The Old Dark Navy's
Moderator
- Moderator
- #1
The first VFL game I ever saw live was Carlton vs Richmond at the MCG, Round 2 1979.
The sights, the sounds, the colours were awe inspiring. Banners, flags and scarves were draped over the fences and tiers of the mighty G.
Jezza, Doull, Dominator, Maclure, Southby, Fitzy, Sheldon, Harmes, Percy … the names keep coming. Up against Sheedy, Malthouse, Bartlett, Roach, Raines, Bourke, The Flea and the Ghost. Battle of the Gladiators at the Aussie Rules Coliseum. This was the stuff dreams are made of.
Fast forward 44 years and the names have changed but the importance and spectacle of this clash have not.
Both sides suffered big losses in their last start practice match. Carlton’s supporter base is fairly mixed in terms of genuine concern vs putting no stock in a preseason hitout. From what I have seen, there are real concerns from Richmond supporters as far as the form of aging players goes. A great importance is being placed on this game and what it means for their season. It’s a bit surreal given the massive confidence displayed by their supporters over the past 6 seasons.
On paper, we stack up fairly well.
Up forward, we have Curnow, McKay, Silvagni and cameos from TDK up against Balta, Grimes and whichever young tall they give a massive job to. Long story short, they’re going to have to play a team defence to hold our talls at bay. With Gibcus and Tarrant injured, I’ll be disappointed not to see at least 8 goals from our talls alone.
When the ball hits the ground however, whichever combination of Motlop, Fisher, Owies, C Durdin and Martin we play, are going to have to be on their game to stop the likes of Baker and Rioli sweeping the ball away on one of the Tigers’ famed length of the field scoring runs.
Down back for Carlton, McGovern is tipped to be fit and ready for this game and that could make all the difference with a tall threesome of him, Weitering and Young/ S Durdin likely to be named.
Again in the tall stakes, we look to have the upper hand against Lynch and Riewoldt, the latter who seems to be a shadow of his former self with his athleticism and high marking reduced to veteran guile and effort.
The concern again is when the ball is on the ground or in space. Richmond have two of the best small to medium attacking weapons in Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton. Strength, speed and x factor abounds. Carlton have to figure out who out of Docherty, Saad, Newman, Plowman, Cincotta or Cowan are going to be selected and are going to match up on these two. I’d suggest Saad on Bolton but I have some concern that with Martin needing someone quicker than a tall, but taller than a small, we are going to go with the ‘plays small against talls and plays tall against small’ quasi-hybrid Lachie Plowman, rather than throw newbies a dangerous assignment. When the Tigers have one ruckman on the bench, I’d give the Martin assignment to McGovern who plays talls and runs like a small.
As usual the midfield battle is where it is at. If the Carlton midfield gets on top, the supply to our tall forwards will decide this game. We can still score even if the ball is coming in haphazardly, but clean ball will make us very hard to stop.
Conversely, I think the Tigers midfield needs clean supply for their talls to score well. If it comes in dirty, as per their usual chaos ball tactics, they’re going to lean heavily on their smalls to do the scoring.
If the midfields break even, I fancy our chances of winning with the better (on paper) key forwards and defenders.
Pittonet and De Koning feeding the core four of Cripps, Kennedy, Cerra and Hewett. Boy does it look thinner with Sam Walsh missing. Will Docherty play midfield or will the likes of Paddy Dow or Jack Carroll get a look in?
For the Tigers, Nankervis and Soldo will be feeding Taranto, Hopper, Graham, Ross and maybe Cotchin since Tigers fans think he stinks as a small forward option. The huge question mark here is whether Dion Prestia is over a hamstring concern. Taranto already looks like Richmond’s best midfielder. I can very much see this battle coming down to the ruckwork and there I have the Tigers duo narrowly in front. Whoever plays as the Blues rotation midfielders are going to have to play out of their skins.
On the wings Carlton have Acres, LOB, Hollands vs Richmond’s McIntosh, Ralphsmith and Pickett. The presence of Acres means we have a chance to actually win on one of these wings, so I can see us playing that side of the ground far more than the other.
I’m really hoping that Carlton select some new players for this game, as it was abundantly clear that the likes of Cowan, Hollands and Cincotta are going to fight hard for a spot, and they offer a lot of energy and enthusiasm that can spark our side.
Conclusion: There will be plenty of heat in this game and the determination of the Blues to make good on their promises after the disappointing end to last season, will truly be tested. However, the reigning Brownlow medalist, the last two Coleman medalists and a string of fairly recent All Australians make it difficult to see anything other than a Carlton win.
Blues by 18 points.
Last edited:
