AFL Round 9 Richmond v Western Bulldogs: All the analysis and fallout as the Dogs smash hapless Tigers
It was one of those weeks where the football world descended on where the Dogs were headed and Luke Beveridge’s side delivered an emphatic response against a hapless Richmond side.
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Former Richmond coach Damien Hardwick once remarked that Jesus Christ would have struggled to stop Aaron Naughton and a rampaging Western Bulldogs forward line.
Hardwick was in Darwin leading the Gold Coast Suns to victory on Saturday night, but new Tigers coach Adem Yze could well have been thinking the same thing at the MCG.
A trip to church might not go astray for a once mighty Richmond side which appears to have lost its spirit.
It’s only round 9, but the injury-hit Tigers look like a team who have already mentally checked out for their post-season holidays.
There’s a saying that good coaches use: You don’t need to be experienced to play desperate.
While Yze doesn’t have the magnets that Hardwick once had, the ease at which the Western Bulldogs were able to move the ball from end-to-end would have deeply concerned the first-year coach.
After a week in the spotlight, Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said his side showed plenty of heart in their efforts.
“It might be perceived as a week within the football club where the cauldron’s pretty hot, and how do you get through it? We knew exactly what we left out there the week before … everyone kept their heads, really composed, there were some great signs of leadership from some of the players,” he said.
“I just thought that everyone really kept their heads. There’s a lot of heart in tonight, and that might be what you’re talking about.
“The spirit among the players was strong, and now the maintenance of that and the progression of it going into a really challenging game against GWS will be really important.”.
In the first half, Richmond was chasing tail as the Bulldogs completely controlled the game to open up a 47-point advantage at the main break.
Yet, the Tigers went down to the rooms having laid a lousy 20 tackles.
The baffling lack of pressure through the midfield left Richmond’s battling backline out to dry.
The AFL average for marks inside-50 is 11.7 a game.
The Bulldogs had recorded 12 marks inside their attacking arc before half-time as talls Naughton, Sam Darcy and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan had a field day on the back of the clean entries.
Yze was asked on Thursday where the returning Noah Balta would play and responded that the former backman had still been training forward.
“I don’t see any reason why we’d change that,” Yze said.
As much as the Richmond defenders had an impossible task given the supply, Balta’s presence perhaps could have helped.
A 187cm interceptor, Nick Vlastuin started on the 208cm key forward Darcy and the Bulldogs young gun had two goals early in the second quarter before a move was made.
It wasn’t Balta, mind you, who was still hovering in a dead-zone of the ground as a forward.
As the clock ticked into time-on in the second quarter, the game was effectively over and Balta had logged two handballs opposed to Liam Jones.
As much as Balta swooped on a loose ball and hit the scoreboard with a goal just minutes before half-time, it might be time to put him back permanently to at least try and stop the bleeding.
In a season where scoring has dried up, conceding 19.19 (133) is downright ugly.
A horror night was only made worse by three more injuries, including a sickening concussion for Sam Banks and a suspected broken leg for Maurice Rioli Jr with only three minutes remaining.
Banks was knocked out cold by a collision on the wing with Tim English, as he was caught low by the Bulldogs ruckman and flipped over in midair before his head smashed into the ground.
Richmond officials said Banks was “awake and OK” in the rooms after he was stretchered off in the third term.
Noah Balta and Dion Prestia made it through their returns from injury unscathed but Jack Graham appeared to re-injure his hamstring after he was brought back in following only a week on the sidelines in another piece of Richmond medical management which will be heavily scrutinised.
The Bulldogs’ response was largely expected.
Coach Luke Beveridge had come under fire following last week’s unexpected loss to Hawthorn.
His players didn’t get off scot-free, either, given the turnovers and poor defensive efforts against the Hawks.
However, this result told us little about Beveridge’s inconsistent side.
Since their 2021 Grand Final appearance, they are now narrowly back above the ledger with a record of 28 wins and 27 losses.
But the question is: For how long?
Post their mid-season bye last year, the Bulldogs have strung together consecutive wins just once.
Over the next four weeks they face a season-defining block of games against GWS, Sydney, Collingwood and Brisbane Lions.
While Monday’s review at Whitten Oval will look a lot better, one flashy performance doesn’t make a season.
Bulldogs forward Rhylee West says players will put their “heads down” this week as they attempt to smooth out what has been another “rollercoaster” season to date.
Since the club’s mid-season bye last year, the Bulldogs have strung together consecutive wins just once – something they will have another opportunity to do against Greater Western Sydney at ENGIE Stadium next Saturday.
“We feel that frustration as well on a playing level,” West said of the side’s inconsistency.
“We know what we’re capable of and we just want to be consistent every week.
“It’s definitely frustrating when we go rollercoaster, up and down. But that’s footy. We’ve just got to try and stay up.
“We’re a strong side when we can play the footy we want. We’ll put our heads down, bum up and attack the next month with all we’ve got.”
Scoreboard
TIGERS 0.1, 3.2, 4.3, 6.6 (42)
BULLDOGS 3.6, 9.13, 13.15, 19.19 (133)
ED BOURKE’S BEST Tigers: Vlastuin, Short, Sonsie, Prestia. Bulldogs: Richards, Treloar, Harmes, Bontempelli, Naughton, English, Darcy, Dale.
GOALS Tigers: Bolton 2, Mansell, M Rioli, Balta. Bulldogs: Naughton 4, Darcy 4, Harmes 4, Bontempelli 2, Garcia 2, Treloar, West, Ugle-Hagan.
UMPIRES Fisher, Foot, Rodger, Wallace
INJURIES Tigers: Banks (concussion), Graham (hamstring), M Rioli (leg). Bulldogs: Vandermeer (shin).
CROWD 38,007 at the MCG
BOURKE’S VOTES
3. Ed Richards (WB)
2. Adam Treloar (WB)
1. James Harmes (WB)
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Originally published as AFL Round 9 Richmond v Western Bulldogs: All the analysis and fallout as the Dogs smash hapless Tigers
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