Analysis Have we really fixed our main weakness this year ?

[The Rusty Trombone]

Are you saying we won those 9 in a row on team spirit alone ?
For me the boys improved in almost all aspects of the game but to me one of the most important improvements was the ability to stand single minded & never stop working very hard. They forced teams to beat them as opposed to reducing their output due to being behind on the scoreboard...In 2013 I don't think we would have won quite a number of those games from last season (we would not have been as relentless). To me that's what makes a top 4 or top 2 side. No matter what the score board says you play to plan/structures with intensity till the 4th quarter siren sounds...(like our song says, Fight & fight ...)

And we had Ivan Maric in the Ruck and not Shaun Hampson. That might of had something to do with it. It's important in modern day football to have a ruckman that contributes after tap outs or your playing a man down. You can not win 9 in a row playing aan down .

 

[The Rusty Trombone]

backline is all about balance and versatility, you need 3 talls of which we have Rance, Astbury and at the moment Chappy all as locks.

You need 1 lock down small/mid, last year it was morris this year it should be grimes.

that leaves 2 spots for attacking running flankers, houli is a lock but if he gets tagged we need the 2nd, that's why I think Lennon is an option, tall, strong can run and kick, Batch may beat him for the gig early but lennon has so much more upside than batch IMO

morris into the fwd line is risky but what he will do is create havoc, a human wrecking ball that may create some panic and cause turn overs or rushed kicks out of the opponents backline, he wont create goals through his creative fwd work but may just create them through his presence

what we really need is a system where the wingers and HFF and CHF do the hard running to present as quick release options out of our own backline, this is where lids, knights, ellis and griffo need to step up so our backmen have plenty of options to move the ball quickly and into our fwd 50, an extra tall running winger would really help out here and a Mcbean or Macintosh could add some value if the had the running power?

The Morris experiment will end badly when he accidently takes out Reiwoldt or Griff in an a contest . He'll be reported within 4 weeks the way he was running around in that first Nab Cup game and hopefully he doesn't injure someone before then. Hardwick is a numfy pushing this one . If Hunt has taken his spot then play him in the VFL. If Morris is better down back than Hunt then have a look at Hunts Cats highlights and see all the goals he kicked, maybe Hardwick has the wrong man to piss our season away down the toilet in the opening rounds .

 

[RunningBounce]

Put me down as another one who thinks the lack of a 2nd quality rebounding HBF is a serious weakness.

I agree with the posters saying that the defense of our back 6 is pretty solid, but as we all witness, the ball movement from defense to the forward 50 is shocking when we are playing badly. No doubt part of that is the players up the ground don't give the defenders enough options, but part of it is also how easy it is to shutdown our rebound by sending a defensive forward to Houli. I truly hope Lennon can develop into our solution, because I did not see it out of Grimes, Newman or Batchelor in 2014.

Our backline is a strength. Our defence in midfield has been a weakness. As has been our delivery inside 50.

Although I do see our back 6 needing improvement, particularly in rebounding, I completely agree that the defense through our midfield is also a weakness.

When we looked so terrible in the games early in 2014, it usually involved the opposition moving the ball through the guts like it was a training run. No pressure. No midfield defense. Collingwood. Dogs (yes, the lowly Dogs). The second half of the North game. Some of our mids don't break into a run unless we have the ball. It's frankly embarrassing, and a true weakness.

The opposition 'loose man in defence' seems to completely bamboozle us, every year.

Speaking of North, it's only a matter of time before 16 other clubs notice that we kick the ball to a loose Hansen more accurately than we kick the ball to a leading Riewoldt. He took 5 uncontested marks against us last year. 10 in 2013.

So don't tell anyone, but IMO, beating Richmond isn't tactically tricky. Just tag Houli, drop a tall loose in defense, and run the ball through the corridor.

 

[TJTIGER]

Away from a ball up/centre bounce he gets wasted touches in defence that don't help us move forward. He's always trailing his opponent to the ball too.

I still rate him as a very good player

If he has these short comings I don't see them being there long term as a guy whose only played about 25 games at AFL level. But it's not only that that makes me say that. It's Milesy's mind set and the way we brought him into the club. He will work hard on his deficiencies to continue improving. I'd bet my house on it...

 

[ScallyWag1]

Speaking of North, it's only a matter of time before 16 other clubs notice that we kick the ball to a loose Hansen more accurately than we kick the ball to a leading Riewoldt. He took 5 uncontested marks against us last year. 10 in 2013.

So don't tell anyone, but IMO, beating Richmond isn't tactically tricky. Just tag Houli, drop a tall loose in defense, and run the ball through the corridor.

Exactly the game I was thinking of! We are elite at hitting up the opposition loose man in defence.

Fine by me if some disagree (not sure what games you've been watching but still), but please please SPARE ME 'Chaplin sent forward to pick up Westhoff' against Port as some kind of a master stroke. You're all having a master stroke if you think that shows we've figured it out.

 

[Football Tragic]

I think the crucial player we need to find is our swingman. We have tried to use Petterd in this role but I don't feel he is strong enough with his footskills or speed. This is where someone such as Elton, McIntosh or even Griffiths could make a huge difference. If we created a dangerous tall utility who could play back as the loose man in defense but also go forward to make their loose man accountable. They've tried Chaplin but too but currently he is an important stable to our defense and too slow imo for this role.

 

[Dr Tigris]

What I hope is that this serious issue goes away with younger players being fit and confident. Astbury and grimes are both skilled, and just need to be confident to use those skills. Just add a few more guys moving the ball out of defense well and that problem disappears. Hope it happens.

 

[26_Miles]

While On this loose in defence tactic, port absolutely tore us a new arseh*le with this in the final. After manning up every loose man they put there in the previous game, I couldn't believe what I was seeing in the final. Every **** time it went to their man

 

[tora tora tora]

I didn't get to that many games but against suns in rd 1 we were incredibly stagnant up fwd...ball just getting bombed in which is so easy to defend. Star mids also need support. Hopefully we be addressed that.

 

[SpudsLoveChild]

I didn't get to that many games but against suns in rd 1 we were incredibly stagnant up fwd...ball just getting bombed in which is so easy to defend. Star mids also need support. Hopefully we be addressed that.

I know I sound like a broken record but it's our front six that needs fixing.
You can't hit targets if they don't lead forward to space.
A couple of our KPF - yes, I'm looking at you TV - look for easy ball out the back...even if it means the guy under pressure with the ball has to kick it 80 metres. Lead you freaking clown. Lead to space like a big man should.

 

[tora tora tora]

I didn't get to that many games but against suns in rd 1 we were incredibly stagnant up fwd...ball just getting bombed in which is so easy to defend. Star mids also need support. Hopefully we be addressed that.

On reflection we also have these periods of allowing opposition to get run ons, against gold coast in that 1st round it was 4 or 5 in a row in the 1st quarter. So thats our midfield getting beaten. And that's our stars too. Only way I can see that improving is for the conca's ellis's vlausium edwards being able to rotate through there with no loss of momentum....or indeed to swing momentum our way.

 

[richoatthedisco]

Put me down as another one who thinks the lack of a 2nd quality rebounding HBF is a serious weakness.

Grimey. Mop and rebound. Batch. Intercept and rebound.

 

[Tiger Claw]

So don't tell anyone, but IMO, beating Richmond isn't tactically tricky. Just tag Houli, drop a tall loose in defense, and run the ball through the corridor.

That's been a known for a number of years now so another year on I would hope we are some way to resolving the problem. Possible options in the new recruits that are a way off so I guess it's down to a slight reshuffle and someone stepping up?

 

[TigerTime88]

We will revisit later this year if he doesn't improve on 2014. I think we've seen his best, which is pretty good but the knockers will be out in force when his output is equal to 2014 and suddenly he doesn't seem as good as he is/was.

Lol the only knocker out is you.

To say he gets cheap ball is an absurd comment. His top 5 in the league for hard ball get avgs.

 

[RunningBounce]

Grimey. Mop and rebound. Batch. Intercept and rebound.

I enjoy the footy played by Grimes and Batchelor, but I stand by my opinion that Richmond lacks another quality rebounding defender. I don't think either Grimes or Batchelor have been quality rebounders, to date. I would love to see them take a step in that direction this season, and honestly believe that if one of those two can get to Houli's standard for attacking, we'll be a much stronger team.

Stats don't always reflect reality in footy, and rebound 50 is a wobbly one IMO, but here, I think it's pretty safe. Grimes and Batchelor get about 8 effective disposals per game, and only one of those moves the ball out of the defensive 50. Bit of room for improvement...

(All stats are season averages per game from 2014, taken from footywire.)

Grimes, 5.5 kicks and 4.4 handballs at 77% efficiency, 1.5 rebound 50
Batchelor, 6.2 kicks and 3.5 handballs at 80% efficiency, 1.3 rebound 50

Houli, 12.6 kicks and 8.9 handballs at 79% efficiency, 2.8 rebound 50s

Malceski, 17.1 kicks and 6.0 handballs at 73% efficiency, 5.1 rebound 50s
Robert Murphy, 13.4 kicks and 7.2 handballs at 82% efficiency, 4.1 rebound 50s

 

[RunningBounce]

That's been a known for a number of years now so another year on I would hope we are some way to resolving the problem. Possible options in the new recruits that are a way off so I guess it's down to a slight reshuffle and someone stepping up?

I'm not sure if the major problem is our mids / backs delivering the ball better, or our forwards movement being better, or both.

I'd like to think we have structural options. Griffiths, Martin and maybe Deledio can float out to ~60m from goal and still be in scoring range. That makes it harder for someone like Hansen to sit 30m out from goal and run the game.

 

[richoatthedisco]

I enjoy the footy played by Grimes and Batchelor, but I stand by my opinion that Richmond lacks another quality rebounding defender. I don't think either Grimes or Batchelor have been quality rebounders, to date. I would love to see them take a step in that direction this season, and honestly believe that if one of those two can get to Houli's standard for attacking, we'll be a much stronger team.

Stats don't always reflect reality in footy, and rebound 50 is a wobbly one IMO, but here, I think it's pretty safe. Grimes and Batchelor get about 8 effective disposals per game, and only one of those moves the ball out of the defensive 50. Bit of room for improvement...

(All stats are season averages per game from 2014, taken from footywire.)

Grimes, 5.5 kicks and 4.4 handballs at 77% efficiency, 1.5 rebound 50
Batchelor, 6.2 kicks and 3.5 handballs at 80% efficiency, 1.3 rebound 50

Houli, 12.6 kicks and 8.9 handballs at 79% efficiency, 2.8 rebound 50s

Malceski, 17.1 kicks and 6.0 handballs at 73% efficiency, 5.1 rebound 50s
Robert Murphy, 13.4 kicks and 7.2 handballs at 82% efficiency, 4.1 rebound 50s

Grimes last year was just feeling his way back into the game. I have no doubt he is being encouraged to be more attacking. He has the pace and the kicking skills to do it. Ditto Batch and his fierce pre-season concentration on improving his running.

Anyway, I would prefer to have a number of good rebounders than one uber-rebounder. Houli and Rance are good at it, adding Grimes and Batch (and maybe Vlastuin) makes us less predictable and harder to shut down.

 

[Stigmata]

My weakness is cream filled chocolate eclairs from the local bakery.

Have I fixed it? Yes and no..

Yes I switched to cream filled long johns

No I did not lose weight

Lesson is:

You cannot fix a weakness to chocolate éclairs by replacing them with cream filled long johns..

You have to ask your self; who are Richmonds chocolate éclairs and who are our long johns?

 

[sante]

Lol the only knocker out is you.

To say he gets cheap ball is an absurd comment. His top 5 in the league for hard ball get avgs.

Not disputing he is good at a centre bounce/stoppage. After that he's average

 

[Mr Unbelievable]

My weakness is cream filled chocolate eclairs from the local bakery.

Have I fixed it? Yes and no..

Yes I switched to cream filled long johns

No I did not lose weight

Lesson is:

You cannot fix a weakness to chocolate éclairs by replacing them with cream filled long johns..

You have to ask your self; who are Richmonds chocolate éclairs and who are our long johns?

LOL

 

[Tiger7374]

We didn't draft to fix any main weakness this year...because we can't expect first year players to fix a weakness...they are more likely to be a short medium guide as to capabilities we want to enfuse the squad with.

We got a few hard bodies...Hunt for speed thru the middle and Lambert for get and feed.

I'm figuring we are going to rely on squad development to fix glaring deficiencies. And they can be mitigated thru certain players stepping up...eg Dave A, Batch, Reece, Nick & Grimey being fitter...perhaps Elton filling out.

I'm in 2 minds over the need for two release backmen...Houli is our lock...and we all know he is one sided...I see the midfield as being vital to run hard both ways...get down there...create the layers we need to bring the ball back...

 

[RichoAtzyG]

I think one of our big weaknesses is having all our forwards run to the same spot in the 50 and end up contesting each other e.g. jack and ty a few times last year. Seeing it happen all the time, really need to work on leading in opposite directions and spreading the defence.

 

[alexkidd16]

I think one of our big weaknesses is having all our forwards run to the same spot in the 50 and end up contesting each other e.g. jack and ty a few times last year. Seeing it happen all the time, really need to work on leading in opposite directions and spreading the defence.

This is my biggest pet hate of what we do! Also probably the only thing we do wrong. Glad i'm not the only one who see's this as an issue.

 

[RunningBounce]

I see the midfield as being vital to run hard both ways...get down there...create the layers we need to bring the ball back...

I mentioned above that I reckon the rebound 50 stat is a wobbly one, but for what it's worth, Brandon Ellis had the most rebound 50s per game in 2014. The mids, and especially wingers, are critical for ball movement out of the backline, IMO.

I also have a favourite soapbox to stand on, and written on the side of it is: "Premiership teams have two HBFs that are great rebounders". I rank Houli as one good, not great (yet), rebounder.

 

[leekok]

My weakness is cream filled chocolate eclairs from the local bakery.

Have I fixed it? Yes and no..

Yes I switched to cream filled long johns

No I did not lose weight

Lesson is:

You cannot fix a weakness to chocolate éclairs by replacing them with cream filled long johns..

You have to ask your self; who are Richmonds chocolate éclairs and who are our long johns?

That is deep mate