Crows defeat Tigers by 37 points at MCG, ending Richmond’s bold hopes for back-to-back wins
Updated ,first published
Richmond’s bid to end an MCG win drought dating back to July last year fell short, failing to hold on to a slim first-half lead over unimpressive Adelaide in a 37-point defeat.
Just 22,123 fans turned up on Mother’s Day to watch the bottom-placed Tigers lose for the eighth time in nine games after posting back-to-back wins after entering the main half with a 10-point lead.
The Crows’ stars – Jordan Dawson, Izak Rankine and Wayne Milera, who had 35 disposals mostly in the third quarter – took over to put Richmond’s pack of boys, warriors and former flag heroes to the sword as the visitors scored six goals in a row to avoid an upset.
Simply put, Adem Yze’s injury-ravaged Tigers were very excited, but although they competed in the match, they had no other equipment to go to when Adelaide awoke from its slumber.
Richmond, who ended their losing streak against West Coast in Perth a week ago, are a long way from the Damien Hardwick premiership teams who won a record 22 consecutive matches at the home of Australian football between 2017-18.
They are in a complete rebuild, made even more difficult by the league-worst injury tally reaching 17 and prized draftee Sam Grlj (managed) withdrawing late on Sunday.
Then linebacker Tom Brown suffered a broken forearm in the first quarter.
“If you look at the first half, there is progress,” Yze said.
“We’re playing against a quality team and we’re a few goals up – and it’s not so much a fluke as a few goals. We’re winning on all the metrics you want to win. The frustration is we need our players to be better on the AFL field because we need to be ready for them.”
“Sammy Lalor can’t get any better sitting here watching… not only individually but together they can’t put together a lot of plays.
“With that being said, we had to manage Sam Grlj. He had a red flag around his body and we took a really cautious approach to him today because he’s such a big part of our future and that overrides what we’ve been through and where our injuries are at the moment.”
The Crows are also a shadow of their minor championship-winning selves last year and their overall lack of intent showed in the first two quarters.
Richmond’s tenacious midfielders Tim Taranto and Jack Ross, with support from weaker stars such as Kane McAuliffe and Patrick Retschko and some courage from Seth Campbell, were the main reasons why their side had won the competition and the clearing battle to this point.
Campbell’s superb finish in the first quarter when he was deep in goal and escaping from goal was one of the highlights of the game that was often missing.
Tigers unavailable included captain Toby Nankervis, Dion Prestia, footmen Rhyan Mansell, Hugo Ralphsmith, Sam Banks and Maurice Rioli and young guns Lalor, Josh Gibcus, Harry Armstrong, Taj Hotton, Tom Sims and Josh Smillie.
Maybe Taranto, Jayden Short, Noah Balta, Ross, Tom Lynch, Nick Vlastuin, Nathan Broad, Campbell and Ben Miller, who won the battle with Riley Thilthorpe, were the only first choice options to play against Adelaide.
Richmond may have done themselves a disservice by winning five last year, in a season that many predicted would be winless.
Critics have come for them, given the perceived lack of progress in their third season under Yze.
But in reality, this attempt at renewal cannot be properly assessed for years to come based on how long it took most clubs, including the Crows, to revive their fortunes. Adelaide won just three games in 2020 and that number was still just eight in 2024 before last year’s climb.
“There’s a plan around [our] “There’s a process of rebuilding and that, and it takes players through a certain number of games,” Yze said.
“If you look at Brisbane’s model [it was the same]and then the team we play today. When Riley Thilthorpe played his 10th game like Jonty; I don’t think he’s doing what he’s been doing for the last few years.
“It takes time… and you need games. I don’t really care about the noise around rebuilds and people’s philosophies about it. We know it can work… as very talented players when they start playing their 30th, 40th, 50th game… [they] “They will be the reason we move this club forward.”
Commenting on the rebuilding journey post-match, Crows coach Matthew Nicks said the process required patience and that trusting and developing young players faced many challenges.
Tigers double-championship star Tom Lynch wasn’t sure how long it would take to climb back up the ladder but said he believed they could do it quickly.
“We’re being tested right now and we haven’t started the year as well as we would have liked,” Lynch said. Age.
“We’ve played mediocre football at times but we believe we’re moving in the right direction. “We’ve got a good coach, a great support team around us and some great young players coming through, so we’ve got to keep encouraging and educating.
“We won one game this year. We’re not sitting there and saying, ‘We’re doing a great job.’ We’re not happy with where we are, but we know the only way we’re going to do it is to keep being together, keep practicing well, keep training, and the wins will come.”
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