Richmond VFL team through to Grand Final after barnstorming last quarter
Richmond is into its second VFL Grand Final in three years after a dominant final quarter display. And coach Craig McCrae believes two Tigers could enter the AFL selection frame ahead of Friday’s preliminary final.
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Richmond is through to its second VFL Grand Final in three years after coming out on top of an enthralling contest with Port Melbourne yesterday.
They say finals are won by winning the big moments and it was the Tigers’ youth who stood tallest when push came to shove.
Richmond jumped out of the blocks and took a three-goal lead early in the second quarter when Dan Butler kicked truly on the run, but a late Jake Aarts bump on Thomas O’Sullivan -who was going back with the flight of the ball and left him in hospital — lit a fire under the Borough.
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They kicked six goals to three through the middle quarters with Eli Templeton leading the charge, kicking two majors and being influential with ball in hand.
Port Melbourne looked to have the momentum heading into the last quarter but after struggling for much of the week with illness, young forward Callum Moore took it over.
The 23-year-old took two massive contested marks and kicked a goal after he had been well held for most of the afternoon.
A fight broke out after O'Sullivan got crunched going back with the flight #VFL pic.twitter.com/9Gibr1jpVt
— 7VFL (@7VFL) September 14, 2019
“It’s a good story because he was sick all week and didn’t train and he just tried to struggle to get through that,” Richmond VFL coach Craig McRae said.
“I’m really proud of him, he just found a way and he just stuck at it and his strengths came through when we needed them most.”
McRae said the message at three-quarter-time was clear — play the 120 minutes.
“It’s a credit to this group that we have been able to win all our close games all year, we haven’t lost one,” he said.
“We’ve been mentioning for a while about playing the minutes.
“No one has been able to go with us for 120 minutes all year.”
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Connor Menadue was best-on-ground for Richmond, starting across half forward where he kicked two goals before steadying the ship behind the ball in the last quarter.
“Really proud of Connor. He got us going with his goals and then we moved him back in the last quarter and he just looked assured,” he said.
“I couldn’t be more proud of him, we’re in this position because of guys like him.”
McRae said Kamdyn McIntosh and Noah Balta would likely be discussed at the selection table and believes both are ready to go if needed.
The preliminary final win means Richmond will play either Essendon or Williamstown in next weekend’s grand final, with McRae quick to remind his players there is “another 120-minutes to go”.
“It’s pretty cool (being in another grand final). I said to the guys before they don’t come around too often and we still have a lot of work to do,” he said.
“Celebrate the moment and enjoy it for what it is but there is another 120 minutes to go.
“This group has something special about it.”
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