Chris Greenway's Footy Commentary!

Rd 5 North Melbourne V Richmond 25/04/2009

After losing to Melbourne the heat was all on the Tigers for the week.

Once the board came out and backed the coach until at least Rd 12 when they complete their review the microscope was turned onto the playing group. Interestingly the Tiger board have an unusual relationship with the media. When they stick to their guns as with the review and the coaches future they get pilloried for doing what they said, yet when they change things they're pilloried for not doing what they said.

Very odd. This week was all about the Richmond players, how they'd perform and what their reaction to the storm around them would be. The selection committee responded to the loss by wielding the axe and dropped 4 players.well they dropped 3 and one was forced out due to injury, but I have no doubt had Nathan Brown been in better form they would have played him injured or not. Brown went out with a supposed groin injury, he had apparently had it for a couple of weeks which was the excuse given for his less than ideal output against the Bulldogs and Melbourne. I have said it before and I will say it again: if he was injured to that extent then why was he playing? Do not play injured players! Troy Simmonds was dropped due to his deplorable form, if he wasn't a ruckman he wouldn't have lasted as long as he did.

Daniel Connors was also dropped, I'm not really sure what message that sends: play a kid for one game and when he doesn't kick a bag drop him again? Tom Hislop also went back to Coburg, no argument there, he just hasn't been up to it. To replace that quadrant Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, he of the frequently misdirected kick, Mark Coughlan, after a nearly 3 year absence with injury, Adam Pattison, obviously as a backup ruckman to the inexperienced Angus Graham and Richard Tambling came back. I had issues with Oakley-Nicholls and Tambling. The former has been on the list for 4 years and seems to have had trouble grasping the basic concept of kicking the ball to a team mate, Tambling's form had been at best patchy and yet they dropped him for one week and then brought him back, surely he couldn't rediscover any form in a week. Pattison was a natural as the only other ruck option with experience on the list. The one real bright spark was Coughlan, he had been out for far too long and one could only hope that he got some luck and came out of the game unscathed.

I honestly didn't expect much. The team were very unskilled, light on experience and didn't seem to have much spirit. North are a team of battlers, they have no real stars, but they frequently punch above their weight and fight hard. Plus Richmond very rarely beat them. The last victory was in 2006.

Coming after the big Anzac Day clash between Essendon & Collingwood, which was epic as it nearly always is, the publicity and interest level was not high. The game started like many recent Richmond games with the Tigers well down and being beaten all around the ground. North Melbourne had 20 points on the board before Richmond had even entered their forward 50. The turning point came when Daniel Jackson tackled North captain Brent Harvey and the resultant crash to the ground dislocated Harvey's elbow (ouch!) This seemed to deflate the Kangaroos and inspire Richmond. Chris Newman ran through the middle of the ground and kicked a long running goal, it was as they say a 'captain's goal'. The contest immediately evened up and the Tigers were only a goal down at quarter time. Had they been on top of their game early in the quarter they would have had the lead.

The 2nd quarter was a tight contest and it looked like the Kangaroos may take the ascendancy back when Matthew Richardson hobbled off with what looked like a strained hamstring. Enter Jack Riewoldt; the erratic, but livewire Richmond forward soared over the heads of his opponents in blue and white to take the mark of the night and kicked 3 goals for the term. Surprisingly enough the disappointing Tigers took a slender lead into the long break. They were also confident despite the injury to their spiritual leader Richo. The 4 inclusions were all playing well: Oakley-Nicholls (often known as JON due to his initials) was taking marks and amazingly most of his kicks were finding team mates, Coughlan had slotted into the middle like he'd never left and was firing out handballs to Foley and Deledio, helping out Newman and Tuck in tight, Pattison hadn't been seen a lot, but was giving help to Graham in the hitout department and lurking dangerously in the forward line and Tambling was attacking the ball like a man possessed and showing more speed than had been seen from him for some time.

North tried to wrest the game back in the 3rd, but 3rd gamer Robbie Nahas was having none of that and soon began to appear everywhere, marking the ball, spoiling contests, tackling hard and setting up team mates, this got everyone going and the Tigers began to run all over their dispirited opponents. The lead had blown out to 27 points by 3 quarter time and Richo was back on the ground, hobbling, but seemingly recovered from the strain.

All that the Tigers had to do was hold steady in the last stanza and they did. At times they looked a little wobbly, but the Kangaroos wayward kicking for goal helped their opponents and when Joel Bowden broke the lines and ran through the middle slotting his 2nd goal for the night giving the Tigers a 6 goal lead the game was over and the way Bowden celebrated he knew it. With the strains of Tigerland ringing in their ears the players walked off for a well earned 36 point victory.

Here's how I saw the players:

3. Brett Deledio: he's been under the pump and he responded in the best way possible. After a quiet 1st half really picked up the pace in the 2nd and simply could not be contained, he set up the win with his drive and play from the middle of the ground. For mine was best on ground.

8. Jack Riewoldt: this was a 4 quarter performance, his 2nd quarter was the highlight with the 3 goals and the big hanger, but he was prominent in all 4 quarters and the supporters would like to see more of that.

11. Joel Bowden: was allowed to roam freely from the backline to the forward line and was very dangerous, he has vision and the skills to compliment it.

12. Matthew Richardson: not the big man's best game. Was largely ineffective before he twinged a buttock and while he did return didn't have much impact.

13. Jordan McMahon: yes he played well, but the heat is not off. Jordan appeared once the Tigers gained the ascendancy, he was not to be seen when the game was there to be won. Front runner.

14. Dean Polo: another solid game, working back to his 2006 form.

16. Luke McGuane: a little bit off on the night, seemed to come to life when moved forward, but kicking proved why he's played in the backline.

17. Chris Newman: captain's game. Kicked long and confidently from the backline and around the ground, played more in the middle which to my way of thinking suits him more than defence.

18. Alex Rance: continued to attack the contest with enthusiasm and use his height and pace. Needs to work on his kicking.

20. Mitch Morton: played away from the forward line at times which is good. Very dangerous near the goals and worries other teams.

21. Shane Tuck: fought hard in the middle and produced more than a few chances for his fellow Tiger midfielders.

22. Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls: his good form was a surprise. Sometimes young players need a breakout game to arrive. It could be just one of those games where things went right, but I'm hoping that it's not a once off.

23. Daniel Jackson: got a career high 33 possessions and has been rated by many observers as best on ground. I think Deledio was better, but Jackson was good. Needs to not overthink and trust his first instinct.

24. Mark Coughlan: encouraging return, if he can stay fit and continue to improve then he may get back to the top of the mountain.

26. Adam Pattison: got through the game and did help Graham, but would need to improve to hold his spot.

30. Richard Tambling: pace, strength and commitment, he had it all. Hopefully he can go on with this and become the player that the Tigers hoped for when they drafted him.

35. Matt White: used more forward than midfield and it suited him, his pace and strength were very useful.

38. Robin Nahas: this slightly built young man is becoming a crowd favourite, he's got pace and will to win. He tackles very hard for someone of his size. Once his radar kicks in he'll be a dangerous goal sneak. His work in the 3rd quarter was inspirational stuff.

40. Kelvin Moore: it's taken the underrated redhead a few weeks, but we're starting to see the form that made his 2008 season a revelation.

41. Nathan Foley: tagged by North's master Brady Rawlings and with 24 possessions, most of which were valuable he took the honours this time.

42. Andrew Collins: followed up his good debut with another useful display, this time in a winning team. The wrapping him in cotton wool approach for his first couple of seasons may have worked.

44. Angus Graham: still slow and would like to see him have confidence in his kicking, but in Troy Simmonds absence he did a solid job and this was the best game I've seen him play.