Richmond assistant coach Blake Caracella provides ‘Roar Vision’ with a snapshot of St Kilda’s key on-field strengths ahead of this Sunday’s final home-and-away round clash at the MCG.
Last time we met
“We got smashed around the footy. Really got beaten inside, and they spread and got us outside as well . . . We need to make sure that we bring our contested-best football this time . . . try to win the ball first, take it forward and score.”
The Nick Riewoldt farewell factor
“No doubt he’s going to be emotional about his last game and his and fans teammates will be as well . . . We need to make sure we can get the crowd out of the game and, hopefully, we can stop him playing well. He’s been a fantastic player, an icon of the game and for St Kilda footy club for a long time. And he’s still a good player.”
Curbing their well-balanced forward line
“One of our strengths this year has been our defence . . . we’re No. 2 defensively in the competition, although that wasn’t great against St Kilda last time. It gets back to the pressure around the footy, but also the players we’ve had behind the ball – ‘Rancey’ (Alex Rance) and (David) Astbury – taking marks and spring-boarding our attacking, and the likes of Bachar Houli and Brandon Ellis getting on the end of some nice intercepts.”
Their midfield strength
“We know our midfield’s going to be really challenged. They’ve got quite a bit of depth through the midfield . . . It’s going to be where the game’s won or lost. We’ve got to make sure that we can win the footy, and stop them getting the ball out and spreading to the next contest. They’ve got some really good contested players and one of the best contested-ball differentials in the competition, so we need to make sure that we can match them.”
Intercept ability of Carlisle and Roberton down back
“They took a heap of marks last time . . . just sitting off or leaving their opponents, coming across and taking third-up marks. At the same time, we took 20 marks inside 50 last time. I think the league average is 11. We still marked the ball inside 50 seven times in the first half, when the scoreboard was not looking great. So we know if we get our A-game going, we can actually take the ball forward and score. It’s a matter of making sure we do it early.”
Pressure packed
“What they do really well is their pressure around the ball. Not only do they win the footy, but they put a lot of pressure on, which forces teams to dump the ball to where they’re set up behind the footy taking marks. We need to make sure that we can win the ball, are clean, get the ball to the outside, and take it forward, which we’ve done a lot this year.”
