St Kilda v Richmond: High-profile recruit Bradley Hill underfire again after Tigers crush the Saints
St Kilda recruit Bradley Hill was savaged by critics again on Thursday night. But do the Saints have bigger issues as his coach suggests? See the numbers for yourself.
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Bradley Hill won’t become the VFL’s most expensive player next week.
St Kilda’s $900,000-a-season man has been guaranteed a ticket on the plane for the club’s Round 6 clash against Port Adelaide.
Some supporters must be wondering why. Hill, 27, recorded 10 disposals against Richmond.
Five were in the defensive 50m and two were turnovers.
Dylan Grimes and Tom Lynch (three goals) were the only Tigers who had less of the Sherrin than the three-time premiership player.
Saints coach Brett Ratten has been forgiving at selection so far this season.
Nick Coffield’s poor start to the season went unpunished and, in the final three quarters against the Tigers, he went someway to rewarding that by taking 12 marks.
Ratten said that Hill, too, would survive.
“We won’t drop Brad Hill,” Ratten said.
“It was a five-day turnaround … (and) he played well last week.”
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But Ratten admitted that Hill’s work rate was an issue.
“At times he had to work harder. It wasn’t just him. You can’t just categorise him, because there were a few others in that boat as well.”
Coaching legend Michael Malthouse said if he was in charge, Hill would be lining up against Port Melbourne – and not Port Adelaide – next week.
In fact, Malthouse said Hill would’ve been in the reserves all season.
“He wouldn’t have been in (my AFL side) for the year, because I watched the last part of last year. He does not put in,” Malthouse said on ABC.
“You destroy your teammates’ confidence (and) you destroy your teammates’ confidence in your ability to pick a side.
“You’ve got to have everyone singing from the same song. He’s not doing that.”
Former Brisbane Lions champion Jonathan Brown said Hill’s refusal to do the work meant the Saints were basically a man short in defence.
“Richmond players have waltzed past him, he’s fallen over and the worst crime of all – he took his eye off the ball at a critical contest which led to a Richmond goal,” Brown said.
Hill’s GPS numbers would be fascinating reading. He has lost his punch as a player and it was not hard to pluck out confidence-sapping moments on Thursday night.
For example, a dropped chest mark at halfback under no pressure was punished by a Marlion Pickett goal.
It was early in the second quarter and that moment the scoreboard started to slip away.
Hill, too, was far from alone on enduring a miserable night. Saints legend Nick Riewoldt said that unlike the 75-point loss to Essendon in Round 3, this 86-point drubbing was more down to an unstoppable opponent.
ROBBO: TORTURED SAINTS NEED A COMPLETE OVERHAUL
The damage was done in front of Hill – at the source, where Richmond won 21-1 clearances across a stretch of dominance in the second and third quarters.
They outscored the Saints by 45 points from clearances, their best return since a 50-point margin against Gold Coast in 2019.
Hardwick said the Saints won “first possession” 15-12 in the first half, and Ratten said the Tigers won “first possession” 37-11 once they took control.
That statistic was flashing in both coach’s boxes because it showed which midfielders were first to the ball.
The Tigers were a touch fumbly in the first half, so even some of their first touches ended up as St Kilda clearances.
Not so in the second half. Tigers stoppage coach Sam Lonergan told his players to drive their legs, fight through tackles and get the ball to the outside.
It worked. The Tigers cashed in by taking maximum territory, whereas every time St Kilda’s midfielders had a look they seemed to forget they had feet, choosing instead to handball and inviting pressure.
The Tigers even threw Pickett into the ruck.
Richmond’s recruiters told Hardwick’s match committee last week that he had played in the ruck before and so, with Rowan Marshall and Paddy Ryder in the stands, Pickett had a crack for the first time in his fairytale career,
“He still thinks he’s jumped over Zac Clarke, the ex-Framentle ruck,” Hardwick said after the match.
At three quarter-time, and with Richmond winning centre clearances for the term 8-0 and inside 50s 17-4, Ratten was furious at the tactic’s success.
“Pickett’s rucking and they just walked the ball out of there,” Ratten said.
At one stage, Kane Lambert reminded Pickett that he could palm it, instead of plucking it, such was the ease with which Richmond won the Sherrin.
THE STAT
Ratten’s 150th match as a senior coach was also his worst (86-point loss), and also Richmond’s biggest win against St Kilda since 1985.
JACK ATTACK
There was a time when Jack Riewoldt judged himself on goals and jokes about Richmond finishing ninth drove supporters mad.
Remember back in 2010 when Riewoldt booted 10.3 against West Coast at the MCG and the Tigers finished second-bottom on the ladder?
Riewoldt no longer prioritises his scoresheet and nobody has laughed harder than the Tigers in recent years.
Instead, Riewoldt says his impact comes in a variety of ways, plenty of which were on show against St Kilda on Thursday night.
The first goal of the game was a perfect example. Riewoldt coolly collected the Sherrin with one hand on the wing, bounced off Saints captain Jack Steele and fed a handball to Trent Cotchin, which resulted in a Jack Graham major seconds later.
For years, St Kilda has been known as the ‘Jacks’ club, but on Friday night it was Richmond’s Jacks – Riewoldt and Graham – who came up trumps.
Early in the second quarter, Tom Lynch disappeared from a hole in Richmond’s attack to create space so Riewoldt could mark on the lead, and restore the the Tigers’ advantage.
It was a sign of great synergy by the key forwards.
“I’m really enjoying playing with Lynchy and Dustin (Martin) up forward,” Riewoldt said.
“We’ve developed really good (chemistry) now that we’ve played 40-50 games of football together.”
Riewoldt will wake up on Friday morning with a bag of five goals, which was his best return against the Saints since kicking six in 2014.
But long before he filled his boots in the final quarter he had already put in a splendid performance.
There was a flying mark in front of a pack in the third quarter and two brilliant tackles in the last term.
One of those was on Hunter Clark. Riewoldt appealed hard and, when it went rewarded, he let out a mini-celebration, as if he had claimed a tailender’s wicket.
Riewoldt then drained the set-shot clock before slotting the goal, an act which Geelong captain Joel Selwood said showed great game awareness.
Selwood said it showed Riewoldt was looking after his teammates by giving them a breather and keeping them fresh for next week, given the win was in the bag.
“He’s always thinking,” Selwood said on Channel 7.
Taylor Walker is probably the AFL’s most improved player although it is worth noting just how damn well Riewoldt is playing this season.
At 32, he has 17 goals and, with the new man-on-the-mark rule helping leading forwards, it is looking more and more likely that he has perhaps not only one, but maybe even two or three years left in him after 2021.
THE STAT 2.0
In 2021, teams which take more marks inside 50m have won 94 per cent of games (31 out of 33).
Well, Jack Riewoldt took more marks inside 50m than the Saints. Riewoldt grabbed seven out of Richmond’s 17. St Kilda managed only five.
BATTLE FIT FOR A KING
It wasn’t quite Glen Jakovich duelling with Wayne Carey, but, boy, it was fun to watch Noah Balta play on Max King.
King stands 202cm, so when he leaps off the ground and extends his arms he is unstoppable in the air. In the first quarter, he looked just that.
Brad Johnson said Balta was playing like a “caravan” because he was getting towed around, although Balta refused to drop his head and fought back sharply in the second half.
St Kilda’s accuracy was a hallmark of last season, but King’s set-shot routine remains a work in progress. He finished with 1.2 against Richmond.
Cameron Mooney warned he would leave 300 goals on the table without a fix, saying King had the ability to boot 800 career goals but might have to settle for 500.
FIXTURE AND LIST PAIN
Here is a double-whammy for the Saints. They have hands-down the hardest draw for 2021.
The five clubs they face twice are Richmond, Port Adelaide, Geelong, West Coast and Sydney, with the resurgent Swans the only bottom-six club from 2020 they were given a double-up against.
The Saints entered Round 5 with the second-worst percentage in the AFL (above only North Melbourne) and it has now dropped to 71.4.
That’s going to be costly and, along with expected scores, is perhaps a sign they have been a fair way off the pace this year.
Complicating matters is the fact they are clearly in it to win it this year, and don’t have a whole lot of young talent beneath the surface.
They’ve got one of the AFL’s oldest lists and it was put on the agenda by the Herald Sun’s Secret Scout (an AFL club recruiter) who analyses last year’s national draft.
“The question is how much youth has St Kilda got now?” the scout wrote.
“It’s probably at a tipping point where they need to get back into a draft in the next two years.
“You look at James Frawley, Paddy Ryder, Jake Carlisle, Jarryn Geary and Dan Hannebery, there’s going to be some big holes in the future if they don’t attack the draft.”
Match report: Saints crunched as Tigers run rampant
Richmond have sent out an ominous reminder to the rest of the competition that they are still a force to be reckoned with by absolutely destroying a hopelessly outclassed St Kilda outfit by 86 points.
After dropping their last two games, the Tigers emphatically returned to the winners’ list at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night with a vintage display against a team widely regarded as a finals contender prior to the season began.
After quarter-time it was all one-way traffic as the Tigers booted 17 goals to four to seal their biggest win against the Saints since 1985.
St Kilda were actually in the game for the first quarter-and-a-half, but poor disposal, low-quality inside 50s and, crucially, very gettable missed set shots on goal from Max King (two), Jack Lonie and Tim Membrey conspired against them.
Richmond were far from impressive in the opening 40 minutes, but after being kept in the game by St Kilda’s substandard use of the ball, the reigning premiers didn’t need a second invitation to make Brett Ratten’s side pay – and that they did, going to another level that the hapless Saints simply could not reach.
The Tigers regained the ascendancy in the territory battle before halftime, kicking six consecutive goals either side of halftime to ruthlessly take the game away from St Kilda. At one stage, Richmond had 11 scoring shots in a row (6.5) as they outscored the Saints by 87 points after quarter-time.
Dusty + Inside 50 = âš ï¸#AFLSaintsTigerspic.twitter.com/OsWqNQKVVk
— AFL (@AFL) April 15, 2021
The Tigers deprived the Saints of their run-and-carry, forcing them out wide, which played right into Richmond’s hands. As the Tigers’ skill level sharpened up and their hunt for the ball became relentless, they completely overwhelmed the Saints who were belted in contested possessions and inside 50s in particular.
BAD OLD SAINTS RETURN
Bad habits from St Kilda’s horror show against Essendon a fortnight ago crept back into their game in the third quarter as they basically gave up on the contest.
Richmond completely outworked the lazy Saints, monstering them in clearances 16-3, contested possessions 43-25, forward entries 17-4 and on the scoreboard 7.6 to 2.1 as the Tigers were met with little resistance.
St Kilda ended up badly losing the inside 50s 64-33, clearances 44-28, contested possessions 142-123 and tackles 68-53.
Paul Hunter's AFL dream keeps getting sweeter as he notches up his first ever goal 😇#AFLColesGoals | #AFLSaintsTigerspic.twitter.com/8VCpCwPT1d
— AFL (@AFL) April 15, 2021
HILL HANDS IT OVER
With his side trailing by just four points, Brad Hill made a costly error he would like to forget when he dropped a simple mark at the top of St Kilda’s defensive 50m arc early in the second quarter.
Richmond’s Marlion Pickett proceeded to collect the easy crumbs, evaded another opponent and then roosted a magnificent shot on goal from 50m out on a 45-degree angle which split the big sticks.
SAINTS’ SET SHOT STINKERS
Late in the first quarter, and early in the second, when the Saints worked their way back in the game, they should have opened up a handsome lead, but four missed sitters in front of goal from King, Membrey and Lonie cost them dearly, and they were made to pay a hefty price by the Tigers.
GRIMES ROBBED
Richmond defender Dylan Grimes had the chance to kick just the fourth goal of his 176-game career early in the first quarter, and his long-range attempt looked like it was on target. But Tom Lynch spoiled the party as he took the contested mark in the goalsquare, to make sure of the six-pointer for the Tigers with a converted set shot from point-blank range. Grimes’ 93-game goal drought continues.
SAINTS LOSE TWO BEFORE FIRST BOUNCE
St Kilda’s ruck crisis has resurfaced when Rowan Marshall was ruled out of Thursday night’s match against Richmond.
The Saints suffered a double injury blow on the eve of “Maddie’s Match”, with Marshall (foot) and Zak Jones (soreness) withdrawing an hour before the bounce.
They were replaced by no-frills ruckman Paul Hunter and hard nut Luke Dunstan, who had not played since Round 1 last season.
SCOREBOARD
SAINTS 3.4 4.5 6.6 7.6 (48)
TIGERS 3.3 8.6 15.12 20.14 (134)
LERNER’S BEST
Saints: Clark, Steele, Battle.
Tigers: Edwards, Bolton, Graham, Martin, Riewoldt, Cotchin, Baker.
GOALS
Saints: Higgins 2, Lonie 2, Hunter, King, Butler.
Tigers: Riewoldt 5, Lynch 3, Graham 3, Castagna 2, D.Rioli 2, Pickett, Edwards, Martin, Bolton, Aarts.
INJURIES
Saints: Webster (hamstring).
Tigers: Nil.
LATE CHANGES
Marshall (foot) and Jones (managed) replaced in St Kilda’s selected side by Hunter and Dunstan.
UMPIRES Stevic, Gavine, Fleer
VENUE Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 S.Edwards (Rich)
2 S.Bolton (Rich)
1 J.Graham (Rich)
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