The Tigers dominated the game early on but couldn’t transfer that to score board pressure. At quarter time we had doubled ports score but it was still only a 14 point ball game. The Tiger midfield, as suspected, really dominated port in the clearances and got first use of the ball.
In the second the Tigers really piled on the pressure limiting Port’s ability to penetrate the forward 50, by holding the ball in our forward half, with 19 - 2 inside 50’s. The score board pressure followed with tigers up by 41 points at the half.
The 3rd quarter was a massive test for our boys, with Port really starting to dominate clearances and pressure the Tiges into some unwanted turnovers, and limiting the effect of Delidio and Cotchin. Credit to Port Adelaide for the comeback, which kept me biting my nails. But as I have said before it’s hard to keep a good team down, we were able to come out of that quarter with a 24 point lead.
Richmond showed some real mettle in the last to win the quarter and come out 37 point victors. Jack Riewoldt had 4 goals showing a return to form, though he missed a couple, he showed some grit and determination with his tackling pressure and goal assists, he also moved up the ground and gave some good contests.
Gameplay aside, what really made me happy was the steady improvement. In the last couple of years the improvement has been in the off season while we were getting game time into younger players, but this season we are seeing improvement from week to week, that holds us in good stead through the next part of the season.
During the call of the game, commentator, Bruce McAvaney mentioned the next four teams we are set to play and said that we could win or lose all four. Because of the good pressure we have applied, I feel we can position ourselves within striking distance in these contests. The next step is finishing - We need to finish close games.
With the game against Sydney next week in Melbourne, we’ll need to be at our best for four quarters to get the result, but it is within our grasp. This is the toughest assignment out of the next four games in my opinion, which, if we can win, will give us a mental edge going into the rest of the season.
We are better than our record suggests with a 102.12 percentage, which in previous seasons has not been the case. The Tigers are the major improvers this season and I reckon we can take a couple of big scalps over the next month.
Follow me on Twitter @BenDepedro
And as always Go Tigersblog comments powered by Disqus
