2021 may be the best yet | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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2021 may be the best yet

the GWS heist was so important for this club. like the away Port win in 2019, it had the air of a super culture bloom event that tends to set finals bound trains in motion.

culture bloom events are wins against the odds, wins without the usual stable of stars, wins where cohesion is found after months of dormancy. most importantly. culture bloom events usually feature unearthed talent. in this case, Riley Collier-Dawkins, he of sound tackling and positioning, indefatigable four quarter effort and sturdy, penetrative footskills, found he belongs. like a virgin realizing this sex caper isn't so scary after all.

two levels up from that, we found another prize bull in the midfield in the name of Balls Baker. two ten year midfielders (if Balls is played there) where we fretted there were none. Add Bolton and Graham and our dynasty looks perplexingly persistent for the rest of the competition.

make no mistake, we've been shithouse of late and still looked poor at times on Saturday night. our spread is static and stuttery, inviting trouble at every turn. our backline is weirdly out of sync (did a head coach quality assistant leave in the off-season?). our forward line has been made to look old and slow at times.

but you can see the template being minted a little bit more every week. we are clearly playing looser in the first halves, hanging tough and hoping we're thereabouts. but we are on the strangle in the second halves, punishing turnover in waves and pressing the ball into an airtight F50.

don't be deceived by the experts waxing lyrical about GWS. they were a team besieged for the vast majority of the second half. if only our forward line presented more aerial danger (enter CCJ) we would have won more comfortably I feel. then again, dimma is loathe to lose a runner to bring the big man in and i get that.

the best part of all this is the position we're in now. 5-4 with a free hit against Brisbane. don't care what anyone says, its a free hit and you can bet the club will be seeing it that way too. a chance to go 8-4 at the bye and with golden momentum. this team likes to get away, likes to shield ourselves in a warm bubble of comradeship and brotherhood.

what are the odds on friday night? we are a damned good show now that there's nothing to lose. brisbane are flaky and we rarely lose to a team twice in a row.

after the bye, against the Eagles, our ins are likely to be an entirely new, gilt-edged midfield. plus RCD and Balls Baker.

the fact that we've dropped in premiership betting, after our now-annual culture bloom win, speaks to the usual lack of true insight into how this great club operates.
 
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the GWS heist was so important for this club. like the away Port win in 2019, it had the air of a super culture bloom event that tends to set finals bound trains in motion.

culture bloom events are wins against the odds, wins without the usual stable of stars, wins where cohesion is found after months of dormancy. most importantly. culture bloom events usually feature unearthed talent. in this case, Riley Collier-Dawkins, he of sound tackling and positioning, indefatigable four quarter effort and sturdy, penetrative footskills, found he belongs. like a virgin realizing this sex caper isn't so scary after all.

two levels up from that, we found another prize bull in the midfield in the name of Balls Baker. two ten year midfielders (if Balls is played there) where we fretted there were none. Add Bolton and Graham and our dynasty looks perplexingly persistent for the rest of the competition.

make no mistake, we've been shithouse of late and still looked poor at times on Saturday night. our spread is static and stuttery, inviting trouble at every turn. our backline is weirdly out of sync (did a head coach quality assistant leave in the off-season?). our forward line has been made to look old and slow at times.

but you can see the template being minted a little bit more every week. we are clearly playing looser in the first halves, hanging tough and hoping we're thereabouts. but we are on the strangle in the second halves, punishing turnover in waves and pressing the ball into an airtight F50.

don't be deceived by the experts waxing lyrical about GWS. they were a team besieged for the vast majority of the second half. if only our forward line presented more aerial danger (enter CCJ) we would have won more comfortably I feel. then again, dimma is loathe to lose a runner to bring the big man in and i get that.

the best part of all this is the position we're in now. 5-4 with a free hit against Brisbane. don't care what anyone says, its a free hit and you can bet the club will be seeing it that way too. a chance to go 8-4 at the bye and with golden momentum. this team likes to get away, likes to shield ourselves in a warm bubble of comradeship and brotherhood.

what are the odds on friday night? we are a damned good show now that there's nothing to lose. brisbane are flaky and we rarely lose to a team twice in a row.

after the bye, against the Eagles, our ins are likely to be an entirely new, gilt-edged midfield. plus RCD and Balls Baker.

the fact that we've dropped in premiership betting, after our now-annual culture bloom win, speaks to the usual lack of true insight into how this great club operates.
Great post, If we are on we can win on fri then look out.
 
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Great win against GWS but I'm still not convinced. Game could have gone either way and the GWS ream was very inexperienced. A win against Brisbane would alleviate my concerns a little but, other than Bulldogs, we haven't performed well against the better teams.

Screenshot_2021-05-19-07-09-05-16.jpg
 
Great win against GWS but I'm still not convinced. Game could have gone either way and the GWS ream was very inexperienced. A win against Brisbane would alleviate my concerns a little but, other than Bulldogs, we haven't performed well against the better teams.

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Yeah. A great win given our depleted midfield but we were playing against a very young side, Lee's algorithms worked out again. Brisbane has a few injuries as well and might be due a loss, but it's a big ask. I'm tipping we'll be 5-5 after this weekend but with an easier run leading up the bye round.
 
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Great win against GWS but I'm still not convinced. Game could have gone either way and the GWS ream was very inexperienced. A win against Brisbane would alleviate my concerns a little but, other than Bulldogs, we haven't performed well against the better teams.

View attachment 12220
What the table doesn’t show is that they had about 12 high first round draft picks in that side. We had about five.
 
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the GWS heist was so important for this club. like the away Port win in 2019, it had the air of a super culture bloom event that tends to set finals bound trains in motion.
Spot on. We can talk all we like about the data but this game was all about the intangibles.

We'd come off a hiding to a previously brittle Geelong. There was a nasty incident in a nightclub. Questions about selection and support for our big ruckman and overall team balance. Our opponent had run into form. The chief was pilloried for daring to suggest we should play our home games at, you know, our home. Queries in the media about how we'd win a clearance, let alone the game.

Absolutely a win for the ages. My jelly legs with two minutes to go in the final quarter told me all I needed to know about how important that win was.
 
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What the table doesn’t show is that they had about 12 high first round draft picks in that side. We had about five.
Experience always wins. Average of 3 years less game experience per player.Youngsters will be hot and cold and handling close game situations is more challenging. Again I thought our comeback showed real grit, you still have to execute, but its tempered by the experience of the opposition. Personally i thought the Bulldogs win was far more impressive. Brisbane is a real challenge.
 
Great win against GWS but I'm still not convinced. Game could have gone either way and the GWS ream was very inexperienced. A win against Brisbane would alleviate my concerns a little but, other than Bulldogs, we haven't performed well against the better teams.
Yeah, GWS did quite well to push us all the way. They are back on track and will be a threat from next year onwards.

Highlights the difficulties facing us on Friday. Hasn't been many games in recent years where I've expected us to lose, but this is one. Will be on Hardwick's top shelf if he can conjure a win over Brisbane.
 
I reckon it is the game that ignites the hunger and cohesion. Most games are about banking the four points, but this was a season-definer. (or it could be the kick-after the siren win against the swans in 2016!)

This week could be a blow-out or a steal. Either way, the GWS win was invaluable.
 
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I’m not confident we will win another flag this year and I’m not thinking we won’t either, won’t be surprised with where we finish, at full strength Imho we are still the best “ team” though we have some encouraging talent coming along, the biggest worry for me to be a top 4 team going forward is our Skips continued soft tissues issues as well as Prestias , these 2 are not going to get better and we could neally garuntee they will continue to have these issues , problem been these are 2 of our 5 most important players when the real stuff starts , we also have many of aging stars starting to show a few signs of age, we are still in a very good position, however I think this could change very quickly , however in saying that a good off season and will be in a very very good position again.

Big things for me are finding another 2 way running A Grade mid ( maybe Dow) , definitely need a replacement for Jack , in saying that we ain’t getting another Jack, they don’t come along often , however we do need another athletic tall forward , somebody who can compete in the air and on the deck, though our backline is awesome we need to find another lock down beauty for the talls, Balta is a beauty , however he’ll need help going forward , I’m hoping Biggy will step up, but long way to go.

Having Baker, Bolton and Balta on the list solves a lot of problems, if we can get MJ, Stack, Ralphsmith. Mansell and CJ too make the grade and stay at Punt rd it keeps us right up ther3 with talent
 
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I don’t think we can win the flag this year. Not because we aren’t good enough. We are. We get our players back and our best is the best in it. But unfortunately there is undoubtedly a concerted campaign at the highest levels of the AFL to ensure we don’t win the flag and that reached it’s culmination in what we saw from the cheating umpires last night. Anyone who has working eyes can see this.

The campaign will go into hiatus for a couple of weeks now as they try and cover it up. It is likely that won’t get shafted as badly against the Crows or the Bombers. But once we get on
a roll look out it will be back in force. Wait until the Eagles game in Perth. That will make last night look a walk in the park. It will be a massacre.
 
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I’m not confident we will win another flag this year and I’m not thinking we won’t either, won’t be surprised with where we finish, at full strength Imho we are still the best “ team” though we have some encouraging talent coming along, the biggest worry for me to be a top 4 team going forward is our Skips continued soft tissues issues as well as Prestias , these 2 are not going to get better and we could neally garuntee they will continue to have these issues , problem been these are 2 of our 5 most important players when the real stuff starts , we also have many of aging stars starting to show a few signs of age, we are still in a very good position, however I think this could change very quickly , however in saying that a good off season and will be in a very very good position again.

Big things for me are finding another 2 way running A Grade mid ( maybe Dow) , definitely need a replacement for Jack , in saying that we ain’t getting another Jack, they don’t come along often , however we do need another athletic tall forward , somebody who can compete in the air and on the deck, though our backline is awesome we need to find another lock down beauty for the talls, Balta is a beauty , however he’ll need help going forward , I’m hoping Biggy will step up, but long way to go.

Having Baker, Bolton and Balta on the list solves a lot of problems, if we can get MJ, Stack, Ralphsmith. Mansell and CJ too make the grade and stay at Punt rd it keeps us right up ther3 with talent
That opening line is Charles Dickens like.
 
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My concern is some of our premiership stars are one year older and tapering off from their peak. DTLD has never been a star but at his best very reliable. On current form he could easily be playing seconds if only we had a developing tall ready.

Jack is similar, except that he has been a star all his career, and now appears severely constrained by his ageing body. Could still be a useful third tall, but Lynch hasn't stepped up this year and we refuse to trial a ruck/forward.

Plenty of others come to mind. Houli, Titch, even Dusty looks a little off his incredible standards. No one player at fault just as a collective unit they look off.
 
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