I came to the couch with a fair amount of trepidation about this one. The Tiges have been mainly winning but never looking entirely convincing. And Wet Toast has been the form team of the competition. So I figured that this encounter would really be the test of whether our Tiges were timing a run of best form for the business end of the season or whether we were just kidding ourselves. Many of the games I’ve watched this year have been frustrating spectacles. Our boys have often played in fits and starts, without great fluency and polish. Also, I’ve frequently had cause to wonder why it’s apparently so bloody difficult to kick the ball between those big sticks (see useful diagram attached).

So, right from the first bounce, this game was a pleasurable revelation. The Tigers played with a sustained confidence and intensity that, to my eye, far exceeded anything produced in earlier games. We seemed to have the game predominantly on our terms, so that the blue-and-yellow blokes were frequently corralled, harassed and forced to chase their tails. It was a beautiful thing to behold. Also, for the first time in ages, we somehow managed to kick goals.

The highlights of course were Dusty’s outrageous curler launched from the disused pie-stand somewhere beyond the right-hand forward pocket and then, later, big Noah’s long, long bomb from the centre square. Approaching the end of the game, I was amazed to note that we’d managed to kick 14 goals and only three behinds. I would have sustained this amazement right to the finish if freckly Jack hadn’t momentarily forgotten the old adage that there’s no ‘i’ in ‘team’ and butchered a straightforward close-range shot with a needless bit of smart-arsery.

Overall though, this performance begs the question: why can’t we kick at goal with this level of proficiency every week? Let’s hope that this might be the game that banishes the yips from our collective boot!

Aside from all the above, these are the things I most appreciated:

• Noah Balta playing with such flair and authority (even if this did include his inadvertent sinking of a knee into Josh Kennedy’s temple early in the game);
• Our two-prong ruck division largely nullifying the brilliance of big Nic Nat;
• Our tall blokes in the forward line working hard to frequently bring the ball to ground, so that our smaller blokes could pounce on the crumbs and those acclaimed Wet Toast defenders never got to dictate terms;
• Cotch’s manic efforts to win the contested ball at the centre bounce and around the stoppages;
• Fridge Graham’s frequent and imposing efforts to chase, tackle and extract the ball from traffic.

Mainly though I thought we just looked like a bloody good team, with everyone meshing together to become a force greater than the sum of its parts. For the first time in this weird year of football, I’m prepared to believe that our team is a genuine chance to go all the way. But of course, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves…

Benny Votes

5. Noah Balta
4. Trent Cotchin
3. Jack Graham
2. Bachar Houli
1. Dustin Martin

Leaderboard
26: Martin
22: Bolton
14: Vlastuin
13: Short, Grimes
12: Balta
11: Cotchin
10: Lambert
9: Baker, McIntosh
7: Prestia, Riewoldt, Graham
6: Soldo
5: Higgins, Eggmolesse-Smith, Chol, Houli
4: Caddy
3: Lynch
2: Pickett
1: Castagna, Aarts

This was not a great game from us, an atypical snooze fest. But it was exactly what we’ve come to know and love from Gold Coast – exciting youngsters, a very competitive first half and a tailing away in the latter stages. There was a slow start, and it never got exactly frenetic. This will be the briefest of summaries.

AFL match report says we “owned” the first quarter. OK. Riewoldt was on, and we certainly looked the more potent side up front. Scores were level at the first break.

The Suns may have got a rocket from Stuey Dewey with their oranges; as they were by far the better side in the 2nd Q but sprayed it. Again I am floating my theory that there’s something about our Grimes-led back 6 that causes wayward kicking. Old fashioned “chewy on yer boot” action? Perhaps. I don’t think we rush more than average. They led 3.6 to 2.2 at half time. Yes, our boys kicked two majors in the first half.

Jack starred and this was clearly his best game of the season. Not long after the season restart Marcus and I speculated about his future; but I wouldn’t do that after this game. He’s still got what it takes to take a game by the scruff, especially a moribund off-Broadway affair like this.

We kicked three to none in the 3rd quarter, Pickett put us in front in his usual laid back way. After the last change we just eased away with three more goals to one for as unspectacular win as you’ll get. Just contento with the puntas quatras as they possibly say in Spanish.

Lynch had a good game but was cited for thumping a young Coaster in the guts. This was the main footy story of the week as the commentariat decided it was time to pile on the club. He’s getting caught retaliating, and will miss more important games than this one if he keeps it up.

Benny Votes
This week I’ll man up and call the votes myself.
Riewoldt 5, Grimes 4, Vlastuin 3, Cotchin 2, Short 1
Leaderboard
20: Martin
18: Bolton
13: Short
12: Vlastuin, Grimes
10: Lambert
9: Baker, McIntosh
7: Prestia, Balta, Riewoldt, Cotchin
6: Soldo
5: Higgins, Eggmolesse-Smith, Chol
4: Caddy
3: Houli, Lynch
2: Pickett
1: Castagna, Graham, Aarts

Lions have been travelling very well and were expected to be a good test for us. Vlossy was back for Markov. Hipwood goaled first. Charlie Cameron is one of the league’s in-form forwards, and he was on the board and revving his mini bike early. We found the ball and got in front by quarter time. Harris Andrews is a talented and huge man but his spoil technique handed us two goals.

The Lions now kicked the game away. After QT they kicked 2.14, which of course is oddly familiar. They kicked 8.17 in last year’s qualifying final, letting us off the hook despite 10 scoring shots to 3 in the first quarter.

The current “Tom Lynch is a thug” movement started here, when he pushed Alex Witherden’s face into the turf. He avoided a suspension but it might have been for the best if he’d been given a week and taught to cool it.

Shai Bolton has gone to another level, seeming to glide around the midfield. He collected a ball at pace in the exact centre of the ground, continued for 5 steps then roosted the ball from all of 70 metres. Marbs shepherded it through for one of the longest goals I’ve seen.

A beaut highlight with an anti-climactic end was Kamdyn’s fancy stepovers on the outer wing, which lost McLuggage completely. Kamdyn then took about 18 steps and was whistled up for too far. He’s extraordinary.

Benny Votes
I have again used @Tigers_of_Old’s list of the best Tigers on ground. Dusty is in Brownlow form now IMO. Baker is going to be top 3 in the B&F in my opinion. Bolton was a very good small forward in 2019 but a revelation in midfield now. Lynch worked very hard. Jake Aarts knows where the goals are, knows his role and plays it well.
Martin 5, Baker 4, Bolton 3, Lynch 2, Aarts 1

Leaderboard
20: Martin
13: Bolton
10: Lambert, Short
9: Baker
8: Vlastuin, Grimes
7: Prestia, Balta
6: Soldo
5: Higgins, Vlastuin, Cotchin, Eggmolesse-Smith, McIntosh
4: Caddy
3: Prestia, Houli, Lynch
2: Riewoldt, Pickett, Chol
1: Castagna, Graham, Aarts

Dusty was best-on again against the Bulldogs. Rioli, Graham and Naish were all dropped for Ross, Markov and Stack, and the skipper was back with Vlastuin out injured. We went in with three genuine tall forwards, and the Dogs just didn’t have the defensive power to match. Aarts is thriving in the Butler role and bobbed up for three goals. Grimes won us a 50m and goal with a stagey flop when he was brushed by Ed Richards; this was the beginning of a deliberate tactic that I do not like to see in my favourite Tiger.

We really clobbered them. Bont was very quiet. Dusty was a 4-quarter player and kicked an inside-out boomer from the right pocket, all three of his goals were actually top drawer. Newbies Markov and Ross combined to create another goal. Marbs played cleverly and is just a delight to watch.

He’s reinventing football

— 4boat (@4Boat) July 29, 2020

It’s so eye-opening to see a tall player confident in their speed and agility. Combined with Noah Balta down back (his citizen’s arrest on Josh Bruce was fantastic) we have so much excitement to look forward to.

Benny Votes
I have pinched these from @Tigers_of_Old who is a shrewd observer. Dusty has leapt to the top of the leaderboard.
Martin 5, Grimes 4, Balta 3, Pickett 2, Chol 1

Leaderboard
15: Martin
10: Lambert, Short, Bolton
8: Vlastuin, Grimes
7: Prestia, Balta
6: Soldo
5: Higgins, Vlastuin, Cotchin, Eggmolesse-Smith, McIntosh, Baker
4: Caddy
3: Prestia, Houli
2: Riewoldt, Pickett, Chol
1: Lynch, Castagna, Graham

Before I go into this week’s Tigers game, I’ve got a bit of a confession. I lost a bet on the Tigers/Saints game, and the winner got to choose what game in Perth the loser buys the tickets for. So, Thursday saw me heading into Optus Stadium Perth to see the Cats and Pies. It was an uninspiring game, but it was good to see the AFL live and being in WA not being in lockdown. (Apologies to all those in lockdown reading this).

Saturday afternoon I watched East Fremantle v South Fremantle with the South Fremantle Bulldogs running all over the Sharks. Marlion Pickett was a South Freo footballer as were a couple of others who ran around in the Yellow and Black; Andrew Krakour, Stephen Jurica, Darren Gaspar to name a few. Nicky Winmar and Brad Hardie are also amongst the many South Fremantle players to make it to VFL/AFL ranks. Based on that I might follow this mob whilst I’m over here… as long as the game doesn’t clash with a Tigers game.

Q1 Tigers 4.3; Roos 0.0

Righto, onto the first quarter of the Tigers and the Kangaroos, first centre clearance, a free kick our way and we go for the Hail Mary up and under bomb and it gets returned from whence it came. For a few moments I thought oh no please not again. However we kept rolling forward, the pressure we’re used to seeing was there as was the chaos footy. After 8 inside 50’s Pickett kicks across his body for the first Tiger goal of the quarter. I wrote on my pad the pressure is back.

Up steps Dusty for our next, Chol got his first goal and his athleticism again was showing and Lynch to Riewoldt for our 4^th. Eggmolesse-Smith was on another level to last week and was showing the selectors he wants to stay in this team. The centreline and backline did a superb job and North were goal-less in fact scoreless for the quarter

Q2 Tigers 6.5; Roos 2.3

The first notes on the pad for Q2 were Caddy injured and Pressure, Pressure, Pressure. It looks like someone is going to have to step up to replace Caddy but the Tiger pressure, run on chaos footy and relentless forward pressure is back. Aarts intercepted well in the forward line but shanked the kick denying him his first Tiger goal.

It was the athleticism of Chol mixed with the Tiger forward pressure that saw our first goal of the quarter with Castagna dribbling one through from the goal-square. End to end running set up by Pickett switching play on the backline saw Bolton on the end of a chain hitting Lynch who kicked truly. North got a couple of late quarter goals, maybe we ran out of a bit of steam or maybe they got their game plan working. Quarter three would tell.

Q3 Tigers 9.7; Roos 2.6

North started by driving deep into their forward line and Pickett drifted across the pack to pull down a strong mark. That’s how our quarter started, continued and finished. Everyone playing a part, players linking up, Tigers creating pressure at every stoppage.

Dusty goaled, Rioli goaled and Chol was on the end of a good turnover chain and gave the Tigers three for the quarter. Once again in the third quarter North were goal-less but inaccurate kicking didn’t help them.

Q4. Tigers 11.11; Roos 2.11

With the game all but over it was a matter of how much will we win by? We missed a couple including Aarts from another set shot but within minutes he made amends by roving off the pack and kicking across his body for a goal. He followed up later in the quarter with another goal sneak roving opportunity.

This was a win by 22 hard at the ball; at every contest, Richmond players. Soldo and Chol were doing great second efforts. If Chol can work out the centre bounces he’s a handy back up, however second efforts from both of those players is worth noting. Likewise we’ve kept 2 teams to a total of 5 goals between them for 8 quarters of footy-pressure and poise all in one. Our big 2 forwards are down a little on form (in my view) but still contribute well and there’s plenty of Yellow and Black to mop up crumbs and provide chaos and pressure.

With a host of big names out there is a lot to be excited about.

The Benny Votes

5: Egglmolesse-Smith –he was everywhere and provided plenty of run. Filling big shoes and played a very solid 4 quarters.

4: Short – Another solid 4 quarter contributor fed and fed off team mates with poise.

3: Bolton – Could have got the 4 votes. Played centre and was everywhere. If he can find the next level of fitness he will be unstoppable.

2: Soldo – You can’t go past his second efforts and 23 hit outs against a quality ruckman in Goldstein deserves more than the 2 votes but I am fast finding out this voting caper isn’t easy.

1: Graham – 9 tackles (most of any Tiger) . Here is a bloke who keeps the Elastoplast shares on the up with the amount of shoulder strapping he needs weekly. That deserves a vote.

Unlucky not to get a vote or two; Pickett, Chol, Broad

Leaderboard
10: Lambert
8: Short
6: Soldo
5: Higgins, Vlastuin, Cotchin, Eggmolesse-Smith
4: Grimes, Balta, Caddy, Baker
3: Prestia, Houli, McIntosh, Bolton
1: Lynch, Castagna, Chol, Graham

Blair Hartley Appreciation Award: for players who have joined Richmond from another club
(Eligible 2020: Caddy, Grigg, Houli, Lynch, Nankervis and Prestia)

Prestia Houli 3, Lynch 1

Anthony Banik Best First Year Player:for anyone who was yet to debut before round 1
(Eligible 2020: Collier-Dawkins, Dow, Turner, English, Martyn, Cumberland, Aarts, Ralphsmith, Nyuon, Miller)

No votes yet

Joel Bowden’s Golden Left Boot:for left footers
(Eligible 2020: Chol, Nankervis and Houli)

Houli 3, Chol 1

Greg Tivendale Rookie List Medal:
upgraded from the rookie list during the current season

(Eligible 2020: Aarts, Baker, Chol, Eggmolesse-Smith, Stack and Pickett)

Eggmolesse-Smith 5, Chol 1

Maurice Rioli Grip of Death Trophy:
For the Tiges top tackler in 2020

Pickett 22
Prestia 21
Lambert, Soldo, Cotchin 20
Graham 18