Tom Dyson

Corrupt decision

I thought t'mac offered more tonight than van rooyen, might be time to give the 2021 tall forward mix another go. The roo has had an excellent start to his career but he had some dumb moments tonight and a spell at casey could hold him in good stead. geez its feast or famine for our small forwards, they either have a real crack or just go mia all game, kozzy, chandler and anb all well below their best. Do we pull the trigger and give taj a go?

got to say Trent Rivers deserve some serious credit, tried so hard all night. He's got some serious dare and run which at times can be sorely lacking from our transition out of d50.

To defend Steven May or at least whoever wants to persist with the kick out strategy (goody, chaplin etc. ) I think there was an article recently that we concede the least amount of goals from kick out or maybe it was that we have the best differential from kick outs. Tonight though when the ball would come to ground, as Max or the rest of the talls were able to do successfully, we rarely had crumbers front and centre to collect but you could bet your bottom dollar drew, butters, jhf or rozee were positioned perfectly. I'd dare say our third quarter would demonstrate that our smalls did put themselves in the right place. If we bank on each kick in at least being brought to ground by our talls then surely our smalls would react accordingly but it didn't appear like that tonight. Our defensive system needs a serious reset in how we defend through the corridor as well, collingwood will cut us to pieces if we give up that much real-estate through the centre of the ground.

9-2 free kicks in the last quarter, it would be foolish to say that it didn't have an impact when the game was on the line. Won't deny that port were the better team for most if not all of that first half but when the game was in the balance gee the men in green did everything they could to get the power over the line. Our travelling record and performances interstate this season are very concerning and our clearance work is just nowhere near where it could/should be with the midfield we've got.

Also let’s tag butters and rozee please.

Just got to crack in through the centre, it baffles me we are getting smashed this badly with the stars we have at each centre bounce. need to lower our eyes going inside f50 as well.

I totally agree save and except for our 2019 season, felt like commentators loved when we lost that year so they could keep sinking the boot in especially in the wake of our unexpected success in 2018. Maybe my bias is clouding any objectivity but it certainly seems like when things aren't going well (steven and melky entrecote example), the media absolutely love taking us for a ride. Maybe that is a ubiquitous sentiment among other clubs however so might not be isolated to us.

Is there any element to describe why we aren’t travelling interstate well. Lions at the Gabba and Essendon in Adelaide both shockers, tonight was objectively a pretty bad outing (west coast was comprehensive but that’s also west coast). It’s perplexing because we travelled so well the last two years. Someone must have spiked frittatas pre game red bull because that was one of the most uncharacteristic performances I have ever seen. also that was some of the worst commentary I’ve ever had the displeasure of listening to, hate it when they enthusiastically barrack for one team.

The G right now...

Surprised they didn't give best on to umpire number 8, was Richmond's best by a country mile!! 🤣

Kade Chandler stepped up in that third quarter when we needed a spark, great endeavour and fight to get us back into it. Our intercept game started to come back in that second half too, our defensive structure certainly looked a lot better closing out the game (which i think is drastically aided by Max's inclusion).

Van Rooyen is going to be a genuine star for us, how many young forwards have a quiet one for three quarters and turn it around in a matter of a quarter. Gotta be mark of the year contender.

Umpires really are doing everything to get Richmond over the line

The fact we can’t win centre clearance with the personnel we’ve got is pathetic.

This is corrupt umpiring.

Max and Brodie being given a bath by a vfl ruckman.

Our defence is just not the same one we built 2021 off, not even close.

We just can’t defend quick handball chains through the corridor. And in true demons fashion, we make some no name vfl player like Cumberland look like prime Cyril Rioli.

Umpires have got their Richmond jumpers on.

I praised T'Mac last week and i think rightfully so, but his game today was just a shell of that one over in the west. Of course difficult conditions to mark the ball in and Essendon's defence was pretty good but just didn't seem to compete as effectively as he did against the Eagles. Maybe i'm being too harsh as most of our talls had a shocker today.

Essendon used the blueprint that worked for Collingwood and Sydney last year. Not only were we thoroughly beaten at the contest but their transition from d50 is so effective against our backline which looks all over the ship when the ball's coming in quick as it was today. Speed on the ball through the corridor is our worst enemy and we look powerless to stop it when teams get a run on. The only way I can think to defend such a gameplan is immense forward half pressure, tackling etc. whilst simultaneously structuring up in such a way that cuts off the corridor. None of those things were apparent today. not sure if its being tired after another road trip or not but the endeavour was sorely lacking. Always a range of factors to consider after a loss especially this one, but we have to start working on a structure/system which can negate fast ball movement through the corridor or else we're really going to struggle this year.

Brad Scott has given goody an absolute bath, has showed everyone else very simply how to beat us.

5 uncontested marks to go from end to end, this is 2019 esque.

Gee we look really bad, this is a pathetic display.