AAMI Community Series Richmond v Hawthorn: All the news and reaction from AFL pre-season clash
Dustin Martin can be devastating in the middle and in attack, but a Tigers assistant coach has revealed what the Blues can expect in the season opener.
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Richmond’s ‘three peaks’ experiment in attack has been given the stamp of approval for its clash with Carlton at the MCG in Round 1 as premiership defender Noah Balta stamped himself as a likely third Tiger tall this season.
Balta kicked three goals in Richmond’s 25-point AAMI Community Series win over Hawthorn in Devonport on Saturday.
Fellow-forward Jack Riewoldt also kicked three goals, and Tom Lynch kicked two, giving the trio eight of the Tigers’ 14 goals for the pre-season contest.
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Richmond assistant coach, Adam Kingsley said the triple talls test was a success.
“Noah’s ability to compete and bring the ball to ground and bring our crumbers into the play was really strong,” Kingsley said.
“He’s made an AFL name for himself as a backman and been really important there for us.
“We feel like we can stretch oppositions with three key forwards in Tom, Jack and Noah. His aerial stuff is really important and his ground-level stuff is really good for a big guy.
“He showed a lot today. He’s locked in for a start (against Carlton) and I assume that’s as a forward.
“In the 10 days we’ve got before round one we will work out if that’s the best fit but he was really strong so I’d imagine he will play there.”
Superstar Dustin Martin is primed for the club’s season opener but a cloud hangs over three Tigers injured in the solid win.
The Tigers jumped the Hawks with an electric first quarter, adding to their 18-point pre-season win over Geelong with a confidence-boosting win over Hawthorn in front of 8412 fans.
Martin moved freely in the midfield where he gathered 26 disposals and, with skipper Trent Cotchin (26 possessions), controlled the engine room. The three-time Norm Smith Medal winner confirmed he has shrugged the side injury that put the brakes on his game in 2021 and is also clear of the adductor injury that sidelined him last month.
“He (Martin) was great playing through the midfield and a little bit forward so we’d expect him to do the same in Round 1,” Kingsley said.
“We were pleased with the way the game panned out today. We started particular well but to Hawthorn’s credit they fought back and competed strongly.
“We were reasonably happy with the way we responded but there are a couple of things within our game that we need to tidy up for Round 1.”
However, new co-captain Dylan Grimes hobbled off in the second term with an ankle injury, onballer Dion Prestia left with an injured right hand and ruckman Ivan Soldo hurt his right ankle in the third term of the Healing for Hillcrest match to pay tribute to the school that lost six children in a schoolyard tragedy late last year.
Grimes returned in the second half and, after icing his hand, Prestia also returned but Soldo had no further impact on the game after having his ankle heavily strapped.
The Tigers already have injury concerns in defender Nick Vlastuin (hamstring), midfielders Jack Graham (hamstring) and Riley Collier-Dawkins (ribs) and forward Kane Lambert (hip)
“Our guys will get a couple of days off and then we’re into it preparing for Carlton and Round 1 and we expect Nick Vlastuin to get up for that game,” a relaxed Kingsley said post-match.
It was Hawthorn’s second pre-season loss under new coach Sam Mitchell leaving the Hawks to fix the confidence issues they have with ball transition through the midfield and a lack of sting in attack.
After last week’s loss to Collingwood, Mitchell said the Tigers loss was another learning experience.
“We continue to evolve and there was more to like about our game this week,” Mitchell said.
“The young players got more exposure and they stepped up with some strong performances.
“After quarter-time we were a stronger unit and got better as the game went on.
“We weren’t able to get any time in our forward half early and Richmond was able to transition the ball too easy but we thought our game-style evolved as the game went.”
Richmond kicked seven first-quarter goals, the first by Riewoldt.
As his 50m bomb sailed through, Riewoldt touched his chest and pointed to the sky in tribute to the Hillcrest school.
The Tigers showed signs of the Richmond that dominated the competition between 2017 and 2020, while Hawthorn kept the Tigers honest by kicking the last three goals in the final two minutes.
Mind your manners
Richmond fell foul of the crackdown on umpire disrespect early in the game through two of the side’s biggest names.
Jack Riewoldt opened the unwanted account when he vigorously questioned a decision early in the second quarter when he appeared to be manhandled by his Hawthorn opponent Denver Grainger-Barras only for the mark to be paid to the third man up Conor Nash.
Fellow Tigers forward Tom Lynch then appeared to offend soon after giving away a second 50m penalty from which the Hawks pressed forward and scored their third goal, soccered out of mid-air by ace Jack Gunston.
Welcome back, Chad
He was in near career-best form toward the end of last season and Chad Wingard reminded Hawks fans of how damaging he could be again in 2022.
The 28-year-old was rusty, but showed flashes of brilliance in the middle and up forward, and kicked Hawthorn’s fifth goal and only major of the third term.
Wingard had 12 kicks, three handballs, two marks, two tackles and a goal, while top draftee Josh Ward was the Hawks best with 29 touches and a game-high six clearances, in a performance which could almost seal a Round 1 debut.
Now you see me...
The Tigers tested the waters in attack by switching premiership defenders Liam Baker and Noah Balta forward and the Hawks were caught napping.
It was a piece of cake for Baker, who kicked the Tigers second and third goals, coming within a minute of each other.
Not to be outdone, Balta kicked two goals in three minutes also in the opening term.
From there, they varied their roles but with Balta in the attacking 50m, the Tigers have a triple threat in front of goal along with Riewoldt and Tom Lynch, between them kicking eight of the side’s 14 goals
Scoreboard
Richmond 7.4 10.5 13.7 14.10 (94)
Hawthorn 2.1 4.5 5.9 9.15 (69)
GOALS – Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Balta 3, Lynch 2, Baker 2, Edwards 2, Castagna, Soldo.
Hawthorn: Lewis 2, Gunston, Breust, Koschitzke, McDonald, McEvoy, Phillips, Wingard.
BEST - Richmond: Baker, Short, Martin, Cotchin, McIntosh, Rioli, Nankervis.
Hawthorn: Ward, Nash, Phillips, Lewis, Newcombe, Worpel.
INJURIES – Richmond: Grimes (ankle), Prestia (hand), Soldo (ankle).
Tiger twist: Trademark scrapped in bid to rejoin flag race
- Jay Clark
Richmond is prepared to go tall for the first time in its premiership dynasty to rejoin the flag contenders this season.
For all of Dustin Martin’s individual brilliance, it was Damien Hardwick’s swarming small forward pressure and mobile surge mentality that has been the Tiger trademark throughout their triple premiership reign from 2017-2020.
But after a surprising slip down the ladder last season, when the yellow and black fought off a case of physical and mental fatigue, Richmond has embarked on a significant shift to help get the edge on the competition once more.
For the first time in a long time, the Tigers are loading up on big men.
Instead of playing one key forward (Jack Riewoldt) and an undersized back-up ruckman (Shaun Grigg) like they did in 2017, the Tigers are toying with the idea of playing three key forwards, two genuine ruckmen and a decent-sized back line for the season-opener against Carlton in two weeks.
Noah Balta has been shifted forward to join ace goal kickers Riewoldt and Tom Lynch, and Toby Nankervis is set to join forces with Ivan Soldo as the frontline ruck pair after Soldo’s year out with a knee reconstruction.
And down back, first-round draft pick Josh Gibcus is set to partner Dylan Grimes and Robbie Tarrant as part of a revamped back line.
The Tigers fell off the pace last season as a shortened pre-season, a high injury toll and the COVID-19 cloud set in.
But Nick Vlastuin said the Tigers have clocked up “four or five times” more miles than what they did last summer.
The theory behind the upsized forward line is to help provide a stronger aerial contest in the attacking half to help thwart the opposition’s intercepting game, and by extension, bring the Tigers’ smalls back into it.
According to Champion Data, the Tigers ranked 12th for groundball in the forward half last season (-164 differential) and 16th for forward half contested marks (average 5.3 a game).
They were involved in the third-fewest one-on-one contests inside the forwards 50m (147).
While The Tigers still have an open mind on the bigger setup, Vlastuin said the early signs have been encouraging throughout the summer trials.
“It is the tallest team we have ever played, to be honest,” Vlastuin said,
“In the past we have been a small team and (tried to) run on to it, but now that MOP (mark from opposition possession) is so valuable our smalls don’t get a chance to do anything.
“So we are hoping to win those aerial balls up forward a bit more.
“In 2017, we had Riewoldt and (186cm) Josh Caddy playing as our key forwards, so it has changed a bit to Riewoldt, Lynch and Balta now. Plus the two rucks.
“So it will be interesting. It worked pretty well on the weekend.”
The moves don’t end there. Daniel Rioli will be stationed down back in Bachar Houli’s rebounding role, and Gibcus is also set for a start against the Blues, according to Vlastuin.
The Tigers were worried Gibcus might get taken by Gold Coast at pick five but the Suns instead took the punt on ruckman Mac Andrew, allowing Gibcus, an exciting intercept defender, to slide to Punt Rd.
“He’s a freak. I expect him to play Round 1. He’s super quick and so fit,” Vlastuin said.
As part of the running repairs, the Tigers have also made a focus of the stand rule after the change last year threw a spanner in Richmond’s works.
The Tigers liked to get up and press in the face of the ball carrier, but the stand rules limited their effectiveness in the pressure stakes – their one wood.
Vlastuin said the Tigers looked at how Melbourne operated on the mark over summer in another tweak for 2022.
“We tried to steal a few things off Melbourne. They did so well last year and they probably adapted to the stand rule the best,” he said.
“The stand rule threw another dynamic in because we always press them (opposition) up really hard and tried to cover that, but it is just too hard now with that stand rule in.
“We might try some things, maybe not all of them will work. We’ve done a few scratch matches and we know exactly what the forwards are trying to do and they know exactly what we are trying to do, so that is frustrating.
“Even in Geelong - with the skinnier ground - it is challenging to see if it does work.”
The Tigers also claim to be fitter and mentally fresher this year after being caught short in both areas in the lead-in to 2021 as they missed finals.
Richmond had come off back-to-back flags heading into last season and the batteries, Vlastuin said, were much flatter than they would have liked.
But this summer, they have clocked up their most kilometres in five years.
Vlastuin, who tweaked his hamstring against the Cats but will be back for Round 1, said he expects the Tigers to hit back hard this year.
“We didn’t get a pre-season in last year at all. It was something like four weeks,” he said.
“So this year everyone came back fit and they (fitness staff and coaches) were able to flog us from day one, so it has been a very solid pre-season.
“It has been hot and it has been humid, but we have done more work - I’m talking four or five times more work than what we did at the same time last year.
“Even going back to the 2017 pre-season we have already done more kilometres than we did back then, so everyone is looking fit. But who really knows until Round 1.”
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