Richmond assistant coach Blake Caracella provides ‘Roar Vision’ with a snapshot of the main attributes of St Kilda’s game ahead of this Saturday night’s big clash at Etihad Stadium.
Key match-up: Riewoldt v Carlisle
“He’s (Carlisle) in good form, but Jack is as well, so that’ll be a good battle. It really depends on how the ball comes into the forward line. If St Kilda get it on their terms – it’s high and long – then Jack might struggle a bit. He’s a bit bigger than Jack. But hopefully it doesn’t occur that way. Jack’s got some cunning and some ‘smarts’ that can enable him to run around the forward line and try and find the ball.”
Saints’ defensive strength (ranked No. 1 for winning contests and No. 6 for intercept marks)
“I think we’re No. 2 for taking marks inside our forward 50, and if we don’t mark it then we can get some real pressure on the ground as well. Hopefully it’s a real challenge for them. I think they’ve turned the ball over a little bit in their back half throughout this season so far, and we do really well when we turn the ball over inside our forward half. So it’ll be an interesting battle.”
Dangerous targets inside their forward-50 area
“They’ve got tall marking targets . . . Bruce, Membrey, Riewoldt . . . and they’ve got some small forwards down there as well. Billings is going really well. So we’ve got to find a way to stop those guys. But, of course, it starts in the middle . . . try and get the ball up our end of the ground.”
Potentially adopting Port Adelaide’s tagging tactic on Rance
“It worked okay early, and then ‘Rancey’ worked out how to play in the second half . . . If it happens again, hopefully, Rancey’s on the front foot and dealing with it.”
