Richmond v Carlton a battle between Tigers’ pressure forwards and Blues’ ice-cool defenders

THIS isn’t just another Richmond-Carlton blockbuster. It is also the fast-forward Tigers against the go-slow Blues. Fire versus ice, if you will.

Kade Simpson of Carlton.

GAMES are won and lost in the midfield, coaches constantly tell us.

Occasionally they speak of the need to contain a rampant rival forward or quell a brilliant ball winner.

But it says everything about the unique manner in which Carlton is winning games in 2017 that Damien Hardwick didn’t say any of those things.

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Instead, the Richmond coach this week uttered words rarely heard in this sport.

“We’ve got to take their defence out of the game as best we can,” Hardwick said.

Come again?

The Richmond coach took only 12 seconds to raise the topic of Carlton’s defence in his weekly press conference.

“Defensively they’re very good behind the ball, they’ve got some really good movers behind the ball in (Kade) Simpson and (Sam) Docherty and they’re good players are playing really well in (Patrick) Cripps, (Marc) Murphy and (Bryce) Gibbs,” he said.

“They defend well ... they’re using a strength of theirs to then counter-attack as well and when they do get through from the back half they score heavily.”

Richmond could be destined for the top four, the improving 5-7 Blues have won their past two and a crowd of 80,000 could pack the MCG tomorrow.

But this isn’t just another Richmond-Carlton blockbuster. It is also the fast-forward Tigers against the go-slow Blues. Fire versus ice, if you will.

Rejuvenated Richmond thrives on a manic forward line, whipped into a frenzy by a mosquito fleet — Jason Castagna, Dan Butler, Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli.

The Tigers lead the competition in creating forward-half turnovers (29.9 per game) and the scores that result from those turnovers account for an average 41 per cent of their total score — the biggest percentage of any team.

Tigers Sam Lloyd and Jason Castagna put Luke McDonald under the pump.

Forcing rivals into mistakes is a crucial measuring stick for Hardwick’s side. When the Tigers have created 27 forward-half turnovers or fewer this season, they’ve lost. In the seven games they’ve forced more than 27 forward-half turnovers, they are undefeated.

The challenge for Richmond this week is that it is running into a side that takes less risks than a librarian.

The Blues are the definition of safety-first coming out of defence. They average more kicks in the defensive half than any side, handball the least behind centre and take the second-most marks and uncontested marks in the defensive half.

Incredibly, Carlton still turns the ball over 26.3 times a game — ranked 15th — yet it only concedes 29.8 points from those mistakes — ranked second in the AFL.

So as quick as a clanger is committed, Blues defenders snap back into position to stop the score. It’s like getting bitten, but not copping the venom.

Carlton doesn’t do what legendary soccer manager Jose Mourinho famously termed “parking the bus”.

Kade Simpson seems to do as he pleases down back.

It presses like everyone else, but it goes slower and safer than almost everyone else. Two of Carlton’s most important players in Sam Docherty and Kade Simpson set the tempo here.

Docherty’s influence hasn’t been lost on Hardwick and amid all the talk of Ed Curnow tagging Dustin Martin, will the Tigers coach spring a negating surprise?

“He sets up really well, doesn’t he? He’s sort of like a goalkeeper there, they go back to him a lot and they use his offensive prowess to get the ball moving,” Hardwick said.

“We’ll look a him ... make sure we negate his influence as best we can.”