AFL 2020: Dustin Martin, Noah Balta lead Richmond to big win against Western Bulldogs
Alex Rance’s shock retirement left a huge hole in Richmond’s defence, but the next Rance may have arrived against the Bulldogs — including some of the champion’s trademark brain fades.
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Alex Rance is gone but Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is seeing more and more of the Tigers’ modern day great in young cub Noah Balta.
Earmarked as a potential replacement for the five-time All-Australian when Rance stunned the AFL world by retiring, Balta is starting to show why Richmond rate him so highly.
The 20-year-old finished with 15 disposals, four marks and three tackles in a Richmond defence missing David Astbury and Nick Vlaustin, and restricted Bulldog Josh Bruce to two goals in the Tigers’ statement win at Metricon Stadium on Wednesday night.
Hardwick said Balta could be anything he wanted to be in the AFL.
“He has been very good throughout the year. He probably had one down game but we think for us to be a really good side he has to play. He will just grow into the role,” Hardwick said.
“I’m loath to say it but he does remind me of young Alex Rance and I look at the way he plays the game and he does some things that only he can do and then he will make some mistakes that only him and Alex can do, but he is a prodigious talent and we are really excited about him.
“He has a lot of work to do but we think he is starting to progress nicely.”
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Following in Rance’s big shoes is a daunting prospect, but Hardwick backed Balta to do it – as long as he worked hard.
“Yeah (it is daunting) but Noah has the capacity to do that if he knuckles down and works on his craft. He is a guy who didn’t really grow up with a lot of footy so he is learning and watching a lot of tape,” he said.
“It is up to Noah as to how far he wants to go, he has the talent and the athletic traits to do it. we will provide him with the environment that can hopefully get the very best out of him and then Noah will make the call.”
Hardwick also said he thought Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch showed promising form, despite managing only three goals between them.
“I thought he (Riewoldt) was back, he just didn’t get the looks that he needed at times,” he said.
“But he and Tom stood up for us, which was great.”
Hardwick said captain Trent Cotchin got through the match unscathed and would be assessed to see how much of the footy frenzy he will play.
DOGS BLOWN AWAY BY DUSTY FREAK SHOW
Imagine what Richmond will be like when the Tigers have all their stars firing?
The first game of the footy frenzy ended up being a fiasco for the Western Bulldogs as the Tigers mauled them for much of the game at Metricon Stadium on Wednesday night before running out comfortable 41-point winners.
From losing the Grand Final rematch to GWS, and questions over the form of star forward duo Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch, the Tigers are now third on the ladder – showing just how long a week can be in this 2020 season.
The key duo had their moments but are still off top form, but it didn’t matter one bit for Richmond who were led superbly by Dustin Martin while the Tigers’ cubs continued to show promise.
STILL SEARCHING
In the first quarter this looked to be a masterstroke when the two were among the goals in the Tigers’ emphatic response to Laitham Vandermeer’s opener for the Bulldogs.
Riewoldt read the play superbly to take advantage of Zaine Cordy running into Ivan Soldo to mark and goal and then just under four minutes later Lynch easily saw off the challenge of Alex Keath to kick his first.
Lynch ended up with two goals and Riewoldt one and it was a step in the right direction for the two stars.
WHEN BAZZA MET DUSTY
In the build-up to the game on Fox Footy, the question was asked – would Luke Beveridge put captain Marcus Bontempelli on Martin?
That was answered quickly when second-year gun Bailey Smith lined up on the Richmond superstar at the first couple of centre bounces.
Almost immediately Martin got away from Smith but the Bulldog pup shouldn’t be too disheartened by that – Dusty is beginning to get back to his rampant best and finished with 26 and three goals.
His third goal, a sensational snap from the boundary, was impressive but equally as eye-catching was some real grunt work to smother an attempted kick from Smith.
“How he got it through, I’ve got no idea,” coach Damien Hardwick said of the miracle goal.
“It’s pretty special when he can do things like that.”
ROBBO: WOKEN DUSTY A 17-TEAM NIGHTMARE
CUBS BARING THEIR TEETH
For the first time since late 2010 the Tigers had 10 players on the field with fewer than 30 AFL games under their belts.
Injuries have given the Richmond youngsters a chance and they are continuing to take it.
Mature-age recruit Jake Aarts kicked three goals and Noah Balta was outstanding in a Richmond defence missing Nick Vlaustin and David Astbury.
Mabior Chol showed flashes of brilliance, including a huge body clash that set up a Tigers goal, and Shai bolton continues to blossom with more midfield time.
BEST
Tigers: Martin, Balta, Short, Castagna, Bolton
Bulldogs: Macrae, Wallis, Daniel, Bontempelli
GOALS
Tigers: Martin, Aarts 3, Castagna, Lynch 2, Chol, Riewoldt, Pickett
Bulldogs: Wallis 3, Bruce, Vandermeer 2
INJURIES
Bulldogs: Cody Weightman (managed) replaced by Jackson Trengove, Matt Suckling (hamstring)
Tigers: Nil.
VOTES
3 – Dustin Martin (Richmond)
2 – Noah Balta (Richmond)
1 – Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs)
BEVO LAMENTS FIRST HALF ‘DISASTER’
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says there is “no significant chemistry” in his side at the moment after an ugly loss to Richmond.
The start of the footy frenzy was a “disaster” for the Bulldogs, who were smashed by the Tigers in the opening half as Richmond ran away with a 41-point win.
Beveridge said while his side had won its previous two matches, he believed they weren’t playing well — something he said needed to be rectified quickly.
“We’ve strung some wins together, but our first half was a bit of a disaster, unfortunately,” he said.
“It was a sub-par performance from us, even though I don’t think we have been playing too well.
“But in this series of games we just have to make sure we move on pretty quickly.
“I think it will be season defining for everyone, if you don’t get some runs on the board with some wins in this part as we move into the back end you will be back in the mire very quickly.
“There is no significant chemistry in our side at the moment, (that) is what we are searching for.”
Beveridge said he thought everyone of his players were below their best because of how well the Tigers played.
But he said he would resist the temptation to make wholesale changes for Monday’s clash against Port Adelaide, although Matt Suckling is expected to miss matches with a hamstring injury suffered early on.
“There won’t be major changes,” he said.
“But as we did tonight (with Jackson Trengove a late in) we will continue to consider rewarding opportunity.
“One of the reasons why we went a bit different with Jacko Trengove (instead of Cody Weightman) was to spread the load, we put different players in the midfield because some of our players need a chop out there because they have been working hard.
“We need to spread that load and we didn’t spread it well tonight so we will look to pick a 22 for (our next game against) Port Adelaide that spreads that load and share the responsibilities.”
FIXTURE SQUEEZE CLAIMS FIRST VICTIM
– Chris Cavanagh
The AFL’s fixture squeeze has claimed its first injury victim, with Western Bulldogs defender Matt Suckling suffering a hamstring strain.
Suckling left the field late in the opening quarter against Richmond at Metricon Stadium and emerged from the rooms in the second term with a tracksuit on.
The Bulldogs have confirmed he has suffered a hamstring strain.
“It’s going to test the players, 33 games in 20 days,” Channel 7 commentator and former Western Bulldogs ruckman Luke Darcy said.
“I suspect that’s not the last hamstring that we see.”
Suckling had gathered two disposals in the opening term and set up the side’s first goal through Latham Vandermeer.
The Bulldogs have one of the more spread out fixtures over coming weeks, with their four games spread across 19 days.
They have a five-day break before their next match against Port Adelaide on Monday night.
Suckling joins a growing injury list for the Bulldogs which also includes Josh Dunkley (ankle), Bailey Dale (ankle), Tory Dickson (quad), Lachie Hunter (personal), Aaron Naughton (ankle), Lin Jong (ankle), Taylor Duryea (quad) and Josh Schache (concussion).
Sports medicine expert Dr Peter Larkins has warned the injury risk in a crammed AFL fixture would be “quite high”.
“We always talk about six-day turnarounds being a challenge for clubs in a normal season,” Larkins told the Herald Sun recently.
“Well suddenly, you’ve got a season where that’s thrown out and we could have even shorter turnarounds. “The injury risk is theoretically quite high because (with) muscle soreness ... that extra day or two that occurs with a six or seven-day turnaround often is a magical extra bit of time for people that have got a corked thigh or a bit of a tight hamstring.”
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