Updated ,first published
Richmond’s bid to end an MCG win drought dating to July last year has fallen short, unable to hang on to a slender half-time lead over an unimpressive Adelaide in a 37-point defeat.
Only 22,123 fans turned up on Mother’s Day to watch the last-placed Tigers lose for the eighth time in nine matches after having a sniff of back-to-back victories when they entered the main break with a 10-point lead.
The Crows’ stars – predominantly Jordan Dawson, Izak Rankine and Wayne Milera, who combined for 35 disposals in the third quarter – took over to put Richmond’s band of kids, battlers and past-their-prime flag heroes to the sword as the visitors piled on six straight goals to avoid an upset.
Put simply, Adem Yze’s injury-ravaged Tigers were spirited, but didn’t have another gear to go to once Adelaide woke from their slumber, although they fought the match out.
Richmond, who snapped their losing streak against West Coast in Perth a week ago, are a long way from the Damien Hardwick premiership teams that won a record-setting 22 consecutive matches at the home of Australian football between 2017-18.
They are neck-deep in a rebuild, one made all the harder because of a league-worst injury list that reached 17 once prized draftee Sam Grlj (managed) was a late withdrawal on Sunday.
Then, defender Tom Brown suffered a broken forearm in the first quarter.
“If you look at the first half, there’s progress,” Yze said.
“We’re playing against a quality team, and we’re a couple of goals up – and it’s not a couple of goals up with luck. We’re winning all the metrics that you want to be winning. The frustration is we need our players getting better on an AFL field because we need them available.
“Sammy Lalor can’t get better sitting here watching … they can’t get a volume of games together, not only individually, but together.
“In saying that, we had to manage Sam Grlj. There was a red flag around his body, and we took a really cautious approach with him today because he’s such a big part of our future, and that overrides what we’re going through, and where our injury toll is right now.”
The Crows are also a shadow of their minor premiership-winning selves from last year, and their general lack of intent was exposed in the first two quarters.
Hard-headed Richmond midfielders Tim Taranto and Jack Ross were the main reasons their side won the contest and clearance battle up to that point, with support from lesser lights such as Kane McAuliffe and Patrick Retschko – plus a bit of spunk from Seth Campbell.
Campbell’s brilliant finish while deep in the pocket and running away from goal in the first quarter was one of the highlights of a game mostly lacking in them.
Among the unavailable Tigers were captain Toby Nankervis, Dion Prestia, foot soldiers Rhyan Mansell, Hugo Ralphsmith, Sam Banks and Maurice Rioli, and young guns Lalor, Josh Gibcus, Harry Armstrong, Taj Hotton, Tom Sims and Josh Smillie.
Perhaps, Taranto, Jayden Short, Noah Balta, Ross, Tom Lynch, Nick Vlastuin, Nathan Broad, Campbell and Ben Miller – who won his battle with Riley Thilthorpe – were the only first-choice options who played against Adelaide.
Richmond may have done themselves a disservice by claiming five victories last year, in a season many predicted them to go through winless.
Critics have come for them, given the perceived lack of progress in their third season under Yze.
However, in reality, this regeneration attempt cannot be properly judged for years yet based on how long it has taken most clubs – including the Crows – to resurrect their fortunes. Adelaide won only three games in 2020, and that number was still only eight in 2024 before last year’s climb.
“There’s a plan around [our] rebuild, and there’s a process around it, and it’s getting players to a certain number of games,” Yze said.
“If you look at Brisbane’s model [it was the same], and then the team we just played today. Riley Thilthorpe, when he was in his 10th game, like Jonty is; I don’t think he was doing what he was doing the last couple of years.
“That takes time … and you need games under your belt. I don’t really care about the noise around rebuilds, and people’s philosophies around that. We know that it can work … when they start playing their 30th, 40th, 50th game as highly talented players … [they] are going to be the reason why we take this club forward.”
Reflecting on their own rebuilding journey post-match, Crows coach Matthew Nicks said the process took patience and there were many challenges while relying on and developing younger players.
Dual premiership-winning Tigers star Tom Lynch was unsure how long it would take to ascend the ladder again, but said they believed they could do it quickly.
“We’re being tested at the moment, and we haven’t started the year as well as we’d like,” Lynch told The Age.
“We’ve played some ordinary footy at times, but we believe we’re heading in the right direction. We’re well-coached, have a great support team around us, and some great young players coming through, so we’ve just got to keep encouraging and keep educating.
“We’ve won one game this year. We’re not sitting there saying, ‘Oh, we’re doing a great job’. We’re not happy where we’re at, but we’re aware that the only way to do it is to keep being together, keep training well, keep educating, and the wins will come.”
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