuries other years. Oh. And 3 recent flags.
Peter Warrington
Guest
Not to mention Rance and co in 18. The early 19 toll was horrific esp against the Giants up here Let alone winning the flag with Grigg in the ruck because we had Griffiths and Hammer on the side after trading Vickery Yep. Lucky Richmond