Robbo: Richmond made premiership contenders look listless as Tom Lynch dominates
Tom Lynch was dominant and the Tigers made a premiership contender look listless. Mark Robinson says write off Richmond at your peril — himself included.
Mark Robinson
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Damien Hardwick said pre-match he’s happy if Tommy Lynch brings the ball to ground.
Betcha he’s a lot happier when Tommy Lynch is taking marks and kicking goals.
Lynch was emphatic in Richmond’s win on Friday night.
He grabbed 12 marks, seven of them inside forward 50m, and kicked 3.5, and if there weren’t shakes in front of the sticks, it could’ve been a seven-goal night.
He was dominant and so were the Tigers. Pity those fools who questioned the champs, myself included.
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Four goals down in the second term, they turned up the heat and made the most exciting team in the competition look listless in the second half.
It was physically menacing and mentally domineering and the Bulldogs, one of the contenders this year, were shunted back into the pack of maybes and possibles.
We know what the menacing Tigers look like. We’ve seen it for four years. And last night the Bulldogs saw it strangle them in a staggeringly lopsided second half.
The Tigers kicked 2.8 in the first half and 9.3 in the second.
Certainly, big boys footy, as Hardwick has christened it, arrived in Round 7.
Their first-half pressure was 173 and their second half was 193. There was always going to be a Dustin Martin discussion after Friday night, even when he was 4155km away in New Zealand.
If the Tigers lost, it was because they were missing their future Hall of Fame legend along with Kane Lambert and Dion Prestia and Nick Vlastuin, and improved times were ahead. Because they won without that foursome, the Tigers made a point and in doing so put to bed any suggestions the dynasty was shaky.
It was an amazing win. A season-shaper. An opposition shaker. A system winner.
Lynch was probably best afield.
It was noted in Monday’s Herald Sun that Lynch was struggling to kick goals and, more importantly, take marks.
He destroyed opponent Zaine Cordy which underscored the popular opinion the Dogs are susceptible against monster forwards.
Jack Riewoldt, opposed to Alex Keath, took seven marks.
The momentum turned 12 minutes before halftime, led by Tony Nankervis, Shai Bolton and captain Trent Cotchin, and was ridden to the final siren.
Bolton’s a star. He weaves out of traffic like “Dusty” does. Dusty does it with power and poise. Bolton does it with speed and grace.
Nankervis minced Stef Martin and maimed Bulldogs smalls in tackles and it wouldn’t surprise if he was leading the Tigers’ B&F at this stage of the season.
The third-quarter stats were stark.
Richmond was +11 for contested possessions, had a pressure rating of 205 to the Bulldogs’ 168, and had 18 inside 50s to five.
The Bulldogs made too many mistakes.
Dropped marks were crucial. Two to Josh Bruce in the final quarter were telling. He missed one ball completely.
“He was worried about the body and not the flight of the ball, and he ran completely under it,’’ Channel 7’s Wayne Carey noted. Because he was commentating the criticism was mild.
Too many Dogs players were poor or disappeared when Richmond’s renowned suffocation came trolling in the second half. Their midfielders wracked up their usual high numbers, but they lacked the impact of previous weeks.
Only one Bulldogs player had double-figure contested possessions and that was Tom Liberatore.
In essence, it was a smack in the mouth for the previously undefeated Bulldogs.
But they, too, were missing players. They will be better with Tim English threatening defences because Josh Schache once again didn’t impose himself.
The Tigers had a high number of uncontested marks which surely had to be a plan. In the first half, they took 63 uncontested marks when their season average is only 72.
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Originally published as Robbo: Richmond made premiership contenders look listless as Tom Lynch dominates
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