We were lucky tonight

[mightytiges]

We left our brains in the changerooms tonight. We were flat and lacked urgency until the last 5 minutes of the match when we lifted. This allowed the speedy Melbourne midfielders to clear the ball from the centre.

The decision making going forward was terrible and I'm not blaming Richo being back in the side either. Although we tried to pick out the best option, Melbourne's flooding tactics meant we had to be smarter and many a time we weren't.

We played the game on Melbourne's terms. An open easy possession game of attack and counterattack from one another's defences. Great game to watch as it's exciting and fast but it's footy's equivalent of russian roulette.

The good news is even though we mostly played crap tonight we still guts it out and won. That's a sign of a good side.

 

[Tigerdog]

IMO we REALLY miss Campbo tonight... Johnson was good in the first half but after Cogs got whacked in the ear in the first ten minutes or so he wasn't as effectual as the last few weeks, this meant that we got hammered in the clearances.. credit to Melbourne for that as personally I don't rate them at all in this area.
Our turnovers were again very costly and against a top 4 side we would have been found out tonight.We just have to get those glaring clangers way down.. so far we have gotten away with them but soon they will be costly.
Umpiring was a joke tonight... enough said.
Also IMO some of the usual suspects got found out as far as poor disposal/decision making was concerned.
Rogers did a good job on Yze... it was interesting to not at one point that Bidders King Vardy and Pettifer all occupied the bench at the same time.
Credit to Kingy he gives his absolute all for the Tigers when he is on the park he just doesn't have the body for it.


mt

The good news is even though we mostly played crap tonight we still guts it out and won. That's a sign of a good side.

I guess it depends on how highly you rate Melbourne.
Like you I think we had an average night mt and am glad to come away with the 4 points.Hope Danny and the boys learn from tonight. Having said that with Johnson down in the second half cogs relatively quite and Campbo missing it was pleasing to JUST be able to cover them. Another TEAM effort to thank there.
IMO we are a good side ATM.. like everyone says it's a long season.
Hope Staffy's knee is ok for next week, with Campbo and Houlihan to come back in it should be a great game next week in the match of the round v the weevils.

 

[johnson2richo2003]

We played the game on Melbourne's terms. An open easy possession game of attack and counterattack from one another's defences. Great game to watch as it's exciting and fast but it's footy's equivalent of russian roulette.

good point MT. i was thinking the samething during the 2nd qtr.however i wonder if it was designed knowingly that melb,s last qtr fadeouts?
i agree we were flat tonight. but it was good to see ROGERS do a great job on yze ;D

 

[diggler]

What about Master coach Frawley, with his brilliant move to rest Richo, when we had all the momentum. Could of cost us the game. We had melbourne on toast up till then and he showed contempt for the dees for resting Richo. He showed up that he cocked up bigtime by not resting Richo for the rest of the game. If he wants Richo to do his hammie again, he will not rest him.

 

[Harry]

Good win last night - the team was well carried by Richo, Staff, Johnson, Coughlan, our defence and some others. However we've still got plenty of duds to cull who are making basic footy errors. Huge test against westcoast but I don't give us any chance somehow - the eagles are too godd at home. Hopefully Campbell, Houlihan, Hall, and Dunc back for four players out of Pettifer, King, Fleming, Biddiscombe or Rogers. Too much dead wood in that llist.

 

[iLoVeNeWmAn]

Good win last night considering we were convincingly beaten in the center clearances, and just about every other clearance to be honest.

Key to our win were Richo and Staff, and a marvelous performance by our entire back line with special mentions to Chaffey, *smile* and A. Kellaway. These were about 5 of 22 blokes who won the game for us in a game where we were always a chance to lost after quarter time.

Good win Tiges - this showed that even when we're down, we can still pull out enough to get the points. Tough task this week in Perth - anything under a 3 goal loss will be commendable. A win and I'm putting my mum's house on the Tiges for a flag!!!!

 

[johnson2richo2003]

What about Master coach Frawley, with his brilliant move to rest Richo, when we had all the momentum. Could of cost us the game. We had melbourne on toast up till then and he showed contempt for the dees for resting Richo. He showed up that he cocked up bigtime by not resting Richo for the rest of the game. If he wants Richo to do his hammie again, he will not rest him.

so dr diggler maybe you should apply for the physio,s job at the club.
and if richo did his hammy in the 1st qtr you.ll be saying spud brought him back to soon etc etc etc.
you seem to have left out the gusty decision by spud to get staff back on the ground.. oh but wait thats a positive for spud.
how ironic with a season full of positives you seem to be hell bent on keeping things negative.

 

[Rosy]

I'd give a lot of credit to Melbourne for playing well. Apart from the Hawks getting off to a flier, I think the Dees have played the best out of the teams we've defeated.

I don't think we played our best, but we showed we can win a fast flowing game as well as we can tough it out in a wet weather slog.

A 14 goal first quarter shootout didn't seem real flat to me, but maybe the in the course of the game the midfielders might have appreciated a chance to have a rest. That will be able to happen more when we start getting players back.

I think it's a real positive when both teams were hard at it we came away with the points.
Go Tiges.

 

[PMac]

I wouldnt say we were luckly tonight, I reakon we should have won the game (probably by more) but when we screwed up it was in areas where Melbourne were really able to hurt us.

Our worst 6 players are all midfield type runners, the precise area where the Dees are strongest. Not only that, our worst 6 players got less touches than anyone else in the Dees line-up apart from 2 dedicated taggers.

Last week we did really well because fringe players like Pettifer, Bidders, Krakour (yes he has promise but on form so far he's still a fringe dweller) stepped up to the plate. Last nite they dropped off again.

Last Week Krakour laid 6 tackles, last nite - none. Last week Kayne had 17 touches, last night - 4. Last week Bidders looked like he had time and space to use his long delivery, last night he was constantly rushed and caught short.

 

[Rampaging_Richo]

Melbourne played very well.

I for one is very surprised we were still in it at 3/4 time. They should have put us away but didn't and paid the price.

They used their pace well and hunted in packs, which gave blokes like Bidders and Fleming little time, thus the turnovers.

Overall, I think it was a great game to win for more than the obvious 4 points. It will give us further confidence that even when we are down by a couple of goals in the last quarter we can still come back. And a tough fighting win is good to shake the laziness out of a few blokes.

 

[MC24]

The good news is even though we mostly played crap tonight we still guts it out and won. That's a sign of a good side.

That is the good news MT and I think that's one of the best things to come out of the season so far for us. In previous seasons, that's a game we probably would have lost 9/10 times. But it's amazing how lucky you get when you're prepared to work hard.

What was good about the win was that we showed we don't rely on just one area to win us games (i.e. defence, midfield, attack). It was a combination of those areas and most of all it was about spirit and the new found resolve amongst the players.

As one of the many long suffering Richmond supporters, I thought that was the most heart warming thing to come from the game. It wasn't our best or most disciplined effort so far, but it did show a lot of character. You can't buy or manufacture that.

We criticise the "fringe" players and while some of them may never achieve any great heights, they're in there having a go. And as long as they can 'stay in the game' then they can at least contribute something. For example, Kayne Pettifer didn't have a good game by any measure, but when he needed to do something he was still in the game, which allowed him to kick a vital goal. Clinton King created a contest and you couldn't question his application or commitment.

It's easy to be critical of these players, but they are allowing us to continue on our winning way. We may get found out eventually, but for the moment, if any Richmond supporter can't enjoy the wins now then I'm not sure when they can or will.