Posted on May 12, 2009 | Category: Discussions
The signs weren’t good. After talking for most of the week about how Richo’s absence was an opportunity for Richmond to sort out the forward structure, Terry Wallace dropped Mitch Morton and listed Troy Simmonds at Full Forward, with Adam Pattison at Forward Pocket. Strike One.
Then Nathan Brown and Patto dropped out before the side ran out. Strike Two.
Jack Riewoldt: the remaining forward target gave very little for the whole game, and was afforded very little space. So basically, we either bombed it up in the hope he’d take a speccy, or we kicked it around waiting for a good option and turned the ball over as a result. To say that we lost the game because of turnovers is to look at the symptom rather than the cause. The forward line was hopelessly clogged – the result of a complete absence of a forward structure. The only way we were ever going to score goals was through long bombs that Simmonds would mark (which he did quite admirably) or through running goals from 50. At one stage we even played Richard Tambling as a leading forward. Hardly a reliable approach, and the wastefulness of our first quarter was a hint of what was to come. No forward line killed the Tiger on Saturday.
It’s the same problem we’ve been having for ages. It used to be that we’re Richo-centric, but we removed the big man and the problem remains. Maybe just bringing Morton back into the side gives Richmond a second significant option. Nahas looks like the future as a half-forward flanker. Angus Graham was good in the ruck, but it seemed that while Simmonds was getting rested at full forward, Graham was getting rested on the bench. Maybe it’s just a fitness question for big Angus, but it’s entirely possible that the resting ruckman might be a part of the solution.
But the hard truth is that we’ve just got to work it out. Jack Riewoldt will never be a 60+ goal forward for the season, and neither will Morton. But if we can depend on 8 or so between Riewoldt, Morton and Nahas, then throw in a couple from Nathan Brown, and two to three from resting ruckmen, with midfielders kicking the rest – we might just post a winning score.
Problem is, I’m not sure we can rely on any of those, and I don’t think we have anyone else on the list to throw in there.
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