Dustin Martin lifts Richmond past Carlton in sloppy affair but Tigers need more firepower

DAMIEN Hardwick and his team could have lost it against Carlton before Dustin Martin helped the Tigers salute. And JAY CLARK says there’s still some missing pieces for Richmond.

Things were tight at the MCG, as shown by Marc Murphy and Shaun Grigg. Pic: Michael Klein

DAMIEN Hardwick has maintained his cool all season.

To his credit, the Richmond coach has shown understanding each time his side has mucked up late in a game and surrendered a lead.

COTCH: THE DUSTY I KNOW

But at three quarter time against Carlton, ‘Dimma’ would have been entitled to blow his lid.

Richmond had the ball camped in its forward half for enough of the game to have these four premiership points stitched up much earlier on.

But in what has become a recurring theme for the yellow and black this season, another inaccurate day in front of the sticks kept the door ajar for Carlton at the last change, with the Blues trailing by only 13 points.

To that point, Richmond had booted two goals and eight behinds from set shots.

It was looking like a near disaster for Richmond if Carlton could jag a couple of sneaky late majors to continue the round of upsets.

Enter Dustin Martin.

Hemmed in tight on the boundary 60m out, Martin somehow evaded three separate attempted tackles form Kade Simpson and Patrick Cripps and produced a piece of magic which elevated his side out of the doldrums in one of the most error-riddled games we’ve seen this year.

How many times has he sparked Richmond this year?

With some space, Martin whipped out a perfect handpass to Dion Prestia who, on the burst inside 50m, hit-up Dan Butler in one of the cleanest pieces of play for the day.

Superb effort on the wing from Dusty paved the way for Butler to kick the goal. #AFLTigersBlues pic.twitter.com/RtFCpXee4I

— AFL (@AFL) June 25, 2017

From the next centre bounce, skipper Trent Cotchin found Jack Riewoldt with a wobbly clearance kick, sealing back-to-back goals to ice the 26-point win at the MCG.

Phew, Hardwick said up in the box. Certainly, it wasn’t pretty until Martin stepped in.

Martin had a modest first half, but he was the difference after the main change to finish with 14 score involvements in his 30 possessions.

That’s another three Brownlow votes and a healthy boost to his contract price, you would think.

Richmond just cannot afford to let this man go.

They were relieved to triumph in a relatively close one, the Tigers, keeping themselves in touch with the top four. It continues an impressive rebound from the low-point of last season with a reinvigorated and more attacking game plan.

Richmond can thank Dustin Martin for sparking them. Pic: Michael Klein

But fresh challenges have surfaced too, and that’s not just the extra goal kicking practice which will surely top the coaches’ white boards this week.

Richmond had plenty of delivery forward but suffered from the absence of a genuine second key forward/ruck.

Hardwick said last week it had to be addressed in list management terms.

Ruckman Toby Nankervis has been one of the pick-ups of the year but he was beaten by Matthew Kreuzer and seems to be running low on steam.

It underlines the importance of Ben Griffiths’ comeback from serious concussion issues.

He has resumed training and is hopeful to return, possibly next month.

Richmond tried to lower its eyes and continue to hit up small forward targets but Carlton did a fine job of trying to absorb the repeated entries and counter.

Kreuzer was brilliant again, rucking tirelessly and pressing hard forward, while Patrick Cripps won the battle with Cotchin, with 10 clearances and 17 contested possessions.

Patrick Cripps had a good battle with Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin. Pic: Michael Klein

Charlie Curnow also shone with some of his aerial work down the line. The hybrid midfielder-forward is one of the most exciting talents at Ikon Park.

But the reality is the Blues were lucky to still be in this game in the second half as the Tigers should have put them away if they had kicked straight.

They were a man down from the opening 10 minutes of the game following an incident that will dominate the headlines over the next 24 hours and re-energise the debate about implementing a concussion substitute.

Bachar Houli has been reported for this incident with Jed Lamb. #AFLTigersBlues pic.twitter.com/Yqafn9KxsM

— AFL (@AFL) June 25, 2017

Tiger Bachar Houli swung an arm back into Jed Lamb’s head, knocking the Blue out and ending his game half way through the first quarter.

The incident is likely to cost Houli a stint on the sidelines after the match review panel meet.

RICHMOND 3.3 5.10 7.13 11.18 (84) def CARLTON 4.1 4.2 6.6 8.10 (58)

Goals: Richmond: J Riewoldt 3 D Butler 2 J Castagna 2 B Ellis K Lambert S Bolton T Nankervis. Carlton: L Casboult 2 M Kreuzer 2 C Curnow D Thomas M Wright P Cripps.

JAY CLARK’S BEST: Richmond: Martin, Rance, Lambert, Grigg, Houli, Ellis

Carlton: Kreuzer, Cripps, Gibbs, Docherty, Curnow, Jones, Wright

VOTES

3 - Dustin Martin

2 - Matthew Kreuzer

1 - Alex Rance