GWS forward Jake Riccardi named Round 14 Rising Star after being 44th-ranked player on the ground
Champion Data has explained the unusual “anomaly” that saw GWS forward Jake Riccardi rated the worst on ground against Fremantle – in a performance that won him the Round 14 Rising Star nomination.
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The text messages flowed through from shocked mates of Jake Riccardi over the weekend.
In his second AFL game, the Greater Western Sydney forward had logged 12 disposals, taken nine marks and kicked four goals in a sterling performance against Fremantle.
The coaches awarded Riccardi six votes, leaving him as the third-best player on the ground behind teammates Lachie Whitfield (10 votes) and Jeremy Cameron (eight votes).
Yet, Champion Data’s AFL Player Ratings had the 20-year-old as the 44th and last-ranked player in what the statisticians have labelled an “anomaly”.
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It was a source of amusement not only for Riccardi’s mates, but also the Giants.
Football operations boss Jason McCartney mentioned the seemingly unusual statistic as he announced to the GWS playing group on Monday that Riccardi had been awarded the Round 14 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination.
“He made mention that in the AFL Player ratings I was the last-ranked on the ground but said it doesn’t matter because I got the Rising Star,” Riccardi said.
“One of my mates sent it to me on the weekend. I don’t really know how it (AFL Player Ratings) works, but it was pretty funny. I was having a bit of a laugh about it with a few of my mates.”
SuperCoach ranking points had Riccardi as the 10th-rated player on the ground with 94 points, but the AFL Player Ratings take in a greater range of statistics that harshly penalise things like dropped marks and backwards kicks and do not as greatly reward easy goals that players are “expected” to kick.
But for Riccardi, there are other statistics that matter more.
Congratulations, Jake Riccardi!
— AFL (@AFL) August 31, 2020
Four goals in a big win for the @GWSGIANTS earns him the round 14 @NAB AFL Rising Star nomination 💪 pic.twitter.com/9fN9x5F70q
He is now averaging three goals a game in the AFL – albeit from a small sample size – since being selected by the Giants with pick 51 in last year’s draft.
Twice overlooked in the 2017 and 2018 drafts, Riccardi had been studying economics and finance at RMIT University and working part time at his father’s sports store, Sportsco Broadmeadows.
But the AFL dream remained and became a reality after a 39-goal season with Werribee in the VFL, playing under Port Adelaide premiership coach Mark Williams and former Richmond forward Nick Daffy.
“Those two sped me up a fair bit,” Riccardi said.
“They’re both very good coaches and they helped me get to the standard I needed to be to play VFL.
“After having a good year there I was ready and thought, ‘My time’s now’.”
About eight other clubs showed interest in Riccardi last year, but working alongside Jeremy Cameron in the Giants’ forward line has proven the perfect fit.
“I’ve learnt plenty. Out on the ground he’s so helpful, always talking,” Riccardi said.
“It makes it so much easier for myself. Even Harry Himmelberg and the other forwards as well, they just make my life easy being around them.”
GREENE ADDS TO STAGGERING TRIBUNAL BILL
Toby Greene has added to an astonishing $25,000 in match review fines but been spared suspension and is available to take on Carlton on Thursday.
The colourful Greene has been handed a $500 fine by the AFL for his elbow to Fremantle’s Reece Conca stomach instead of a medium-impact suspension.
Greene is one of the most regular attendees with the AFL’s judiciary, charged 19 times and handed $25,000 in fines over his career.
But Greene was helped by Conca remaining on the field and not requiring medical care, with players rarely suspended for punches to the stomach.
Only Zach Merrett’s punch that broke Jack Silvagni’s rib was handed a ban this year given it elevated the force, with Tom Lynch given a fine for his stomach punch on Gold Coast’s Sam Collins.
Ex-AFL stars continue to suggest the league needs to crack down on punching but the league would have to elevate low impact-intentional punches to the body to one week suspension to eliminate all hits of that force
GWS teammate Matt de Boer was handed a $500 misconduct fine for pushing star Fremantle midfielder Nathan Fyfe over the fence in the Giants’ critical win.
De Boer had already pushed him when the pair were next to the boundary line, and then shoved him again in an incident that saw Fyfe spilling over the fence.
It was not forceful but the league continues to reinforce to players they should push rivals into fences given the capacity to cause injury.
Melbourne’s Charlie Spargo was handed a rough conduct fine for his dangerous tackle on St Kilda’s Nick Coffield in the victory over the Saints.
Giants coach Liam Cameron said post-match on Saturday he expected Greene to escape suspension.
“I spoke to Toby. He said he just brushed him aside and clearly he went down, but all the talk in our locker room is he’ll be fine,” Cameron said.
“Clearly, because it’s Toby, it’s going to be a headline, we’re used to that.
“But we’re not worried. I think the pleasing thing about it is everyone contributed, Toby contributed, and that incident is probably not going to worry me at all.”
Western Bulldogs games record holder Brad Johnson said the action from Green was “just silly”.
“Reece Conca, it was totally unexpected. I think it’s just silly from Toby, just no need to do it,” Johnson said on Fox Footy.
“(The Giants were) in control of the game, (Greene was) in control of your opponent throughout the day as well.
“(There was), just no need to put yourself in that position.”
The late-game fireworks, coupled with an injury to star midfielder Josh Kelly, took some of the gloss off a season-saving win 38-point win for the Giants at Perth Stadium on Saturday.
The Giants overcame the loss of Kelly to kick their highest score since round one and remain in the finals hunt, winning 14.7 (91) to 8.5 (53).
Kelly suffered concussion late in the second quarter when teammate Shane Mumford’s knee collected him high in a gruesome incident, ending his match.
But the Giants pressed on to notch an impressive win, with their midfield setting up the victory while key forwards Jake Riccardi and Jeremy Cameron finished it off with four goals each.
Midfielder Tim Taranto, captain Stephen Coniglio and halfback Lachie Whitfield were all superb as the Giants controlled the stoppages and dominated possession in a complete performance.
OLD GIANTS SHOW UP …
GWS has appeared to lack urgency and dare in their Perth matches, but on Saturday they played with a blend of skill and toughness, and control and attack more reminiscent of their brilliant 2019 season.
It started in the middle, where ruckman Mumford won his battle with Sean Darcy, and midfield trio Taranto (25 disposals and five clearances), Coniglio (24 and three) and Jacob Hopper (23 and four) got on top.
The sideways kicking way gone and the dangerous ball movement was back when opportunities presented, with Whitfield the architect off halfback with a game-high 31 disposals.
Back in form after back-to-back losses, the Giants will now relocate to Queensland to play their next three games in nine-day period, against Carlton, Adelaide and Melbourne.
The competition will not have forgotten how dangerous the Giants can be, and Saturday’s win will have premiership contenders concerned if it leads to GWS rediscovering its best football.
… WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM A NEW ONE
Cameron praised second-game key forward Jake Riccardi, who booted four goals after being overlooked for a Rising Star nomination for his impressive two-goal debut.
“He’s a 20-year-old, a mature young fella, he’s got a huge motor and his workrate is through the roof,” Cameron said of the Calder Cannons product.
“He’d been knocking on the door for six to eight weeks, and he knocked it down and got his opportunity.
“It’s a work in progress but clearly he’s started his career really well.”
He should be a lock for this round’s Rising Star nom.
KELLY HURT
Kelly was bending down to collect the ball in traffic late in the second quarter when ruckman Shane Mumford’s knee collected the star midfielder in the face.
He was helped from the ground by trainers, with Cameron confirming he had not suffered any structural damage.
“He was just ruled out with concussion, which makes it tough for next week because we’ve got a five-day break,” Cameron said.
“To lose him was disappointing, but our boys responded to play probably the best quarter we’ve had in a while in the third quarter.”
CAMERON INSPIRES FAST START
Down on form and under the microscope, Coleman medallist Jeremy Cameron made an immediate impression and spearheaded a four-goal run to open the match.
The star Giant kicked two goals in a minute as he outsmarted in-form opponent Luke Ryan and converted his set shots from long range.
Goalless against West Coast last week, and with 18 goals for the season coming into Saturday’s clash, Cameron had not played with the presence he is known for.
But he lifted with his team’s finals chances on the line. When Riccardi kicked the Giants’ fourth straight goal 17 minutes into the opening term, the inside 50s were a lopsided 13-2 and GWS had taken six marks inside 50 to zero. The Dockers never recovered.
“I was pleased for ‘Jez’. He’s a man who likes to get outside, he likes to be on his fishing boat, he likes to chill out and train and play footy,” Cameron said.
“I thought he got back to enjoying his footy, probably released the shackles a bit.
“No doubt he wanted to prove a point that he still had the ability to hit the scoreboard. I was rapt for him.”
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DE BOER DOES THE JOB
Returning from a hamstring injury, tagger Matt de Boer was quick to remind his old team of the value he now provides GWS.
A member of the Dockers’ Grand Final team in 2013, de Boer went straight to former teammate Nat Fyfe and put the clamps on, holding the dual Brownlow medallist to four possessions in the first half.
Fyfe moved into a deep forward role halfway through the second quarter to shake the attention, with de Boer’s efforts a win for the former Docker and the GWS coaches’ box.
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said Fyfe was fit after being held to just 11 possessions.
The coach took no issue with the champion midfielder’s treatment off the ball.
“He’s a two-time Brownlow medallist, he’s the best clearance player in the comp, so he’s going to get some attention,” Longmuir said.
“He usually handles it really well. I’ll have to have a look. Maybe he didn’t handle it as well today. He’s dealt with that before and he’s handled it before, and he’ll be all right with that.”
The defensive job of Lachie Keeffe on in-form Fremantle forward Matt Taberner was also significant, with Nick Haynes peeling off to hold the Dockers’ best forward target to two goals and three marks.
LONGMUIR: DOCKERS SHOWN LEVEL THEY NEED TO REACH
Fremantle’s young midfield was “smacked around the ball” and given a lesson in the contest by the stronger, more experienced Giants.
Longmuir said it was a valuable lesson for his midfielders to learn after an impressive season that has seen third-year pair Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra and Rising Star favourite Caleb Serong emerge.
“Absolutely. There’s a clear level we need to get to and we’re not up to it at the moment,” the coach said.
“I thought Dave Mundy, especially in that second quarter, was at the level but as a collective we weren’t.
“It’s important for those inside mids to understand that.
“(We were) smacked around the ball, beaten in the contest early … just bigger and stronger and more desperate, which is disappointing.
“It was a step-up for us today and we didn’t handle it, so we’ve got a few lessons to learn, and we’ve got to learn them pretty quick.”
Defender Luke Ryan landed heavily in a marking contest in the fourth quarter and is in doubt for Wednesday’s clash against premiership favourite Richmond at Metricon Stadium with a bruised hip.
The Dockers return to Queensland to play Richmond, Melbourne and North Melbourne in a 10-day period, and Longmuir said it would be a good opportunity for players to build resilience and “understand how much work the body can handle”.
“If they’re up to it, we’ll look to give our players as much game time and as much games over this period if we can,” he said.
“It’s a good opportunity for Brayshaw and Cerra to have to back up and learn to tolerate playing with a bit of soreness. It won’t hurt them in the long run.
“We’re not going to rest players for the sake of resting players. They’ll have to be sore and have something wrong with them to get that luxury.”
SCOREBOARD
FREMANTLE 1.1 2.3 5.3 8.5 (53)
def by
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 4.2 6.4 11.7 14.7 (91)
GOALS
Dockers: Mundy 2, Taberner 2, Bewley, Crowden, Henry, Wilson
Giants: Cameron 4, Riccardi 4, Hill 2, Daniels, Greene, Himmelberg, Taranto
NATHAN SCHMOOK’S BEST
Dockers: Mundy, Cerra, Conca, Brayshaw
Giants: Whitfield, Riccardi, Cameron, Taranto, Coniglio, de Boer, Keeffe, Hopper
NATHAN SCHMOOK’S VOTES
3 — L Whitfield (GWS)
2 — J Riccardi (GWS)
1 — J Cameron (GWS)
INJURIES
Dockers: Nil
Giants: Kelly (concussion)
Venue: Optus Stadium
Originally published as GWS forward Jake Riccardi named Round 14 Rising Star after being 44th-ranked player on the ground