- Nov 23, 2015
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I expected to sit down to write this preview, feeling very much like Land of the Giants did last week in penning his preview for the Carlton game. Instead, I am significantly uplifted by the boilover result against the Blues, especially after the first quarter drubbing we suffered. The second and third quarters of the Blues game were seriously great footy, and would beat any team in the comp. But we have to stop allowing the run of goals that the first quarter had (the second quarter in the previous two games, the third quarter before that etc - all throughout this season).
Richmond has fallen into last place, on the back of a heavy injury toll throughout this season, plus their general loss of talent after 3 flags. But it doesn't mean they are not dangerous, as our Sydney city cousins found out earlier in the year with their loss. But they've only got the 2 wins, and even at the MCG we must take the 4 points against them to shore up our spot in the top 8. It's still an absolute dogfight for the finals and losing to the likely wooden spoon side would be catastrophic.
The Carlton game showed where we can win. We have to get our running game going - but find the connection so we don't end up with the ball coming back over our heads. Joe Fonti was very good in his debut, and it will be interesting to see what the match committee does if Lachie Ash is available. Cumming was good in his second game back from a long injury lay-off, kicking 2 great goals. It may be that Cumming and Fonti could take up opposite wing roles - which would fix a deficiency in our game style if it works. The mids and ruck came good after the first quarter, and Snooze had another great run-with role, so we need to bottle and keep that. Just need them to crack in harder and run both ways when they're not getting their hands on the ball.
The forward line clicked, especially for Jesse Hogan, whose hands were incredibly sticky against Carlton. All of the forwardline played a role. Cadman is still not quite there, but Brown didn't really do himself any favours in VFL. I don't expect Kingers to revert to a 2 KPD forward line and bring in another small, but the forwards and wingers did their job as we kicked over 100 points for the first time in ages.
So, I don't expect to see too many personnel changes, with just Ash possibly coming back from injury (but Fonti doing so well in his absence), and the only question mark really around Cadman. However, you may see it differently - what are your thoughts? And how does Richmond approach this game against a former assistant coach - can they spring an upset?
Richmond has fallen into last place, on the back of a heavy injury toll throughout this season, plus their general loss of talent after 3 flags. But it doesn't mean they are not dangerous, as our Sydney city cousins found out earlier in the year with their loss. But they've only got the 2 wins, and even at the MCG we must take the 4 points against them to shore up our spot in the top 8. It's still an absolute dogfight for the finals and losing to the likely wooden spoon side would be catastrophic.
The Carlton game showed where we can win. We have to get our running game going - but find the connection so we don't end up with the ball coming back over our heads. Joe Fonti was very good in his debut, and it will be interesting to see what the match committee does if Lachie Ash is available. Cumming was good in his second game back from a long injury lay-off, kicking 2 great goals. It may be that Cumming and Fonti could take up opposite wing roles - which would fix a deficiency in our game style if it works. The mids and ruck came good after the first quarter, and Snooze had another great run-with role, so we need to bottle and keep that. Just need them to crack in harder and run both ways when they're not getting their hands on the ball.
The forward line clicked, especially for Jesse Hogan, whose hands were incredibly sticky against Carlton. All of the forwardline played a role. Cadman is still not quite there, but Brown didn't really do himself any favours in VFL. I don't expect Kingers to revert to a 2 KPD forward line and bring in another small, but the forwards and wingers did their job as we kicked over 100 points for the first time in ages.
So, I don't expect to see too many personnel changes, with just Ash possibly coming back from injury (but Fonti doing so well in his absence), and the only question mark really around Cadman. However, you may see it differently - what are your thoughts? And how does Richmond approach this game against a former assistant coach - can they spring an upset?
