Richmond great Matthew Richardson highlights six key points from the Tigers’ thrilling Round 2 victory over Carlton at the MCG last Thursday night.
- Ricky Petterd produced his best performance for Richmond.
The ex-Demon, in his second season at Tigerland, was terrific, picking up 24 disposals, which was the second most by a Tiger player, including a game-high nine inside-50s. On a night where the premium players weren’t outstanding, Petterd’s efforts assumed even more importance. Petterd is one of the most versatile players going around, and he has enormous courage, as again evidenced by his desperate, brave action to hurl himself back into a pack and smash the ball through for a Carlton point in the crucial, final stages of the contest.
- Ben Griffiths had the best game of his AFL career.
The solid, uninterrupted pre-season put in by the talented, but injury-plagued big man, is starting to pay dividends. Griffiths, who had shown glimpses of his undoubted ability, during the first four years of his AFL career, played a key role in Richmond’s win against the Blues. He took an equal career-high seven marks, including a game-high four contested marks, with the last of those being the critical, match-saving one, deep in defence. The ability to take strong, contested marks is worth its weight in gold, and, hopefully, that display last Thursday night will provide Griffiths with just the confidence he needs to become a consistent performer for the Tigers.
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- Brandon Ellis added another valuable string to his bow.
We all know how damaging the Tiger young gun can be when he gets the ball on the outside, with his powerful running and capacity to rack up possessions. Last Thursday night, however, Ellis was given a run-with role on key Carlton midfielder Bryce Gibbs – and he did it superbly. Not only did he restrict Gibbs to just 12 touches, he had 18 himself, including an equal team-high 16 uncontested possessions. Ellis also hurt the Blues, booting two brilliant, inspirational goals from outside 50, which were telling in such a tight match. It’s a real bonus for Richmond coach Damien Hardwick to know that he can now use Ellis this way, as well as an attacking weapon.
- Dustin Martin was the man for the moment.
When the Tigers managed to belt the ball deep forward to Dustin Martin, one-on-one with his Carlton opponent Zac Tuohy, with just seconds left on the clock, you just knew he would kick the match-sealing goal. Martin is superb in those type of situations, due to his brute strength, reflexes and poise. He made an important contribution to the Richmond win with that goal, another team-lifting one earlier in the match, and 21 disposals all-up.
- Ty Vickery answered his critics in impressive style.
It had been a long time between Round 1 and Round 2 for Ty Vickery. He’d come under a lot of scrutiny for his opening round performance against Gold Coast, with the Herald Sun even devoting two pages to a Dermott Brereton critical analysis of him. For Vickery to be able to stand up in the face of such pressure, and deliver on match-day for the Tigers, as he did against Carlton, was a great sign. He set the tone early by hitting up at the footy and taking some good marks. With a game-high four goals from his seven disposals, Vickery clearly was a significant factor in Richmond’s victory.
- The importance of that win should not be underestimated.
As the late Chrissy Amphlett of Divinyls fame sang, “It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain”. There was so much riding on last Thursday night’s match, given the fact both sides had lost in Round 1. If the Tigers had gone 0-2, it wouldn’t have been season over, but the pressure would have been rising appreciably. Yes, there was a ‘Groundhog Day’ element to the match, with Richmond racing away early, only to see Carlton storm home. Most importantly, however, the Tigers showed a lot of character after the Blues had drawn level with about eight minutes still to play, and they found a way to win. I believe that will provide a significant boost to their self-belief.
