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Tuesday, 3 October 2017

FLAG DISPLAY OF ROAR POWER

Richmond’s fleet-footed backflanker Bachar Houli did it all in the Grand Final, repeatedly beating opponents including Taylor Walker ( No. 13) and Rory Atkins while setting up attacking plays and even bobbing up for a crucial firstquarter goal, while Alex Rance’s intercept-marking game (below) was at its absolute peak.
A37-YEAR premiership drought was brought to an almighty end as Richmond defied the odds to overcome Adelaide in Saturday’s Grand Final.
Nervous Tigers fans filled the stands of the MCG hoping, praying, their team might follow in the footsteps of the Western Bulldogs 12 months earlier and write the final chapter of a fairytale year.
But few could have seen the end result coming.
Richmond not only won, but did so in style by 48 points.
No Richmond player had previously taken to the field in an AFL Grand Final before, and it showed early in the match.
Nerves led to turnovers going forward and disorganisation in the back half.
After key Crows Rory Sloane and Eddie Betts slotted the first two goals, those nerves only increased.
When Richmond did get the ball forward, it failed to make the most of its opportunities as Jack Riewoldt missed the team’s first three shots on goal.
The Tigers soon steadied, but it was the Crows who looked far more dangerous every time they went into attack.
At the two-minute mark of the second term, Adelaide was holding sway in the armwrestle by 13 points. Then the game changed. A Riewoldt goal sparked the revival at one end, but it was Richmond’s biggest strength all season — its defence — that was the catalyst for change after what could have been considered a sloppy opening quarter.
David Astbury was keeping Crows skipper Taylor Walker quiet, Dylan Grimes shut Betts out of the game completely after quarter-time and Alex Rance was at his goal-saving best.
The ever-courageous Nick Vlastuin and dashing defender Bachar Houli started providing rebound from the back half and, suddenly, the Adelaide forward line no longer looked dangerous.
Adelaide’s other problem was the midfield battle, in which Richmond got on top during the second term.
Dion Prestia was in everything, Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin was a class above as usual and Shane Edwards’ clearance work was pivotal after a quiet opening term.
Then there was Jack Graham.
Sent to do a job on Sloane — who was racking up the touches in the middle and already had two goals to his name — fifth-gamer Graham made his coaches proud as the impact of the Crows ballwinner was quickly and dramatically reduced.
The Tigers had also ramped up their forward-half pressure and set up a wall across the middle of the ground that Adelaide struggled to penetrate.
And so it began — a run of seven unanswered goals which put Damien Hardwick’s team in the box seat for premiership
glory and eased the nerves of both the players and the club’s army of supporters.
If shutting down Sloane was not enough, Graham kicked his second goal of the game less than three minutes into the third quarter, showing composure beyond his age and experience.
When Kane Lambert put one through the big sticks at the nine-minute mark, the Tigers held a commanding 28point lead.
Given Richmond’s history and the Crows’ scoring power, the fat lady was not quite singing, but she was warming up side of stage and ready for a big entrance.
Walker kicked his first goal at the 14-minute mark, cutting the margin to 20 points.
But it was Graham — a most unlikely Grand Final hero — who responded with his third major to regain the momentum for Richmond.
When Riewoldt kicked the first goal of the final term, it was party time.
Tears of joy started flowing in the stands as the realisation set in that 2017 was the year of the Tiger.
Surely Josh Caddy — who joined Richmond from Geelong last summer — and Toby Nankervis — who crossed from Sydney — would not have thought they would have been a better chance of winning a premiership at Punt Rd this year than at their former clubs.
None of the “experts” tipped such a dramatic rise from 13th on the ladder, either.
Unlike Adelaide, the Tigers had few weak links, but also few standouts.
Everyone played their role, other notable ones being Jacob Townsend’s defensive forward job on Crow Jake Lever and Nankervis’s secondhalf response in the ruck against Sam Jacobs after being soundly beaten early.
Martin (29 disposals, two goals) won the Norm Smith Medal ahead of Houli (25 disposals, one goal). Only one of the five judges did not give Dusty maximum votes.
The Crows were left to pick up the scraps of what had been a year of such promise, but a day of such disappointment.
As Richmond proved, you don’t have to be the best team of the year, you just have to be the best on Grand Final day.
“We lost to Geelong Round (21) and then we just went whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, whack,” coach Hardwick said after the game.
“We learnt a lot of lessons from the games that we lost and we played our best footy when it mattered most.”

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