AFL news round 20: Collingwood poised for late charge at finals after take-down of Richmond
Nick Daicos had a whopping 17 touches at the first change, with no Richmond players within cooee of him at stoppages. Adem Yze explains why the Tigers let him run riot early.
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Richmond coach Adem Yze has taken full responsibility for allowing Nick Daicos to run riot from the opening bounce in the Magpies 26-point victory on Sunday.
Daicos finished with 42 disposals and burst out of the gate with 18 first quarter disposals as Yze made the regrettable call to not to tag him initially.
“That’s on me,” he said. “Really backed our mids. Without ‘Nank’ in the team, we didn’t want to get towed around a little bit with tagging at the start of the game.
“We wanted to assess what was going on and give our midfielders the opportunity to work with Samson (Ryan). Daicos just dominated the game so we had to change that.”
Stand-in captain Liam Baker – due to Toby Nankervis missing with concussion – tried to quell Daicos first but the duties were eventually handed over to Seth Campbell but it was too little, too late.
“Bakes’ tried at the start. He’s just such a good player,” Yze said.
“We wanted to give some exposure to a young guy Seth’s (Campbell) got an amazing tank. He can run all day. We thought he toiled away and did well.”
Richmond’s midfield suffered further pain when Tim Taranto was subbed out of the game in the third quarter.
Taranto missed eight games with a wrist injury earlier in the season and tried to battle on with his latest issue but the call was made to try ensure he will be okay for their clash with North Melbourne next week.
“He tweaked it at the start of the game and it just got worse and worse,” Yze said.
“He tried to toil away. He tried different things, play different positions. He was happy to play full forward but it was just too high risk. We’ve got a six-day break going into next week’s game.”
Daniel Rioli also came to the bench early on with a rolled ankle but played out the game and Yze expects him to be fine to face the Kangaroos where they have the chance to lift themselves off the bottom of the ladder.
He is also anticipating the return of Dustin Martin and Nankervis.
“‘Dusty’ will obviously get through a full week of training and that’s going to be a positive,” Yze said.
“As long as he doesn’t flare up (he will play on Saturday). He had a good session yesterday and we’ll have a couple of sessions to get some training load into him and he’ll be in a better position to perform.
“I can’t see no reason why he wouldn’t play next week.
“‘Nank’ is ticking the boxes through the concussion protocols so he’s in a good space. He’ll be back in.”
Yze “threw the magnets around a little bit” to cover the holes left by the likes of Nankervis, Martin and Tom Lynch.
Tom Brown went forward again and kicked three goals – including his first at AFL level – while swingman Noah Balta started forward in his 100th game and supported Samson Ryan in the ruck.
The Tigers need two Balta’s at the moment with Yze wanting to play him in defence ideally.
“Realistically, we would love if we could keep him down back while we’re going through what we’re going through,” he said.
PIES’ FINALS HOPES STILL ALIVE
Collingwood’s finals hopes remain alive as they snapped a four-game losing streak with a much-needed 26-point win in a lacklustre affair against Richmond at the MCG.
The Magpies ensured they were in control of the contest from start to finish with a six goal to two first quarter to bounce back from their 66-point thrashing by Hawthorn last week.
Collingwood now sit two points shy of eighth placed Essendon but they may be four points out of the eight at the end of the round if the Western Bulldogs and/or Hawthorn win.
Nick Daicos starred yet again as he bolted out of the blocks with 18 first quarter disposals which included five clearances and seven score involvements.
For much of the day, it looked as if he had brought his own footy as he accumulated 42 disposals.
He was so desperate for the ball that he even had a friendly dispute with older brother Josh over who would take the kick after an out on the full in the third quarter – of course, Nick won.
The Tigers were unable to keep up as the 21-year-old effortlessly glided across the turf when the ball broke out into space while also showing toughness in the clinches to finish with game-highs for clearances and score involvements with 12 apiece in a performance that is sure to help his Brownlow chances.
Craig McCrae demanded better on field leadership from his top-line players following the loss to the Hawks’ and Daicos was not their only star to respond in style.
Darcy Cameron relished the absence of Tigers’ captain Toby Nankervis in the ruck as he took strong marks at either end of the ground as well as providing his midfielders with silver service dominating the hitouts with 33 of his own.
Darcy Moore was thankful for Cameron’s support in defence as the Magpies skipper enjoyed more freedom to roam and influence contests with Jeremy Howe taking most of the responsibility for 100th gamer Noah Balta when he was stationed in the forward half.
Moore finished with 13 intercept possessions – the most on the ground – to stifle Richmond’s attacks.
Scott Pendlebury opened the scoring in his 399th game with a set shot goal from a selfless pass inboard from Jamie Elliott, while he showed his class with six clearances from his 22 disposals before being tactically subbed out at three quarter time.
In the forward line, Dan McStay booted three goals in his second game back from an ACL injury as the Magpies’ headliners got the job done.
They rediscovered some of their mojo with plenty of clean ball movement and an emphasis on celebrating their teammates success such as when Lachie Schultz – who has been the subject of conjecture as the Magpies gave away their first round pick in this year’s draft to Fremantle for him – kicked his first goal of the day in the third term.
But their performance was not a return to the ferocious defending which has been their trademark in recent years with much of the game rated well below the league average for pressure.
At times, it was a comedy of errors but in the end Richmond were outclassed by the Magpies’ big guns.
The Tigers had more Inside 50s in the first half – 27 to 25 – despite being belted in the clearances 23 to 14 in that time as their final kick into the forward line struggled to find threatening targets.
Tom Brown provided a shining light however as he booted his first career goal with a long bomb from outside 50 in the first term before going forward after half time to play on Darcy Moore and kicking two more goals.
BAKER TAKES CAPTAINCY DUTIES
With Toby Nankervis missing due to concussion, Liam Baker was handed the Richmond captaincy for Sunday’s clash amid speculation regarding his future.
Baker, who is vice-captain alongside Jayden Short and Tom Lynch (injured), has been linked with a move back to his home state of Western Australia at season’s end but the Tigers have regularly emphasised his importance to them as a leader.
The 26-year-old finished with 19 disposals at an efficiency of 75 per cent.
TIGERS’ INJURY WOES CONTINUE
Richmond have had a wretched run of injuries this season and it continued on Sunday with Tim Taranto subbed out during the third quarter with a back complaint.
The midfielder has missed eight games this year with a wrist injury and his latest concern came after Daniel Rioli and Jacob Koschitzke spent time on the bench with issues of their own before playing out the game.
PIES’ ROAD AHEAD
If Collingwood are to feature in September, they will have done it the hard way.
The Magpies face three top-four sides in the next three weeks starting with arch rivals Carlton in Scott Pendlebury’s 400th game on Saturday night.
They then head to Sydney to take on the Swans followed by a grand final rematch with the Brisbane Lions at the MCG.
Richmond meanwhile come up against fellow cellar dwellers North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium next week in a crucial game to avoid the wooden spoon.
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