Richmond assistant coach Blake Caracella provides ‘Roar Vision’ with a snapshot of the Western Bulldogs major strengths ahead of this Saturday night’s Round 7 clash at Etihad Stadium.
Key match-up: Grimes v Stringer
“’Grimesy’ is good because he’s tall and can play small as well. He played on Eddie Betts last week (v Adelaide) and can play on taller players. Stringer’s a really powerful player. He’s got a lot of talent and can go through the midfield. Grimesy should be able to take care of him, and if he does, it’ll go a long way towards us winning.”
Dogs’ versatile midfield
“They’re great assets for their team. They can put (Marcus) Bontempelli forward if they need someone to take a mark, or change a game . . . And they’ve got so many of those players . . . a lot who can go half-back/half-forward – (Rob) Murphy and those types. It’s hard to get a read on where they’re going to play, but we know how they’re going to play. It’s where they put their players that might cause some confusion. They’ve got so many midfielders, who are playing half-back and half-forward . . . They love to get the ball, use their hands to get the ball to space, and then they’re so dangerous, running and carrying the ball through space and inside forward-50. When they can’t, and it’s a bit slower, they hit the top of the goal-square. They’ve probably got (Tom) Boyd playing forward, but outside of that, they haven’t got a lot of height, so they’re quite dangerous on the ground.”
Quick, slick transition
“They’ve got a great ability to move the ball fast . . . They get the ball to open field, and they’ve got leg speed as well. When you get leg speed and open space, it’s a dangerous combination.”
Run and link off half-back
“There are going to be times where we can make tackles and lock the ball in, if not win the ball ourselves. But there’s going to be times in the game where they happen to get out, and then we have to scramble like mad to get back and try and stop them, and not miss tackles or get stepped. That opens the ground right up and good luck to the defenders when that happens . . . I think one of the attributes this season for Richmond has been our tackle pressure around the footy. It’s been pretty good, so if we can manage to not let the ball get to the outside . . . and make a tackle and then get the ball back ourselves, it’ll go a long way towards us winning.”
