Bonz
🤺🤺🤺
First of all, I would like to start of this preview with some extreme anger directed at Ticketek. Originally I signed up to write up this match as myself and 5 mates had booked a 4 day pass for Magic Gather Round, but we were contacted last Wednesday by Ticketek and informed that our tickets had been accidentally allocated to other customers and supplied with a refund as they couldn't replace them for us. So I am a little bit salty over missing this game - Anyways if you think my vent is over, well we are just beginning.
Official Preview Richmond Vs Sydney
The Season so far
Richmond
Starting off with a spirited comeback against Carlton that ended out with a draw and then a very good win over Adelaide, Richmond's season has hit a bit of a standstill in the last two weeks. A loss to Collingwood where they were lucky to be within 3 goals followed by a close loss to the Bulldogs.
Drastically out of form with a few of their veteran players looking to have aged (Riewoldt and Cotchin in particular), these issues have also been compounded by injury to a few key players, Short is the lynchpin for Richmond from defence, Robbie Tarrant is crucial to their defensive structures and Broads suspension came at a really bad time for the club.
Although they have brought in both Taranto and Hopper, whilst they have round the ball at will outside of Taranto's earlier BOG performance this season you could question the impact on Richmond's matches as their midfield has still struggled at times and been compromised in several matches by large momentum shifts.
Sadly for us, Richmond under Hardwick have always performed well under adversary and I expect them to put in a great performance this weekend/ rise from the dead like a Phoenix.
Sydney
We all know how it has gone for us this year.
Rounds 1-2 - BRILLIANT went down as nicely as a good flagon of Fire Whisky or Butter Beer
Rounds 3-4 - All the positivity of Punts in a preview thread and all the pain of a nicely timed Crucio curse.
Honestly I don't think it is as bad as some of us are making it out to be.
We had our chances against Melbourne early and didn't take them, this allowed Melbourne to get away to an early lead. Yes we came back, but a well time substitution of Brown off for Melksham put us on the back foot a little bit and we then took too many risks trying to get back into the match and blew out the margin. (WE were also off by 5-10% on the day and this happens a few times each season to all teams).
Against Port, we had them done early on, but the Tom McCartin injury forced a massive restructure of our defence and this didn't help, in fact you could argue it was the turning point of the game as Port kicked the next 5? goals as soon as he went off. Charlie Dixon was getting a bath by Tom, but we were forced to move an undersized Rampe to Dixon after this, this also ensure that Blakey was played in a more defensive role so we lost some rebound in defence (Until we loosened him up late in the game).
Honestly still think we could have won the Port match, but the boys would have been a little shaken seeing Paddy go off like that and the Tom injury forced a massive restructure of our defence and ensured we played a player down for the entire match. It sucks but it happens, the best thing we can hope for is a good rebound.
Tactics - What does Sydney have to do on Friday night?
I know I am preaching to the choir here (Obviously led by Professor Flitwick for Ticky009 ) but we need to address our movement going inside 50, it is A LOT stronger when we are not targeting Franklin or he is on the bench (It means we are then targeting Papley, Logan and Heeney). I'm not 100% sure what we can do to resolve this in one week outside of resting Franklin (I don't personally think he has the agility/ endurance to play up the ground any more), but I will trust Longmire to make the right call here.
Honestly liked it against Port when we were targeting Heeney at the top of the square and Papley a bit further up, both are nightmarish match-ups for their height in the air and have brilliant agility at ground level to makes things happen, so would like to see more of this on Friday (Also lets stop moving Papley into the midfield for the moment, yes it has worked great in the past, but we all know where he is most dangerous).
Speaking of the midfield, this week it is all going to come down to how we deal with Richmond's pressure, they are high in the league for both one percenters (Averaging 53 a match) and tackles (64 a game). If we can find a way to absorb this, then this victory will be easier than having a one night stand after slipping your target a bit of Love Potion from Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
I'm not concerned about our rebound and overlapping run from defence as I personally believe this part of our game has been exceptional this year (Florent has proven this entire board wrong time and time again and I am loving the recognition he is receiving now). Blakey, Llyod and Rampe have also been in very solid form in this regards as well this year.
Our key defensive structure will be a bit different though, Richmond are likely to line up a little shorter up forward with Lynch out, but we will still need match ups for Ryan, Riewoldt (Who will come back in for Lynch) and Martin. Gould is a natural inclusion to the side to play the McCartin role, whilst I would prefer Rampe to man up against Martin, this leave Fox probably to play as an undersized defender on Riewoldt and either Blakey or Francis to play on Ryan.
Other Player Notes
The Chad - Honestly loving Chad's start to the season so far, personally believe he has 5 Brownlow votes currently so far and Richmond is the perfect match up for him. I expect Chad to cut up Richmond as nicely as a well placed Sectumsempra curse.
Heeney - Yes Heeney has started off the season pretty slow, but honestly felt like he started reviving a bit in the last quarter of the Port Adelaide match, honestly he could have been the winner for us at the end and I am expecting him to blow Richmond to pieces just like Reducto.
Franklin - I personally think he has gone on one season too long and would prefer he was "rested" this weekend. But hopefully I am wrong and his performance is as well timed as a nice Obliviate forcing me to forget his recent form.
Blakey - Probably my favourite Swans player currently has improved his defensive game drastically and his rebound/ running from defence is up there with the best I have ever seen. AWIZARD Lizard
Final Predictions
Honestly think this game can go either way, but if we can absorb Richmond's pressure and the defence can cover for the loss of the McCartin brothers then I am expecting us to win.
Sydney by 14 points (Sydney by 29 points if Buddy is "Rested")
Official Preview Richmond Vs Sydney
The Season so far
Richmond
Starting off with a spirited comeback against Carlton that ended out with a draw and then a very good win over Adelaide, Richmond's season has hit a bit of a standstill in the last two weeks. A loss to Collingwood where they were lucky to be within 3 goals followed by a close loss to the Bulldogs.
Drastically out of form with a few of their veteran players looking to have aged (Riewoldt and Cotchin in particular), these issues have also been compounded by injury to a few key players, Short is the lynchpin for Richmond from defence, Robbie Tarrant is crucial to their defensive structures and Broads suspension came at a really bad time for the club.
Although they have brought in both Taranto and Hopper, whilst they have round the ball at will outside of Taranto's earlier BOG performance this season you could question the impact on Richmond's matches as their midfield has still struggled at times and been compromised in several matches by large momentum shifts.
Sadly for us, Richmond under Hardwick have always performed well under adversary and I expect them to put in a great performance this weekend/ rise from the dead like a Phoenix.
Sydney
We all know how it has gone for us this year.
Rounds 1-2 - BRILLIANT went down as nicely as a good flagon of Fire Whisky or Butter Beer
Rounds 3-4 - All the positivity of Punts in a preview thread and all the pain of a nicely timed Crucio curse.
Honestly I don't think it is as bad as some of us are making it out to be.
We had our chances against Melbourne early and didn't take them, this allowed Melbourne to get away to an early lead. Yes we came back, but a well time substitution of Brown off for Melksham put us on the back foot a little bit and we then took too many risks trying to get back into the match and blew out the margin. (WE were also off by 5-10% on the day and this happens a few times each season to all teams).
Against Port, we had them done early on, but the Tom McCartin injury forced a massive restructure of our defence and this didn't help, in fact you could argue it was the turning point of the game as Port kicked the next 5? goals as soon as he went off. Charlie Dixon was getting a bath by Tom, but we were forced to move an undersized Rampe to Dixon after this, this also ensure that Blakey was played in a more defensive role so we lost some rebound in defence (Until we loosened him up late in the game).
Honestly still think we could have won the Port match, but the boys would have been a little shaken seeing Paddy go off like that and the Tom injury forced a massive restructure of our defence and ensured we played a player down for the entire match. It sucks but it happens, the best thing we can hope for is a good rebound.
Tactics - What does Sydney have to do on Friday night?
I know I am preaching to the choir here (Obviously led by Professor Flitwick for Ticky009 ) but we need to address our movement going inside 50, it is A LOT stronger when we are not targeting Franklin or he is on the bench (It means we are then targeting Papley, Logan and Heeney). I'm not 100% sure what we can do to resolve this in one week outside of resting Franklin (I don't personally think he has the agility/ endurance to play up the ground any more), but I will trust Longmire to make the right call here.
Honestly liked it against Port when we were targeting Heeney at the top of the square and Papley a bit further up, both are nightmarish match-ups for their height in the air and have brilliant agility at ground level to makes things happen, so would like to see more of this on Friday (Also lets stop moving Papley into the midfield for the moment, yes it has worked great in the past, but we all know where he is most dangerous).
Speaking of the midfield, this week it is all going to come down to how we deal with Richmond's pressure, they are high in the league for both one percenters (Averaging 53 a match) and tackles (64 a game). If we can find a way to absorb this, then this victory will be easier than having a one night stand after slipping your target a bit of Love Potion from Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
I'm not concerned about our rebound and overlapping run from defence as I personally believe this part of our game has been exceptional this year (Florent has proven this entire board wrong time and time again and I am loving the recognition he is receiving now). Blakey, Llyod and Rampe have also been in very solid form in this regards as well this year.
Our key defensive structure will be a bit different though, Richmond are likely to line up a little shorter up forward with Lynch out, but we will still need match ups for Ryan, Riewoldt (Who will come back in for Lynch) and Martin. Gould is a natural inclusion to the side to play the McCartin role, whilst I would prefer Rampe to man up against Martin, this leave Fox probably to play as an undersized defender on Riewoldt and either Blakey or Francis to play on Ryan.
Other Player Notes
The Chad - Honestly loving Chad's start to the season so far, personally believe he has 5 Brownlow votes currently so far and Richmond is the perfect match up for him. I expect Chad to cut up Richmond as nicely as a well placed Sectumsempra curse.
Heeney - Yes Heeney has started off the season pretty slow, but honestly felt like he started reviving a bit in the last quarter of the Port Adelaide match, honestly he could have been the winner for us at the end and I am expecting him to blow Richmond to pieces just like Reducto.
Franklin - I personally think he has gone on one season too long and would prefer he was "rested" this weekend. But hopefully I am wrong and his performance is as well timed as a nice Obliviate forcing me to forget his recent form.
Blakey - Probably my favourite Swans player currently has improved his defensive game drastically and his rebound/ running from defence is up there with the best I have ever seen. A
Final Predictions
Honestly think this game can go either way, but if we can absorb Richmond's pressure and the defence can cover for the loss of the McCartin brothers then I am expecting us to win.
Sydney by 14 points (Sydney by 29 points if Buddy is "Rested")
