David King pinpoints the key battle grounds that Richmond won to lift the premiership cup

DEFENSIVE dominance, forward pressure and ruck superiority. David King pinpoints the key battle grounds that saw Richmond break its premiership drought.

Toby Nankervis and Sam Jacobs battle in the ruck.

LEADING into the Grand Final we highlighted my six keys to ultimate premiership success.

The match was hard fought, but everything went right for Richmond. They were irrepressible.

I scored the fight 6-0 to Richmond and here is why Trent Cotchin and Damian Hardwick lifted the premiership cup.

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BALL SPEED

ADELAIDE wanted the ball in fast motion and aside from fleeting opportunities in the first half, the Tigers’ pressure overwhelmed them.

Magnificent in its persistence and irrepressible in its volume, Adelaide simply couldn’t move the ball and scored just nine points from their defensive half, their worst result for the season.

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Jack Graham, Daniel Rioli, Josh Caddy and Dan Butler are hardly household names, but are now premiership players because they bought into Hardwick’s game plan and lead the Tigers for pressure applied.

Alex Rance down back was everywhere that Adelaide tried to go. He had 10 intercept possessions and 12 spoils, cutting off 22 Adelaide possession chains, completing possibly the best season by a key defender in the modern era.

Richmond used Adelaide’s desire to move fast to punish them on turnover to the tune of 73 points.

Alex Rance and Taylor Walker wrestle. Picture: Mark Stewart

Alex Rance takes a tumbling mark. Picture: David Caird

AIR v GROUND

LAST time these two teams played the Crows dominated the air, but this time it was Richmond who won the contested mark count by five.

Adelaide’s only forward to have impact was Eddie Betts as Alex Rance ruled the air.

The Tigers shut down one of the best forward lines of the modern era. Walker, Jenkins, Otten and Lynch simply couldn’t get space to operate and it took until the 14-minute mark of the third quarter for Otten, Jenkins or Walker to be involved in a score. The Adelaide talls were unsighted.

In the forward end Richmond’s ability to bring the ball to ground was always going to be important to their ability to score from their entries.

They scored just six goals from 30 entries in the first half, a low scoring rate because the Crows managed to pluck 12 intercept marks.

In the second half they restricted the Crows to just five intercept marks as they kicked 10 goals from 28 entries. They got the ball to ground and they ran away with the match.

Dustin Martin hold the premiership cup aloft.

DUSTIN MARTIN

THE same Dustin Martin who won the Brownlow showed up on Saturday. He was the deserving winner of Norm Smith Medal to cap off the perfect season.

The Tigers resisted the urge to use Martin as a permanent forward for a majority of the match.

In the preliminary final he spent 61 per cent of time as a forward, but Hardwick got the call right and he spent 80 per cent of the game in the middle and collected 22 contested possessions.

The second most ever won in a Grand Final behind Simon Black’s 23 back in 2003.

Even playing in the midfield he won 19 of his 29 disposals in the forward half and impacted the scoreboard with two goals, two behinds and three assists.

The “Painted Warrior” will have his own bronze statue at Punt Rd Oval before pre-season starts.

Toby Nankervis and Sam Jaocbs battle in the ruck.

RUCK INFLUENCE

THERE was no doubting that Sam Jacobs had the edge in ruck contests, he won 49 hit-outs and 18 to advantage to Toby Nankervis’s 28 and six.

Jacobs was one of the few Crows who can hold their head up high.

That being said Adelaide couldn’t capitalise on Jacobs’ dominance. Richmond won the clearance count by six and outscored the Crows from stoppages by five points.

Richmond’s midfield fought tooth and nail, eventually neutralised the ruck battle.

Around the ground Nankervis got the points, he won three more disposals than Jacobs and it was his ability to work back that stood out. He won the most intercept marks of any ruckman across the season and took another three in the big dance.

Nankervis for pick 46, I like that value.

Jason Castagna celebrates a goal with teammates.

SMALL PESTS

THERE were no surprises with the Tigers’ small forwards as they remained what they have been for the entire season, minimum quantity, maximum defence, insane impact.

The Tigers’ pressure was through the roof at a 196 rating on the pressure gauge, well up on their season average of 183. They generated 31 forward-half intercepts and scored 53 points from these turnovers.

If you look at the output of the pests some might be underwhelmed. As a collective Daniel Rioli, Dan Butler, Jason Castagna and Jacob Townsend averaged just nine disposals. Yet they kicked four goals and laid 17 tackles.

The best small forwards in the league average 30 forward half pressure points per match, these four pests averaged 30.

What’s better than one elite pressure forward? Four elite pressure forwards.

Trent Cotchin celebrates with the premiership cup. Picture: Phil Hillyard

LEADERSHIP

IN big finals leadership is king.

Taylor Walker is no doubt a fantastic leader, but he was largely unsighted until the final quarter. At the final change he had just five disposals, one score involvement and one goal.

Tex has a fantastic record in finals, but this performance will sting.

Trent Cotchin on the other hand did everything you might not have noticed.

He was relentless in tight, consistently turning lost stoppages into draws, applying hard tackles and feeding the ball out of intense contests. You may have missed his work, but his teammates certainly wouldn’t have.

Congratulations to the Tigers and their loyal supporters. YELLOW and BLACK!!