Tigers kick off footy frenzy with mauling
Imagine what Richmond will be like when the Tigers have all their stars firing?
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 – running out comfortable 41-point winners, 13.12 (90) to 7.7 (49).
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.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said he had taken to showing Riewoldt and Lynch vision of them at their very best to try and get his star duo back firing.
In the first quarter this looked to be a master stroke 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.
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 close to his rampant best and finished with 26 possession 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.
For the first time since late 2010 the Tigers had 10 players on the field with less than 30 AFL games under their belts.
Injuries have given the Richmond youngsters a chance and they are continuing to take it.
Jake Aarts kicked three to be the latest Tiger cub to put his name in lights but Noah Balta was outstanding in a Richmond defence missing Nick Vlaustin and David Astbury.
When Alex Rance retired, the athletic Balta was earmarked as a player that could replace the five-time All Australian.
It is still early days, and they are massive shoes to fill, but after keeping Josh Bruce to just two goals Balta is starting to well and truly arrive.
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