Another capitulation to the Blues, and an admirable loss to the Pies. Capitulations, admirable losses. For decades now, I fear we've had a few too many of these for our impatient fans. It is made worse by the fact that both clubs are our old rivals, and they've had a much too easy time of it with us of late. We used to make those clubs quake with fear. We made them (and their rabid fans) respect us. There've been Richmond sides that would rather spend a day in hell listening to a Peter Landy & Lou Richards commentary highlight reel than lose to Carlton or Collingwood. I have to admit to losing my angry pretty severely during both games, but particularly during that first 8 minutes of the 3rd Q against the Woodsmen. When Dimma popped on the TV screen looking like a man at the edge of his sanity, I was there with him. I'm not usually an angry fan, but my goat was got up well and truly both times. Here's four reasons why.
1. Skill errors: Forgivable when under pressure, but a sackable offence when not. Dropping chest marks in the Forward 50, over-kicking short passes in the Defensive 50. I'm not having that Tigers. I'm just not having it. Our disposal efficiency was actually pretty good in both games (above 70%) but there were 46 clangers against the Blues and 39 against the Pies, and it just felt like every one of those clangers cost us either a score or our momentum. No good having a high disposal efficiency when the mistakes that ARE made are really costly.
2. Dropped work rate: In both games, just 15 minutes drop off in intensity was enough to let the game slip. Midfields are elite because of their intensity as much as their skill. Our midfield is nearly there with our skill, but our intensity wavers and the elite sides are going to take advantage of that. This is all about clearance rates. Elite clearance performances depend upon a constantly high rate throughout a game. This translates into good old fashioned gut busting hard work. If there is a lot of contested ball (and therefore a lot of clearance work needed) the midfield is going to tire. However, it has to push through that, or we have to get a higher rate of rotation through the midfield. Either way, our midfield group has to work harder. Skill alone will not be enough.
3. Getting past the wing: Unlike some others, I think our young defence performed well in both contests. Notwithstanding a few costly clangers, the backmen seem generally confident and comfortable moving the ball out of deep defence up to half back. From half back though and over the wing, things look a little shaky to me. We seem to get stuck, struggling for options. The default seems to be to kick to an even contest but our efficiency around those contests is questionable. I'd like to see a more dynamic half back prepared to run the ball past the wing, and switching when there's too much traffic ahead. We switched a couple of times against the Maggies and it worked. But switching relies on the half forwards being prepared to run a little deeper up the ground to create the opportunity. Again - that's about hard work.
4. Taking marks inside 50: We have many upfront who can kick goals, but we need them to catch the ball first. End of story.
During my watching of both losses I felt as though someone had ripped some chocolate out of my hands. We are showing glimpses of what we're capable of, that's for sure. Promises, promises. It's time for us to establish a greater consistency of effort. I agree that we are narrowing the gap between ourselves and the top sides, but if we want to rise to the top, it is all about persistent hard work from here.
The Demons this week. We should win. If we don't, if we don't...
By the way, if you ever happen to be near me while I'm eating chocolate, DO NOT attempt to take it from me. There will be anger, bitterness and tears.
Eat em alive Tigers, eat em alive.blog comments powered by Disqus
