2013 Richmond Tigers Round Review
Round 1: Carlton 14.17.101 - Richmond 14.22.106
First of all, what is up with Simpson's beard?!? Get that man a razor! Fast!
The game started with a lot of intensity and good play by Richmond, and yet the Blues took a 14 point lead. The commentary team said that we were playing poorly, but I didn't see it that way. I just thought we were unlucky! We had good hustle and we had possession a lot, we just didn't follow-through to score goals. Once we got that figured out, we were cruising along to what was at one point a 42 point lead!
I've followed the Tigers, and my NFL Seahawks, long enough to know that no lead is big enough for me to kick back and relax! I wasn't surprised when Carlton started to come back in the final quarter; it's happened too often in the past! We were not only playing Carlton, we were playing the Ghosts of Carlton Past, having lost to them so many times I can't bear to think of it!
With 3:54 on the clock in the final quarter, I paused the game and took my blood pressure. I wasn't convinced I was going to live to the final siren! I did, we won, and oohhh, how good it was to hear the team song!!
My favorite player today was Ty Vickery. He seemed to be everywhere, always in the right place at the right time. I also really liked the play of Jack Riewoldt, who as the commentators said often, played very unselfishly.
Nice win for our Tiges!
Round 2: St Kilda 12.10.82 - Richmond 14.15.99
Put the game away already, Richmond! The close scores and last quarters are giving me ulcers!
First of all, what a mark by McGuane! That was fantastic! I loooooved it! Second of all, how about that kick by Jake King from a super crazy angle?! And finally, what about all those goals by Riewoldt? Seven on the day! Remarkable!
From an outsider looking in, my big question of the day is what was the deal with all those white birds? Were they gulls? They were sure swooping down a lot at certain times throughout the game.
The announcers are saying that his is the first time in 16 years that the Tigers have started 2/0! Good for us!! Go the Tiges!
Round 3: Richmond 20.15.135 - Western Bulldogs 10.8.68
Finally! A game in which I do not get ulcers!
If we had been more accurate with "easy" kicks for goal, we could have had this game put away in the first quarter. With no disrespect intended to the Bulldogs, it was nice to see Richmond dominate a game from the start.
One of the things I see this year that I haven't always seen from the Tigers is a tremendous team effort. Sometimes it feels like we have more players on the field than our opponents as we swarm the ball. Other times it looks like we know exactly where our players are going to be on the field even as they're scrambling for position. I really like what I'm seeing, and I'm excited for this year's Tigers! 3-0, what a start! Well done!
Round 4: Richmond 11.13.79 - Collingwood 16.17.113
Hmmm. Well. This game isn't as much fun to write about!
To be honest, I turned it off half way through the third quarter when the game was getting out of hand. I had a big weekend ahead of me, it was the wee hours of the morning in the USA, and I just didn't have it in me to stay up for the thrashing.
The good news is that the rest of my weekend was fabulous! (No sense talking about the game!) I traveled to Kansas City to meet with my sister, we shopped, ate wonderful Italian food, went to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britian concert, spent the night in a hotel, got up the next morning and went to the City Market, then the baseball museum and the jazz museum, then to the botanical gardens before heading home.
So the Tiges didn't win. Yeah, I'm sad about that. I thought we were good enough to beat Collingwood. We were certainly competitive in the first half. We didn't get it done, alas. It was still a good weekend in spite of the loss, and I hope we can learn from our mistakes.
GO TIGERS!
Fremantle 12.9.81 - Richmond 12.8.80
Oooohhhh, this one was a heartbreaker. I don't think we played our best ball game by any means, but in spite of that we came so close to winning this game! A few short meters from a goal to win the game as the siren sounded! Oh, the heartache!
The controversial play came right at the end of the game when Richmond kicked for goal. The ball hit the goal umpire and bounced into the field of play. It was ruled a one point goal. The play was not reviewed.
Interestingly enough, the Aussies I have spoken with are pretty much okay with the ruling on the field. Most feel the play should have been ruled a goal or at the very least reviewed; most said the ball never should have hit the official in the first place, that their job is to stay out of the way of the ball; and oddly enough, most were okay with the results of the game even though the outcome very likely changed the victor in a tight ballgame. The explanation given was that Richmond should have put the game away much earlier in the day and this play wouldn't have mattered.
As an American, I'm scratching my head over this one. We'd have been up in arms, calling for the head of the umpire, the official who chooses whether or not there is a replay, and the commissioner of the game! We would not have sat still for this controversy, and we'd have been talking about it for weeks, maybe years! (Fans of both the Seahawks and the Steelers still passionately talk about the officiating of Super Bowl XL - and that was years ago!)
Another reason to love this great country of Australia and its classy and forgiving sporting fans. Love you guys!
Go Tigers!
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