AFL 2020: Richmond heaps more pain on North Melbourne after comfortable 54-point win at Metricon Stadium
He’s only had 15 and then 16 disposals in his last two matches but, for Richmond superstar Dustin Martin, it’s not about the numbers, it’s about winning, and what he did against the Roos went a long way toward getting the Tigers home.
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What if we told you this Richmond side still had six premiership stars to return?
Yes, it could happen again.
The Tigers are back with their trademarks of pressure and contested ball absolutely singing, and some of their biggest stars are just getting back into tune.
When Richmond won its premierships, it was done under the strain of significant injuries.
And this year yet again, the Tigers continue to get the job done without some of their biggest names.
It’s scary.
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Trent Cotchin (hamstring) watched on with his family from the team’s hotel hub just a few hundred metres from where his team demolished North Melbourne, with Dion Prestia (ankle) a few kilometres away in his 14-day hotel quarantine a few doors down from premiership teammate Toby Nankervis, who also had ankle surgery in recent weeks.
David Astbury is ready to return after his knee issue.
Two Tigers remain in Melbourne, with possibly the biggest cloud over defender Bachar Houli continuing to support his family following the birth of his son Mohamed and devastating diagnosis and serious health battle for his mother, Yamama, who is fighting COVID-19.
Shane Edwards, too, could return later this season if all goes well, with his first baby due very soon.
There’d be hurdles to their return – the 14-day quarantine, to say the least – but this Richmond team knows how to get the job done in the face of absences.
It’s a frightening formula, Dimma’s men slot in seamlessly to what is a proven premiership formula, as Derek Eggmolesse-Smith showed on Saturday night.
Jake Aarts, too, hit the scoreboard for the first time after doing his apprenticeship in the VFL.
Josh Caddy was felled with a hamstring injury that will be one to watch closely in coming days,
“They’re jelling together,” Hardwick said.
“We see some growth in some players and merging into roles.
“There’s a lot of positive things to come out of the game, but we’ve certainly got some work to do in a couple of other areas, though.”
Shai Bolton starred with half of his touches contested.
“It was always going to take a bit of time with the five players going out of the side and we see some growth in some players merging into some roles so that was really promising for us,” Hardwick said.
“We played and moved the ball a lot better than last week so there were a lot of positives to come out of the game.
“It’s fantastic to see Shai Bolton go through there, 10 contested possessions and five clearances, he’s just got to get fit and used to playing that role.
“We’ve always felt he was a midfielder, we just haven’t had the opportunity to put him in, and this provides that. I don’t want to say it’s the great thing about injuries but it does give opportunity to different players.”
SO WHO’LL BE BACK?
Unfortunately it looks like at least another week for skipper Cotchin.
His kids are loving hub life, belting around the Elite Resort on bikes and getting plenty of attention at training, but while Cotchin has a fresh new do thanks to “barber” Nick Vlastuin, this will likely be his third week on the sidelines.
Whether he’ll be joined by Josh Caddy, who injured his left hamstring on Saturday night and was significantly hampered, remains to be seen.
“I’m not too sure but he (Caddy) took forever to get off the ground which indicates it is probably significant,” Hardwick conceded.
“Obviously we’ll get scans and assess that, he won’t play for the next couple of weeks.
“Trent had a good session today but with his history we probably won’t play him against GWS, Astbury will be available to play, he trained well today, so those will come back into calculations.
“Nank and Dion I haven’t seen them, they’re in isolation at the moment so they’ll miss at least another two to three weeks at this stage.”
DUSTING OFF THE ATTENTION?
For the best part of three quarters on Saturday night, Dustin Martin was scragged, held onto, blocked, pushed and shoved by his tagger Luke McDonald.
McDonald didn’t do anything Matt de Boer doesn’t do at GWS but it made life difficult for Martin and a Richmond midfield that was already without Trent Cotchin and Dion Prestia.
McDonald kept the Richmond superstar to just three touches in the first quarter and five in the first half, but he found a way through sheer will to get his hands on the footy and still kicked two goals.
For the second week in a row, Martin’s overall numbers were well down on his averages. He had 15 disposals against Sydney last week and 16 against the Kangaroos at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
But guess what? Richmond won both games and on Saturday night Martin made every possession count, as teammate Kane Lambert pointed out during the week.
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“Sometimes Dustin may not have the statistical impact on games but he still manipulates and influences in other ways,” Lambert said.
Martin won the footy with strength and aggression around the stoppage and presented up the ground from deep forward which often resulted in a shot on goal for his team, as he did to set up Mabior Chol’s second goal just before three-quarter-time.
“Dustin is one of those guys — his work around stoppage tonight and a lot of people won’t see it, he provided opportunities for us, he created two v ones,” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said.
“That’s growth in his game, that’s a sign of a leader, that’s how far this kid has come in his football career.
“It’s not about him, he just loves that w at the end of the night, that’s what he’s all about.
“That’s what great players do, they make their teammates better, that’s the one thing I will say about this guy - he’s won everything, but what he does he just loves winning and he will do everything in his power to help us as a side.
“That’s been his growth in this footy club, he’s had a lot of help with Trent but at the end of the day Dustin has wanted to do it and he will continue to grow with that.”
Asked whether he had any issues with the physical attention Martin received off the ball, Hardwick took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Um, yeah, look,” he said before pausing.
“I probably can’t say. Tim (Livingstone) at the back is shaking his head doing this one (signalling ‘no’), just one week out of the media would be good.
“If guys play by the rules it’s fine.”
Martin’s first goal came early in the first quarter when he won a free kick for being held after disposing of the footy and a 50m penalty took him within distance.
But he started to show signs of frustration in the second quarter and his teammates came in to let McDonald know about it. He was still good enough to turn on the spot and hit Jack Higgins with a piercing pass inside 50m by splitting the Kangaroos defence and spent time one-out in the goalsquare playing on North Melbourne’s full back Robbie Tarrant.
Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw said he thought McDonald did a “pretty good job” on Martin.
“Dusty is one of the greats of the competition and he stuck to his task pretty well,” Shaw said.
“He’s always going to get away every now and then and we had to actually break the tag ourselves to gain some momentum and take the game on a bit as well.”
TIGER CUBS TAKE NEXT STEP
Talk about the next gen of Punt Road prodigies.
Mabior Chol’s been around for a while but Derek Eggmolesse-Smith – who topped the Tigers’ possessions with 23 disposals - led the charge on Saturday night, and while Hardwick said the latter would “find his way” in the AFL, the signs are promising.
“They’re both very exciting players,” he said.
“Mabs we have seen before. He’s been in the system for five years now and he does something every year to improve.
“He can mark above his head and marks the ground well for someone who is six foot seven. And Derek has got the ability to play the game. He can use the ball really well, can find the ball really well. He’s just got to find his way in the AFL system. That is a positive of us as a footy club, we embrace those guys who can play and we’re starting to see a little be it of that. He’s still got long way to show but he is showing some signs.”
BROWN AND OUT
With just 28 inside 50s compared to Richmond’s 51, it wasn’t a good night to be a North Melbourne forward but Ben Brown is no closer to snapping out of his funk.
His 0.3 on Saturday night left him on seven goals from seven games this season and in desperate need of some confidence.
He had Noah Balta for company on Saturday night and their first contest on the wing saw the ball slip through his hands.
Mid-way through the second term with North stuck on just 0.1 to Richmond’s 5.5, Brown was still stationed deep and if he was out of form before the game then he looked an eternity from finding it again.
He found himself in space in the second quarter but pushed his set shot right and his second set shot he pulled to the left.
“He was the best set shot in the competition for two or three years in a row, and that’s a sign of his confidence, down in all areas at the moment,” Matthew Richardson said.
His third set shot was from the pocket but even with the snap he sprayed it across the face of goal for a behind.
“As a team I think we’re finding it very difficult to play our footy at the moment, and that hurts a lot of players and specifically our key forward,” Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw said.
“It’s very hard for key forwards at this point in time, big Tommy Lynch didn’t have a great night either, so it’s really difficult to gauge.
“I thought he did a few good things, Benny, got going in a few areas but again, as a team we’re not functioning at our best so that really hurts our forwardline and hurts Ben.”
Josh Walker looked the most dangerous target inside 50m and took a mark of the year contender in the first term when he soared over the top of ruckmen Todd Goldstein and Ivan Soldo, before almost taking another in the goalsquare in the final term.
“We changed a few things up and gave opportunities to guys who have been craving them and really working hard to get them.
“Aiden Bonar played really well down back over the last couple of weeks in some scratch matches and got an opportunity, Ben McKay did a superb job on Tommy Lynch for the majority of the game.
“And Walks, we put him forward to give us an opportunity to mark the footy and I thought he provided a great target for us.
“So although things aren’t tracking that well in the wins column, we’re gaining some little wins and that’s important for us.”
ROOS MORE HOBBLE THAN HOP
It’s the casualty ward from hell.
The North Melbourne injury list is longer than a line for a drink card in Cavill Avenue on a Saturday night, with the next-morning headache to match.
The Roos can just about field a team from their bulging hurt locker, making Rhyce Shaw’s world of pain over the last five weeks even tougher.
Skipper Jack Ziebell was felled with a hamstring injury without even getting a touch, with Jy Simpkin (ankle) and Kyron Hayden (concussed) joining him on the sidelines.
Star midfielder Ben Cunnington continues to battle a back complaint, and that’s merely the tip of the iceberg.
“I haven’t had much time to speak to our medical team yet but it’s a hamstring, I’m not sure how bad it is yet, but it’s really disappointing.
“I thought we did a really good job in bringing Jack back, he was pretty much right to go last week and we took the cautious route, and it’s ended up like this so it’s a bit of bad luck.
“Knowing Jack he’s got a lot of pride and passion for our football club but being the skipper it must be pretty hard for him, it will be wearing pretty thin on him I reckon, he wants to get out there and at this moment he hasn’t had the ability to play too much of a part.
“We’re assessing all the time and I thought we did a really good job after the Ben Cunnington incident, I’ll take responsibility for that and I thought we learnt from that and went forward.
“I think the Jack scenario is a bit of bad luck to be honest.”
TIGERS HEAP MORE PAIN ON WOUNDED ROOS
It was the definition of pain in (Surfers) Paradise.
North Melbourne’s horror month only got worse on Saturday night in a dirty display on the Gold Coast that will leave coach Rhyce Shaw scratching its head.
It had all the potential to get very ugly and did exactly that, with the Tigers delivering a 54-point takedown with its own lethal weapons.
Three goalless quarters further tarred the Roos’ result – their equal seventh lowest score in history – with the team recording just 17 inside 50s to three-quarter time with a total of 28 for the game.
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No pressure, especially in attack, allowed the Tigers to simply do what they do best with ease.
Without even a look at the goals, opportunity wasn’t just stifled – it was non-existent.
Richmond led 27-0 at quarter-time after having 18 inside-50s to one in the first quarte despite North Melbourne having more disposals, which prompted Collingwood premiership player and respected analyst Mick McGuane to describe those numbers as “disgraceful”.
North Melbourne’s already-lengthy injury list only grew, but something has to give, and quickly with hub life quickly becoming harrowing.
It’s hard to fathom that @NMFCOfficial can outpossess @Richmond_FC but trail inside 50’s by 17. Too have 1 inside 50 from 80 disposals is at a disgraceful return for AFL standard.
— Michael McGuane (@MickMCG34) July 18, 2020
“You look at the numbers and I’m really happy with contested possession, clearances, goundballs, loose balls, but it’s our inability to maintain the ball after the initial area that’s letting us down,” Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw said.
“We just didn’t take our opportunities to go forward and inside 50, that let us down and it’s hard to come back (from that).
“This is AFL footy so you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, we’ve got to take these opportunities and find out who wants to take them and who doesn’t, and at the moment we just don’t have enough blokes rowing the boat.”
CARNAGE ON THE COAST
It’s the fear of every club as a string of condensed games looms, and both clubs were hit hard.
North Melbourne’s Cam Zurhaar was a late out (calf), while skipper Jack Ziebell didn’t even manage a touch before he was felled with another hamstring injury.
Teammate Jy Simpkin went down, too, with ankle trouble.
Tigers forward Josh Caddy followed with a left hamstring injury, but it was “pure bravery” from young Roo Kyron Hayden that stunned onlookers, running straight into the path of Tiger Tom Lynch.
“That’s pure courage,” former Hawk and Lions star Luke Hodge said on Channel 7 as Hayden was stretchered off.
Jack Mahony suffered an apparent glute injury late in the game.
Two-time premiership defender Dylan Grimes was reported in the second quarter for an errant elbow to the head of Mason Wood, but it did not appear to be intentional, with match review officer Michael Christian to make his ruling on Sunday.
TOTAL TIGER TRADEMARK
After last week’s slog-fest against the Swans, the Tigers immediately looked keen to return to some familiar territory.
And it was their high-pressure hallmark trade that provided value, scoring more than 70 points for just the third time this season.
Sometimes it’s the classics that just work.
There were a few new faces from the dominance of recent years, with Mabior Chol and Derek Eggmolesse-Smith both delivering as Dustin Martin was well-held early by a frustrating Luke McDonald tag.
Eggmolesse-Smith topped the Tigers’ stats sheet with 23 disposals, Chol kicked two goals and Shai Bolton showed his emergence as a bonafide midfielder.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says he is encouraged by the evolution of his side which found a way to fill the void left by six premiership players.
“It was always going to take a bit of time with the five players going out of the side and we see some growth in some players merging into some roles so that was really promising for us,” Hardwick said.
“We played and moved the ball a lot better than last week so there were a lot of positives to come out of the game.
“It’s fantastic to see Shai Bolton go through there, 10 contested possessions and five clearances, he’s just got to get fit and used to playing that role.
“We’ve always felt he was a midfielder, we just haven’t had the opportunity to put him in, and this provides that. I don’t want to say it’s the great thing about injuries but it does give opportunity to different players.”
ROOS CHANGE THEIR SPOTS
The change was evident in under a minute.
The North Melbourne outfit that had become known for its long kicks down the line suddenly kept the ball in close and attempted to use the corridor.
They took it on after four previous straight losses, but the plan might have been a bridge too far.
Ben Brown’s horror run continued, missing three shots at goal to leave his record at just two goals in the last four games.
Former Bulldogs ruck Luke Darcy asked whether “it’s worth having another role for him” – maybe even in the ruck.
“You can feel his confidence evaporating the longer this goes on,” he said on Channel 7.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying, with the forward covering a huge amount of ground for little to no reward whatsoever.
North Melbourne did have one highlight with Josh Walker soaring over a pack for a Mark of the Year contender.
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SCOREBOARD
RICHMOND 4.3 6.5 9.7 11.11 (77)
def
NORTH MELBOURNE 0.0 2.3 2.6 2.11 (23)
GOALS
Richmond: Aarts 2, Chol 2, Martin 2, Castagna, Lynch, Pickett, Riewoldt, Rioli
North Melbourne: Dumont, Walker
LAUREN WOOD’S BEST
Richmond: Bolton, Eggmolesse-Smith, Chol, Grimes, Martin, Pickett
North Melbourne: Higgins, Walker, Dumont, McDonald, Polec
LAUREN WOOD’S VOTES:
3 – Shai Bolton
2 – Derek Eggmolesse-Smith
1 – Mabior Chol
INJURIES
Richmond: Caddy (hamstring)
North Melbourne: Zurhaar (calf) replaced in selected side by McKay, Ziebell (hamstring), Hayden (head)
Originally published as AFL 2020: Richmond heaps more pain on North Melbourne after comfortable 54-point win at Metricon Stadium