RICHMOND 18.6 (114) def PORT ADELAIDE 10.13 (73)
IN what was a classic crossroads game for Richmond, the Tigers reversed their three-game losing streak with a much needed road win over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium yesterday afternoon.
The Tigers had begun the season with three straight wins before dropping the last three and had settled into their all too familiar ninth place spot on the ladder and a narrow loss to Fremantle two weeks ago almost demonstrating how in spit of improvements the club was not quite there yet.
Port Adelaide meanwhile has been the feel good story of the year with last week’s loss to North Melbourne in Hobart being the only blemish on their season.
But in a game with two teams seemingly headed in opposite directions, it was Richmond that found a way to win.
The Tigers were without their captain Trent Cotchin (sidelined with a knee injury) as well as Tyrone Vickery (concussion), Ricky Petterd (calf) and Dylan Grimes (foot) but were boosted by the performances of the rest of the squad.
Stand in Richmond captain Brett Deledio played his best game of the season against star tagger Kane cornes to deliver the Tigers 32 disposals, 10 marks and four tackles while fellow midfielder Dustin Martin gathered another 33 possessions of his own.
And the payoff was in the forward line where Jack Riewoldt kicked five goals as the Tigers established a n early lead that they never rel;inquished en route to their 41-poinyt victory.
“We’ve got a squad of players that’s quite capable of taking this club where it hasn’t been for a period of time, we’ve just got to keep getting the wins,” said Tigers coach Damien Hardwick after the game when discussing the long term prospects for his team.
“We’ve got to keep playing to the level required that we see week-in week-out from the calibre sides like Geelong, Essendon, Collingwood, Hawthorn – these types of teams.
“At the moment we’ve got to get rid of the inconsistency that we lose track in quarters.”
On the negative side of the ledger for what was otherwise a top performance by Richmond, the Tigers lost Chris Knights to a knee injury in the second quarter while defender Troy Chaplin, playing his former club for the first time since joining Richmond as a free agent, will now faces the Match Review Panel after making high contact with Jay Schulz in the first quarter.
The preliminary feedback on Chaplin’s injury is that he has torn the patella tendon in his right knee which, if confirmed, will mean a long stint on the sidelines for the former Adelaide utility.
For Port Adelaide the game was characterised by yet another slow start. Part of the appeal in watching this Power team play has been their never say die attitude and ability to fight back from early deficits. At some point though they will need to start stronger.
“We’d like to think they (starts) weren’t too big of an issue but today we’ve had … not so much a poor first quarter, we had a reasonable 10 minutes at the start of the quarter – it’s the back end of the quarter,” said first year Power coach Ken Hinkley after the game.
“Yes, they’re clearly becoming an issue.
“You put yourself too far behind, eventually you can’t keep coming back.”
Notwithstanding that, Hinkey is confident that his team will learn the lessons from the last two losses.
“We’ve been doing some things real well and sides are starting to take a look at us,” said Hinkley.
“It’s great and we welcome that because the only way we’re going to improve is if we get experience of that.
“We are still in that renewal stage, we want to make sure we get better from every game and being exposed by those experienced sides is a great way to learn.”
Richond will play Melbourne at the MCG next Sunday afternoon while also on Sunday, Port Adelaide will face Carlton at Etihad Stadium.
Here are the highlights from the game:
RICHMOND 8.2 11.5 15.6 18.6 (114)
PORT ADELAIDE 2.1 4.5 6.10 10.13 (73)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 5, King 3, Grigg 2, Newman 2, Tuck 1, Nahas 1, Vlaustin 1, Knights 1, Martin 1, McGuane 1,
Port Adelaide: Schulz 3, Mitchell 2, Gray 1, Monfries 1, Moore 1, Wingard 1, Broadbent 1
BEST
Richmond: Deledio, Martin, Riewoldt, Stephenson, Ellis, Newman
Port Adelaide: Boak, Schulz, Wingard, Mitchell, Carlile Redden
INJURIES
Richmond: Knights (knee) 2nd quarter, Tuck (shoulder) 3rd quarter
Port Adelaide: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Nathan Foley replaced Chris Knights in the second quarter
Port Adelaide: Kane Mitchell replaced Campbell Heath at half time
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Findlay, Pannell
Official crowd: 25,372 at AAMI Stadium