VFL Tigers eye a spot in the Grand Final
From the Richmond FC website - Brenton Mann, richmondfc.com.au
Richmond VFL will fight for a spot in the Grand Final on Saturday, when they square off against Port Melbourne in a preliminary final at Adcon Stadium.
The Tigers, fresh from a week off, have the task of knocking off a rampaging Port Melbourne at the Borough's home fortress.
SUPERSTORE Gear up for Finals with the Tigerland Superstore and show your support this September
It’s been a long time between drinks for the two sides that met all the way back in Round 2, with the Tigers prevailing by 43 points.
Given it will be over five months between outings, not much can be taken out of their most recent encounter. But the Borough have some shining traits that Richmond will have to curtail to secure the win.
Richmond VFL coach and recently awarded VFL Coach of the Year, Craig McRae, is aware the result will hinge on who handles the heat at the coalface.
“We haven’t played them for a while…Round 2, so it’s hard to get a read on how they play. We’ll sit down and have a look at that on the tape and see what we’ll see but their contest and pressure has been something that’s been a real feature”, McRae said.
“You look at the last two or three weeks stats-wise and those things stood out."
McRae was quick to acknowledge the honour he recieved at the VFL Best and Fairest night, alongside Hugh Beasley and defensive partner-in-crime Dan Coffield, who were granted back-half posts in the VFL Team of the Year.
“It’s great reward for those guys and I mentioned at training that individual awards are only achieved through great team success”, McRae said.
“The team performs well and the individuals get better and this case ‘Beaser’, myself and ‘Coff’ are the ones recognised. But we’re not naïve to think that we’re not in those positions without the contributions that have taken place throughout the year.
“While we’re grateful, we appreciate all of the other stuff that goes with it."
The potential for a one-on-one duel between 2019 ‘Frosty’ Miller medallist for the VFL's leading goalkicker, Port Melbourne's Jordan Lisle, and VFL Team of the Year full-back, Hugh Beasley, adds a vail of intrigue to this cut-throat final.
Richmond’s mantra, however, is not centred around individual matchups, rather, a collective pursuit to curtail the opposition’s strengths and be hard to play against.
However, McRae will no doubt have a contingency plan for if the Port Melbourne spearhead catches fire.
“We’ll have some options but he’s certainly a player that we’ll have to watch—he’s a quality player at this level”, McRae said.
On the road to the preliminary final, Richmond pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in VFL history, clawing their way back from a 40-point deficit at three-quarter time to defeat the Bombers by two points in the qualifying final.
“Upon reflection, our balance around the contest was reasonably poor, so we’re looking at that and ways we can improve. But ultimately, the greatest lesson we took out of the game was the belief we have in this group”, McRae said.
“It’s been a special group all year and we’ve found ways to win in all different circumstances and all different venues and different conditions.
"So, we go into (Saturday's) game and our opposition can’t take our belief away from us...we’ve built that over a number of weeks."
Toby Nankervis was the hero in Richmond’s come-from-behind win. However, with Nankervis returning to AFL duties, the rucking responsibility will likely be passed to able lieutenants, Callum Coleman-Jones, Mabior Chol and possibly Noah Balta.
This will not be uncharted waters for the Tigers, with all three having handled the workload during the season.
“We’ve juggled that ruck position all year with (Ivan) Soldo, 'CJ' (who has) had to carry the load for a major part of the year and then ‘Marbs’ did it for little stints as well,” McRae said.
“We’ve got good flexibility in our team and ‘Nank’ goes out but he only played 60 per cent of the (qualifying final) game. It was a pretty special 60 per cent, particularly in the last quarter. Even ‘Garthy’ (Ryan Garthwaite) played some minutes in the ruck...so I think we’ve got good scope in that part of the game."
Chol, Balta and Coleman-Jones have all had stints at AFL level this season and have a shown growth in their development.
Twenty-year-old Coleman-Jones, 200cm, has averaged 15.4 disposals, five marks, four tackles and 17 hit-outs across 17 games this year, as well as kicking 10 goals.
McRae is bullish about what his young ruckman is shaping into.
“He’s been a real standout in terms of development,” McRae said.
“The two-year growth for him has been profound. We had a really targeted program for him last year that he grew within, and this year he looks like he’s gone to a whole new level.
“I think he’s a really exciting prospect. His ground level stuff and his contest-to-contest stuff is as good as any I’ve seen at this level for a young, developing ruckman and we’ve got high hopes for him."
Saturday’s preliminary final will be the Tigers second in three years. Richmond fell agonisingly short of premiership glory against the Borough in 2017.
McRae points to the differences he’s felt between the two finals series.
“It’s all a new experience for us and every campaign’s different, the build-up’s different…but I think this group right from the start of the year looked hungry”, McRae said.
“In 2017 we got a bit of a run-on late and had a lot of experience that drove that and we had the whole footy club that was abuzz amongst that.
“This group, right from the practice games, have this hunger and want to win and an ability to connect really well, so those things in particular are a main reason why we’re in the position we are at the moment."
On Saturday, as its been all year, this group will be hungry, connected and will look ‘Richmond’.
Tickets to the game are available here. Those unable to make it to the clash can watch it live on Channel 7 from 2.00pm.
Tiger fans can also follow live updates from Adcon Stadium via the Richmond VFL Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Richmond's preliminary final team will be announced at 7pm tonight, updated in this article.
Richmond VFL Preliminary Final
1st Preliminary Final
Richmond vs Port Melbourne
Saturday, September 14
2.10pm
Adcon Stadium
In reply to Great win to the Tigers Hope by billythekid
Yeah like Richmond don't have an advantage being professional footballers. Your just salty that Sandringham don't gp standalone like Frankston, Port, Werribee, Willy & Coburg. Enjoy watching the Sandringham Saints in the future seasons.
Who would you barrack for Billy Willy v st Kilda seconds, port v st Kilda seconds, Frankston v st Kilda seconds, coburg v st Kilda seconds, werribee v st st Kilda seconds ?? I go for all vfa teams over any afl teams. If Willy win and beat Essendon and play Richmond why on earth would you barrack for an afl team with 20 afl listed players over an old vfa team ???? Why ???
Why vfa.Because thats what the comp is and and has been fo a very long time now.
If the ex VFA stand alone clubs dont like the rules they should get out because they arnt going to change any time soon.
You can even say the odds are in the Ex VFA teams favour as most of the AFL reserves teams dont care about winning during the H & A season.
If Sandy were stand alone would you barrack for them or an afl team ? Footscray wanted to win against both Willy and port in both their finals. Essendon were keen against werribee last week. Richmond were very keen today. Box hill always try to win. I would say only north Melbourne and Melbourne in the don't care bracket. Throw in st Kilda maybe. The rest have a go. Yes that is what we are stuck unfortunately Billy and while there still is your Willy, port, coburg, werribee and Frankston standalone going around i want them to win of course. If the vfa teams left and was solely an afl reserves comp I would rather watch chess or synchronised swimming. No interest at all. Billy if we had a time machine we both would love to go back to the great old vfa days. Unfortunately this is 2019 and we are in a different world.
Fantastic effort by Port but just couldnt keep the pressure on in the last quarter when Richmond turned it on. Ports defence was superb for three quarters, continually forcing Richmond to bomb it in to their forward line and shutting down their dangerous forwards. Port desperately need to recruit a few class players for next year - especially for their forward line.
Hard to see either Willy or Essendon getting anywhere near Richmond in the GF if they play like they did in the last quarter.
Loved Conway's game - didnt make the best players but had a good game and took a few decent hits along the way. Khan was good all day - the dropkick goal from the ruck was unbelievable, and he almost pulled in a couple of huge pack marks that would probably have resulted in goals.
Comeng don't fall for those Port home ground advantage comments they are obviously posted to get us to bite - I think it has been the most talked about topic during this finals series, like as if its a new thing. People don't seem to understand the economics of the competition and that we probably wouldn't have 2 games per weekend on tv if their wasn't a main ground hosting the finals. Port as a proven venue (proven in their ability to host and that it can hold the crowd) is chosen.
Great effort from the team - i think during the home and away I mentioned aruond 1000 times that Port will be lucky to get to week 2 and potentially will suffer a big loss in week 1. To get as far as we did and to give Richmond a real push was incredible and each and every Port Melbourne fan should be incredibly proud of a side that its fair to say punched above its weight.
Looking forward to next season I think if player retention is strong then I think we are only 3, 4 (real class players) of being a real premiership contender - heck we nearly got in with the players we have now. Well done Port - another great season.
In reply to If Sandy were stand alone by vfa
vfa I dont think many of the AFL reserves teams like Geelong,Collingwood,Melbourne.North Melbourne and Northern Blues etc are all that fussed to win games Its more about the same system being coached at both levels not about winning until maybe the finals,So if Richmond and Essendon end up playing off will you watch the match?
Im well aware that the VFA died a long time ago and will never return.
The current VFL is what it is - a bastardised comp of very little relevence to the Victorian football public propped up by the AFL because it suits its Victorian clubs.
I'm with you MegaA. In the lead up to the finals, I thought we would be lucky to scrape in. We had a run off 7 iwns in a row mid-season, but limped home playing some of the worse football I have seen from Port Melbourne in years.
Having said that, I couldn't be more proud of the Borough's efforts in the finals series. I think we just lacked a little experience in stages, but young kids like Michael Wenn in the ruck has been briliiant, and there is still a huge upside for 2020. Will Ayres continue to coach? Hard to say. It wouldn't surprise me if he decides its time to turn his hand to something else.
Yes Richmond had 20 AFL players, with salary cap that no doubt is in the millions of dollars, and it's hard for VFA clubs to compete with the measley salaray caps imposed on the them. Yes the compeition is heavily slanted in the favour of the clubs that have re-joined the competition but it makes for a wonderful challenge and makes our wins all the more sweeter. The Borough was up against 20 AFL listed players against Footscray the week before and Geelong the week prior but were able to hold them off.
Yes it is an advantage having finals played at Port Melbourne, but the number of supporters would heavily have been in Richmonds favour, and Richmond also chooses to play home games at country venues so I can't imagine the home ground advantage is a massive priority for them. It's not like when VFA clubs play at Marvel stadium, a ground that most players have never set foot on before and are prevented from even having a training session on.
I went back to have a look at the late hit on Tom O'Sullivan junior where he was charged and hit-head high resulting in his jaw being broken. The commentators were way off. That should surely be heavy suspension, lining up an unprotected player. Well out of line with current community standards.
I think that job is his as long as he wants it - certainly seems to have the passion for it still but he has been doing it now for 12 ? years. Thats a long time, hopefully he sticks around for several years. Like anything in life, it will come to a end and when that day comes I hope we get somebody internal, somebody from the club to take over. I think Baird would make a good coach, perhaps even Toby or Valenti.
Richmond did have a better turn out than us but we were far from embarassed in terms or our numbers. As #7 said probably slightly more Richmond support.
Salaray cap - what is the figure? 320 k ? I'm guessing that us, Williamstown and perhaps Werribee maximise it.
Billy if it is a Richmond v Essendon in an all afl reserves gf next weekend would be a hard call to go. Afl reserves gf. Not very appealing. Praying Willy do the job today but with my luck wouldn't bet on it. I will go to a local efl gf next Saturday Blackburn v Vermont at bayswater. Blackburn playing in their first gf top tier since 1975. Blackburn are called the Panthers and wear same jumpers as Waverley vfa.