Richmond and Geelong haven’t seen last of each other this season after finals preview
THERE has been a lot of unattractive footy played so far in season 2018 but this was anything but. There was a whiff of September about the Geelong v Richmond clash and the reigning premiers answered the challenge.
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TEN months ago Richmond approached its MCG qualifying final against Geelong aware it was the AFL’s laughing stock.
On Sunday, the Richmond side that ran over Geelong for the second time in succession has become an AFL powerhouse.
It is an astonishing transformation from the AFL’s reigning premier.
A team that last August had not triumphed in a final since 2001 has now won 15 of the past 18 games, 16 straight at the MCG and sits atop the AFL ladder.
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With cash reserves of $10 million and 96,000 members and no sniff of the premiership hangover that befell the Western Bulldogs.
In a weekend where Bob Murphy spoke from the heart about the Bulldogs climbing Everest, then sliding all the way to base camp, the Tigers haven’t missed a beat.
And as they systematically ground Geelong into the MCG mud, they showed there is no reason why they can’t do it all again.
Geelong once beat Richmond for fun, losing just eight times to the Tigers from 1990-2017 and in 13 straight games leading into that dramatic qualifying final.
A team that aspires to be great like Geelong has now beaten them twice in a row for the first time since 2000.
It was impossible to escape the symbolism.
In typical Richmond fashion, a team built on pressure did it with two tackles, a smother and a gang tackle.
Just as Joel Selwood threatened to rip the game from Richmond’s grasp midway through the last term, in stepped Mr September.
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As Patrick Dangerfield surged out of the centre square with the game in the balance, Trent Cotchin flung himself at the Geelong flyer.
He dispossessed Dangerfield, then pinned Zach Guthrie a split second later for a holding the ball decision that led to Dustin Martin’s trademark snapped goal.
Seconds after Selwood’s second long goal, Shane Edwards’ smother, collect and long bomb led to a 60m foot race finished by Jason Castagna’s goalmouth soccered goal.
Then as time ticked down, the Tigers soccered and punched and slapped the ball into the forward arc in one chain of continuous movement.
Finally Jason Castagna and Daniel Rioli’s gang tackle of Mitch Duncan saw Hardwick’s houseguest Rioli nail the goal that sealed Richmond’s 10th win of the year.
In a season that feels like it needs saving, Geelong and Richmond might be here to help.
The year has had its fair share of junk footy, defensive grinds and blowouts, but this contest had a whiff of September.
The stars were out to play — four Brownlow Medallists and all of them having magical moments.
The match-ups were sublime — long stretches where you didn’t know whether to watch Gary Ablett v Martin or Alex Rance v Dangerfield.
And every passage of play felt it might be the game-breaker, as Geelong’s midfield dynamos held centre clearance sway against Richmond’s full ground pressure game.
The best part — these two sides will help resuscitate the Friday night schedule with an MCG clash in Round 20, hopefully followed by another finals encounter.
Hardwick will take confidence from knowing his side beat something approximating Geelong’s best on Sunday.
Selwood inspired with 29 possessions and two herculean goals, Ablett was his sparking best, Geelong won centre clearances (18-6) and inside 50s (61-52).
A handful of bizarre incidents will get a run over with footy’s Monday night review shows.
Rance is now going to have to work for every free kick after his staging fine, aggressively blocked in a marking contest by Dangerfield yet ignored by the umpire.
Then Dangerfield was thrown forward when buffeted by Martin in a third-term contest, social media already in uproar trying to spot the latest “diver”
Perhaps the desire to out players in what is still one of the most legally brutal games in the wold has gone too far.
Gary Ablett’s rousing long goal from 50m, Ryan Garthwaite’s goal line smother on James Parsons — it kept the hardy crowd of 46,423 continually enthralled.
And when the dust settled, like the end of a 12-rounder between two brave heavyweights, it was impossible not to salivate over the prospect of an imminent rematch.
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