Richmond coach Adem Yze has highlighted four key qualities that lifted the Tigers to an upset victory over the previously undefeated Gold Coast Suns on Saturday night.
“As a coach, our spirit and energy, our effort and intent, for the whole game didn’t waver, which was a credit to the players,” Yze said.
An electric six goal to one third term helped Richmond build a 43-point lead at three-quarter time, before the Tigers had to hold off a comeback effort from the Suns to eventually notch the 11-point victory.
It is Richmond’s second win of the season, following the stirring Round 1 triumph over Carlton, and Yze provided an insight into the different approach taken from the playing group, particularly the young Tiger Cubs, post-game.
“It was really interesting to listen to them, the difference between Round 1 and this week was so different because they felt like we dropped away in the last quarter,” Yze said.
“They’re starting to understand our honest we need to be, which is great, and that is the growth we need as a football club.
“We are striving to play a really consistent brand over four quarters and for a young group, that’s hard. The reward with the win at the end of the game is what we play the game for, so (it's good) for some of our younger boys to feel that and understand what it felt like.”
Yze was pleased with how his squad bounced back from last week’s loss to Fremantle, but he also knows there are still plenty of learnings to take from the contest.
“It is one that we are really proud of, that performance. To our boys’ credit, we wanted to put up a fight,” Yze said.
“We weren’t happy with last week, our second half wasn’t to standard, and I spoke about this during the week. There were so many great learnings from that half of footy and for our boys to come and to really put on a performance that our supporters will be proud of for three quarters, we were really excited about.
“Last quarter, obviously, we lost our way a little bit but even with that, so many great learnings from that last quarter for our young lads.”
There were several highlights from Richmond’s youngsters on Saturday night, including Jonty Faull kicking his first goal, Seth Campbell lighting up the Tiger Army with two majors, and Sam Lalor displaying his poise yet again, just to name a few.
However, the Tigers’ leaders were also outstanding against Gold Coast, including Tim Taranto’s 35 disposals, Nick Vlastuin’s incredible 27 disposals and 15 intercept possessions, Tom Lynch’s two goals and Jacob Hopper’s 27 disposals.
Yze detailed how the youngsters and leaders are complementing each other, creating a positive energy at Tigerland.
“We have got a young list and with that young list comes a lot of spirit and energy,” Yze said.
“We keep lauding our younger players and the growth, Sammy Lalor again takes a massive step forward, every time he gets the ball he is so composed. Seth Campbell kicks another couple of goals, Jonty Faull kicks his first goal in AFL and looked really potent and really tough.
“Our leaders really stood up. Nank and Tim Taranto and Hopper and Vlastuin, to see their names at the top of not only our possessions, but the influence they had on the game, is the reason why we are fast-tracking the development of our younger players.
“Our leaders like to fly the flag and Lynchy set the tone early. Our younger forwards, for Jonty Faull to play beside Lynchy, I reckon he would have grown a little bit today by the way Lynchy started.
“Their guidance and leadership is something we are really proud of.”
Yze added the decision to start talented youngster Luke Trainor as the sub was to manage his workload, with a short turnaround coming ahead of Thursday night’s Anzac Eve clash with Melbourne.
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