The Scout Report | Round 1 V Richmond
Written by Dan Williams
Richmond
A side that certainly has the wood on the Blues, Round 1 for the tigers is a safe 4 pointer. But are times changing.
In the Pre-Season fixtures we saw the Tigers play their potent way, looking to hurt sides from launches off halfback and turn over, but we also saw a more mark focused side. Adapting to a taller forward half and looking to use the wings in a more controlled tempo way.
One thing that will give the Blues hope is the ease in which Hawthorn finished the game off last week, and the week prior, where Richmond looked vulnerable in the middle of the ground when numbers were around the ball and the handball chains were used against them.
It’s a tough fixture on paper, with both sides having claims for being the favourite based on pre-season form, Carlton will be looking to win around the centre, an area which Richmond predominantly often lose, and will look to use the ball inside 50 wisely to stop the transitional threat.
Transitional Threat
As you see in this slide, Richmond in the event of a turnover in D50, look to actively set up attack from the get go. A Staple of their play is the ability and confidence to keep it short with handballs, and movement ahead of the ball.
As we see by the players in Red, they are actively looking for the next pass, one is looking to exploit the corridor, and the other is looking to take the ball in the centre and then will actively look for the corridor kick or to set up the switch as the defending side look to protect the fat side of the ground.
As the ball comes in, the opposition natural close the gap, this allows Richmond to look for another handball, and effectively have an outnumber, Top left of the screen youll notice that Richmond have exited defensively, they are now around the 50 arc, already in anticipation of moving into an attack phase of the play
Once the ball leaves, Short looks to drive, Richmond generally play in a ladder from D50 to halfway, having multiple options, as you can see, if Short gets caught, he has options to the left, or outlets ahead in little steps across the ground.
The staple of this technique are gut running, players will attack and defend in numbers, and this is synonymous with Richmond’s skills around the ground.
Richmond’s ability to score from turnover is evident throughout the glory years post 2017, consistently finishing in the top echelon of rankings for this and showcased last week where they scored 60 points from this source
Transitional Threat – The Cure
One thing that has become evident about “New Carlton” is their intent without the ball.
Post Teague, Carlton have flooded the forward line, in almost a wall of 3 parts, one across the traditional full back line (going for the aerial ball) One before the fall of the ball waiting for the crumbs and one on the arc, waiting for the exit ball.
In this passage, like many throughout the pre-season, every pass is met with contact, shorting the time the ball carrier has to set transition up in a pattern, and forcing the user to get rid of the ball quicker.
This caused Melbourne to exit to the safe part of the ground. For Carlton fans we only know this way, as manic pressure causes safe outlets
As we see, the pressure of the 3rd wall we talked about comes into effect, With the backs pushing high up the ground, and resulting in a Carlton gain of possession and thus a repeat inside 50.
Throughout the game we saw Carlton have repeat entries, resulting in a sliding door moment throughout the game. Against Richmond this is a must, as their bread and butter is these pockets of space in and around their defensive 50
Centre Clearances
Richmond Ranked last in centre clearances last term, and this is a staple of their game plan. They are tough to play against as they play to their strengths. One of the key notes of Dimma’s plan is they recycle the ball from the centre. They look to create clean use or create another stoppage.
IN this example, Prestia will drift defensive side of the ball, looking to stop any exit, Cotchin will follow the ball and look to off-load the ball to a waiting Prestia or lay a tackle and stop the offload, while Edwards will look to stop the play, or sheppard his man to allow an exit by run and carry.
In this event Richmond created a stoppage, against a Strong part of GWS gameplan, They are very clever around stoppages as they can commit more players around the contest with no 6-6-6 rule and also it opens the game up to their shorter quicker game style with the ball.
Centre Clearances - The Cure
Carlton have showcased a more smarter set up around centre bounces. Scoring 46 points from this source alone versus the Demons. One method that has seen this improve, is the addition of Kennedy or Hewett actively looking at working in two ways. One to stop that player getting to the ball, and the other to create space for the ball carrier to exploit space.
Jackson like Nankervis, Likes to drop the ball infront of his mids, Carlton instantly get to the fall of the ball, But hang one back, Using Kennedy as a battering ram, and Hewett blocking anyone getting behind the ball. This allows a handball backwards into a safe area and thus they can move from there.
Invariably we saw this similar move, a handball backwards away from traffic, then a handball to someone coming from the wing in front of the congestion and then away into open field.
From here with the 6 6 6 rule, Carlton effectively have one on ones around the ground, The mid works hard now to be there for the wide players, as they cut inside and funnel the ball and opposition into the centre of the ground.
Carlton worked incredibly hard all game, to create options for the ball carrier but ahead of the Ball. The quick movement and willingness to play man on man in the centre and around stoppages is KEY to beating Richmond, as quick ball allows you to play into their hands. Before we were more defensive at these points and looking to withstand pressure around stoppages over looking to be the aggressor. 63 Points were scored from these midfield link ups and are key to defeating the pressure Richmond put around the ball.
Forward Pressure The Richmond Way
When the ball hits the deck, That is when Richmond go to work. Lynch and Riewoldt are the 4th and 8th most targeted forwards in the AFL, and they invariably look to bring the fall of the ball to their advantage. With Castagna & Baker they look too swarm the ground ball, and create quick clearances or panic to create scoring opportunities.
A major part of their forward skills, is they keep the ball live, they don’t look to create the stoppage they look to paddle, tap on, keep the pressure building. In this event eventually Hawks conceded a free kick from the insane amount of Pressure applied. They look to take away any time the defender has and commit large numbers to maximise any forward 50 entry.
Forward Pressure – The Cure
Carlton again were very composed under forward pressure, often playing backwards and sideways, and looking to exit defensive 50 with an aggressive kick to a waiting player on the centre of the arc, or looking to run and carry with Saad, One of their relief plays was back to Full back, then play across the pockets making the opposition burn energy closing down space
When the pressure got too much we saw a few stepping over the behind line, showing more poise than just booming it down the flanks relieving pressure but giving up possession. Carlton targeted the corridor over 50% of the time of their exits out of defensive 50 in the first half. 3 resulting in score launches. A composed method is really required for the Blues and this composed almost West Coast 2018 style allows them to soak up play for large amounts of the game. In the 3rd Quarter Melbourne dominated and Carlton had no outlet up forward with two defenders jettisoned into make shift forwards. However they lost the quarter by less than 10. In 2021 and 20 Carlton on avg would see 28 Point swings in times of high pressure.
Conclusion
From the small catchment of what we have seen from Voss’s Blues, The signs are good, They look to find midfield chains from half back, and look to pressure around the ground. The big question mark for Carlton is can they do this under heavy pressure when them 4 points are on the line. The hard part has been done, we have seen it for 2 games whereas usually we don’t we hear about it. But Carlton have some serious tools to play 4 quarters, and looking at the Hawks they did damage to the Tigers particularly around the midfield, and when their pressure gauge got to AFL average numbers (Less than Carltons at any point in Melbourne game) They outscored the Tigers.
The Key to this one is our ability to transition the ball, we know Richmond have started to enter 50 more than usual, looking to get it in earlier, we will be looking at Doc and McGovern to work together here and set us up on score launches and catch the tigers when they are at their best.
