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Tigers' simple plan (HeraldSun)

Rosy

Tiger Legend
Mar 27, 2003
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Tigers' simple plan
12 May 2003 Herald Sun
By MICHAEL GLEESON

THERE are wins and there are statements. This was as much a statement as a victory.


And the Tigers knew it. They also knew they have been known to get carried away with such pronouncements before.

Leon Cameron recognised it as much as anyone. The senior Tiger seized the leadership moment and gathered the jubilant Tigers in a tight huddle on the members' wing soon after the siren as "yellow and black" boomed across the ground.

"Basically, I just said it was a great win with the 22 that played the match and we should savour it, but from Monday it's on again," Cameron said.

"We put ourselves under the pump from Monday. When we got back from Adelaide on Sunday, we thought it was no good hanging around with our heads in our backsides.

"We set out Monday and trained well, trained very well Wednesday and trained (better again) on Friday and the 22 that went in (knew) we had injuries. And although Essendon had injuries as well, they have beaten us the last six or seven times.

"So we pulled in as a group and said 'Let's savour the moment for 10 minutes, it's a massive win to do what we did and have control of the match, but then it's on again next week'."

The win was not a victory for skill or courage alone, or even a blend of the two. It was as much a victory for method and application of a plan.

The Tigers choked Essendon. They played accountable to the man and to the plan.

They worked as a unit to press back hard and to run through the lines. They worked to make sure they had numbers at every contest, and most tellingly, they worked the backline.

Essendon went in tall up forward. Richmond had one recognised tall defender in Darren Gaspar, with Andrew Kellaway again asked to play above his height.

To help, they pressed back deep and hard with running players to release Mark Chaffey as the link man out of defence.

It worked. The runners were prepared to put their bodies on the line to fill holes and leave no space for Bomber forwards Lloyd, Scott Lucas or Paul Barnard room to move.

The results were astonishing. On a clear, dry day, Essendon had a forward line with 1000 goals between just three players (Lloyd, Lucas, Mercuri). They went inside 50 46 times - only two fewer than Richmond - and kicked just five goals. They went virtually a half without even kicking a goal, with none in the first quarter and none for 25 minutes of the last.

Richmond's attack came from its defence and its stunning midfield. Kane Johnson was superb and Mark Coughlan continues to impress.

But the man who is becoming such a barometer for Richmond is Greg Tivendale. The Tigers are at their most dangerous when they can get him free to run the wing and deliver forward. He is a beautiful kick, and when he is the man running the ball in, as he did on Saturday with a match-high 10 inside 50s, the Tigers are harder to hold up forward.

Bombers coach Kevin Sheedy recognised it and moved Sean Wellman, his most valuable defender, on to Tivendale in the second quarter. It was a sign of respect for Tivendale, but also the Tigers.