Richmond is punishing rivals late, piling on pain in final-quarter push

CROUCHING Tigers, obvious pressure. Richmond has cemented its place at the top of the ladder with fourth-quarter dominance and if there’s one piece of advice for Adelaide, it’s to leave plenty in the tank.

BEWARE. These Tigers like hunting late.

Richmond has cemented its place at the top of the AFL ladder ahead of tonight’s Grand Final rematch with Adelaide, and if there’s one piece of advice for the Crows, it’s to leave plenty in the tank.

The Tigers have turned punishers late in games, a net 100 points ahead of the next best in fourth quarters this year.

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And we’re talking really late, with Champion Data statistics revealing the premier to be 50 points better than its closest contender for points differential from the 20-minute mark.

A lot of it, according to two-time premiership player and analyst David King, comes down to what has become the Tigers’ trademark - unrelenting pressure.

They seem to be so good without the footy that when other teams get tired and the errors come, they’re already in that pressure-turnover mindset,” he said.

Dustin Martin is set to blast off in the second half of the season, according to coach Damien Hardwick. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

“Everything that they do late hits the scoreboard, because the opposition just puncture. They can’t go with them. They can’t handle the pressure for 120 minutes.

“They can for blocks - and you can still get Richmond for a 10 or 15 minute window - but outside of that, they’re so quick.”

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick warned against teams “getting a run on”, but that’s exactly what his men have been doing to their opposition late in games.

And in a year where percentage will be key to determining how the chips fall in the top eight, it’s vital.

Richmond has won 16 straight games at the MCG. In its nine games at the ground this year, it has recorded an average winning margin of 46 points.

King said the Tigers’ lack of height gave them an ability to maintain pressure until the death unlike other sides.

There’s no hiding that they’re up and about at Tigerland. And rightly so - the numbers don’t lie. Picture: Michael Klein

“Their speed doesn’t seem to drop off, because they’re not as tall as the other teams,” he said.

“They’ve only got one key forward, really only one ruckman. They’ve got probably three tall backs, but that’s it.

“There’s no real height in the Richmond team so they can run games out. They’re all midfielders — all purpose picks.”

King suggested that Adelaide take a leaf out of the Eagles’ book after their 47-point defeat of Richmond in Round 9.

“You’ve got to take the speed out of the game at times,” the former Kangaroo said.

“(West Coast) just honoured every little lead, they made (Dustin) Martin defend, they made (Kane) Lambert defend, they chipped the ball around and worked it forward and took a little bit of territory,” he said.

“But they were prepared to hit those little 15-20m kicks rather than blast it long. Richmond couldn’t get their pressure game going. You can’t allow the game to live in pressure, because if it does, that’s what they do.”

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