Summary
Thank you for joining me tonight for an opening match that will be talked about for years to come. The football wasn’t always of the highest standard, but it delivered a memorable finish nonetheless.
Michael Voss will be pleased with his side’s ticker. Damien Hardwick will wonder how his troops failed to turn so much attacking play in the first half into goals.
Plenty of grist for the talkback mill. It’s footy season again.
See you next time.
Just the third draw in 226 contests between these two sides. And in front of over 88,000 fans at the MCG.
The TV pundits seemed to think that match was played on Carlton’s terms, I saw it the other way, but Richmond only converted their superiority (in my eyes) in the third quarter. Around that they allowed the Blues to remain in touch and were forced to dig deep to rescue two points at the death.
What an incredible start to the new season.
The sound of a draw at the final siren is so eerie. No club song. No wild cheering. Just a confused murmuring.
Full-time: Richmond 8.10 (58) draw with Carlton 8.10 (58)
Wow!
Updated
Q4: 0.30 mins remaining: Richmond 8.10 (58) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: Lynch marks and kicks Richmond level!
Q4: 1 mins remaining: Richmond 7.10 (52) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: The Tigers push but McGovern is first to the ball. Then Nankervis hacks into the sky, a Blue guernsey marks it, and the rebound is rapid down the left. Can Carlton seal it? No! McKay slips before marking…
Q4: 2 mins remaining: Richmond 7.10 (52) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: Richmond force repeat stoppages deep in Carlton territory. The intensity is excruciating. A whistle blows – free to the Blues! The long kick down the line is punched out of bounds. Just two minutes remaining.
Q4: 3 mins remaining: Richmond 7.10 (52) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: Baker picks off the long ball down the line and Richmond mount another sortie but De Koning floats back and snuffs out the danger. But again the Blues cough up possession cheaply and invite Richmond back onto them.
Q4: 4 mins remaining: Richmond 7.10 (52) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: Saad mops up, finds Cripps by hand, and Carlton find space to slow the tempo down and settle nerves across their back line.
Q4: 5 mins remaining: Richmond 7.10 (52) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: Riewoldt earns a free-kick for a shove in the back on the lead. He feeds the sub Ross in the right forward pocket. And his kick for goal is abysmal. It almost came off his hoof at a right-angle.
Q4: 6 mins remaining: Richmond 7.10 (52) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: Fatigue aplenty. Errors everywhere. This is desperate stuff at the G.
Q4: 7 mins remaining: Richmond 7.10 (52) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: McGovern marks calmly after Richmond win the clearance, but then madness takes over and the ball is soon out on the full 40m from Carlton’s posts. Richmond pour forward like an angry cloud of killer bees, Bolton marks and has a set shot from 35m dead in front. To the disbelief of the good ol boys of footy, the Tiger snaps instead of kicking a drop punt and misses!
Q4: 9 mins remaining: Richmond 7.9 (51) v 8.10 (58) Carlton: This has been a game of almosts, and there’s another with Bolton just failing to hold onto a spectacular mark. Instead Jack Martin puts his head over the footy, earns the free kick, sends the Blues downfield, and after the long ball to the top of the square comes off hands Charlie Curnow stabs the ball home with the outside of his boot like a striker in football sliding in at the far post. Incredible scenes! Can Carlton hold on?
Q4: 10 mins remaining: Richmond 7.9 (51) v 7.10 (52) Carlton: Richmond try to exit down the line, then search for that high-risk ball inboard, and Carlton chop it off! Can they capitalise? No! Holding-the-ball! The Tigers are back on the front foot and pump the ball into the right forward pocket. This is becoming a game of territory as much as possession.
Q4: 11 mins remaining: Richmond 7.9 (51) v 7.10 (52) Carlton: Good pressure from the Blues, locking the ball in deep in Richmond territory and forcing repeat stoppages.
Q4: 13 mins remaining: Richmond 7.9 (51) v 7.10 (52) Carlton: In response the Tigers turn up the heat, hunting in a pack to force a holding free then slipping quick handballs to wriggle out of pressure. The intensity has ramped up suddenly and the roof threatens to come off when Vlasutin’s long ranger almost drifts through, but a point is all that comes of it.
Q4: 13 mins remaining: Richmond 7.8 (50) v 7.10 (52) Carlton: The crowd are well into this now. Blues fans are beginning to believe. They have to stifle their cheers for now though as Cripps snaps wide on the run.
Q4: 14 mins remaining: Richmond 7.8 (50) v 7.9 (51) Carlton: Another entry for the Blues, this one just evading Silvagni, but Carlton lock the ball in and Richmond can clear only as far as Docherty… who runs in from the centre square, and hoists a mahoooooooosive bomb from 60m to kick his side back in front! That was an enormous moment.
Q4: 15 mins remaining: Richmond 7.8 (50) v 6.9 (45) Carlton: Both sides are willing in close but neither have managed to link any strings of possession on the outside. A strong McKay mark sets up good territory for the Blues but nothing comes of it.
Q4: 17 mins remaining: Richmond 7.8 (50) v 6.9 (45) Carlton: Superb one-on-one win by Vlastuin against Charlie Curnow on the deck turns defence into attack for the Tigers. Martin marks and plays on but there’s no space to exploit and the Blues survive.
Q4: 19 mins remaining: Richmond 7.8 (50) v 6.9 (45) Carlton: The Blues win the centre clearance but Grimes plucks the inside-50 out of the sky. Richmond make a mess of the exit and the pressure is back on. The two Riolis combine well down the right to break the shackles and they work with Broad to advance into Carlton’s half.
Lochie O’Brien has been subbed into the game for Lachie Cowan.
Jack Ross has been subbed on for Marlion Pickett.
3QT: Richmond 7.8 (50) v 6.9 (45) Carlton:
A five goal to two quarter in Richmond’s favour has the Tigers ahead at a break for the first time. They’re worth their lead and it will take something special from Carlton to change the momentum.
Q3: 2 mins remaining: Richmond 7.8 (50) v 6.9 (45) Carlton: “No Richmond ruck” was the call from the umpire but De Koning still managed to miss the mark and cough up possession. It might even have been a falcon… The Tigers fail to take full opportunity when Bolton slices a free-kick wide, but the pressure from the Tigers is fierce. By Tigers, I mean Tom Lynch, who tries to take on four opponents in a jumper-scragging, teeth-baring, “I’ll see you in the car park afterwards” kind of way. Amongst the melee there’s a free-kick and Carlton can clear, but they don’t get far before Rioli leads the rebound. That man Lynch is of course on the spot to kick a breakaway goal – but Young is desperate and effective on the line.
Q3: 4 mins remaining: Richmond 7.6 (48) v 6.9 (45) Carlton: Lynch has three, Richmond have three in a row, and six for the quarter! From a ball-in deep in the left forward pocket, Lynch shoves his direct opponent out the way and snaps truly… or not… there’s a score review, a bent finger at the point of smother, and the goal is downgraded.
Q3: 6 mins remaining: Richmond 7.5 (47) v 6.9 (45) Carlton: Superb contested grab from Tom Lynch, beating two Blues to a massive aimless roost out of defence. He makes no mistake with the set shot from 40m and Richmond are back in front.
Q3: 8 mins remaining: Richmond 6.4 (40) v 6.9 (45) Carlton: More quick ball movement from the Blues in midfield and again McKay has space to run and mark – and again he fails to split the big sticks. Costly misses for Carlton who have the run at the moment.
Q3: 9 mins remaining: Richmond 6.4 (40) v 6.8 (44) Carlton: The Blues exert some forward pressure and do well to keep the ball alive from a stoppage. Docherty is charged with the hurried entry and McKay turns it into a beautiful assist (editor’s note: it was a mongrel punt) but fails to nail the gettable set shot.
Q3: 10 mins remaining: Richmond 6.4 (40) v 6.7 (43) Carlton: Almost another, to Hollands, but his left-footed snap on the run just floats wide. Carlton have found their ball movement all of a sudden.
Q3: 11 mins remaining: Richmond 6.4 (40) v 6.6 (42) Carlton: The goals are raining down on the MCG! Maurice Rioli snaps his second after Saad fails to deal with a bouncing ball at the top of the square.
Q3: 12 mins remaining: Richmond 5.4 (34) v 6.6 (42) Carlton: Shai Bolton has been so influential tonight and he wins a centre clearance here that sets the Tigers on the front foot. Weitering repels the entry – and then benefits from a 50m free when Richmond dally returning the footy. A couple of chipped kicks later and the ball is again delivered to the hot spot, and again the pack favours Curnow – this time at ground level – the big forward crumbing and snapping in an instant to kick his second in quick succession.
Q3: 14 mins remaining: Richmond 5.4 (34) v 5.6 (36) Carlton: Another deep entry from McIntosh but Newman intercepts and the Blues can slow the game down and caress the ball forward, eventually into the mitts of the leading McKay… but he’s slow to play on and gets run down from behind! Carlton are lucky to regain possession quickly and they resume their smart ploy of chipping the ball around. Eventually they’re forced to go long and as the pack crests it’s Charlie Curnow who comes down with the fruit. And he kicks a steadying goal! Excellent response under pressure from the Blues.
Q3: 15 mins remaining: Richmond 5.4 (34) v 4.6 (30) Carlton: Three in a row in the blink of an eye and the Tigers lead! Lynch gets in on the act with a superb set shot from the right forward pocket after excellent work from Martin in the build-up. Carlton have to dig in now to remain in touch.
Q3: 16 mins remaining: Richmond 4.4 (28) v 4.6 (30) Carlton: Just like the first quarter the ball is locked in Carlton’s defensive 50. Acres is culpable for coughing up a turnover in midfield, but the Blues defence holds firm. Motlop then does well on the right coming out of defence but Carlton can’t prosper down the flank. Nankervis then busts the game open with a wild kick across his defensive line that could be intercepted twice in the air, and then on the ground! Somehow the bounce of the ball breaks the way of the Tigers and the rebound is rapid through Rioli. The ball ends in Bolton’s hands in acres of space and he walks home a second in quick succession!
Q3: 17 mins remaining: Richmond 3.4 (22) v 4.6 (30) Carlton: From a stoppage on the left wing McIntosh dumps the ball inside 50 where Riewoldt is too strong one-on-one. He steps off his mark and snaps Richmond’s third goal! Nothing fancy about that but Young was caught under the ball and the veteran took advantage.
Q3: 19 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 4.6 (30) Carlton: Both teams have a sniff at the start of the third quarter. Carlton can’t hit a target, then Martin is pinged for Richmond for failing to execute a hand-off before he’s tackled.
There’s a cigarette paper between the two sides on the stats sheet at the main break. The only difference has been Carlton’s finishing. George Hewett (21) and Tim Taranto (19) are the leading ball-winners.
This was good.
Way up, Shai up 🚀#AFLTigersBlues | #gotiges pic.twitter.com/SpZBvYs4uI
— Richmond FC 🐯 (@Richmond_FC) March 16, 2023
Half-time: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 4.6 (30) Carlton
Richmond’s ball movement has become antediluvian, just hacking it forward with biblical force to nobody in particular. Cowan is the latest to intercept, and the half-time siren follows soon after.
Q2: 2 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 4.5 (29) Carlton: Richmond play Russian roulette across their back line and Balta ends up in a world of pain. The Blues slow the game down again work the ball around the arc and find the industrious Kennedy in space in the right forward pocket. From the fence, he kicks a point.
Q2: 4 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 4.4 (28) Carlton: Jack Martin slows the game down to kick for goal from 60m. A pack brings the ball to ground just outside the square, and Owies pounces! A scruffy dribbler is all it took, but it extends Carlton’s lead with half-time nearing.
Q2: 5 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 3.4 (22) Carlton: It’s all getting very ragged now with both teams gassed. Neither side are able to string any passes together. McKay takes a strong leading mark but nothing comes of it. And another, but Curnow has been well handled by Richmond’s back line.
Q2: 7 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 3.4 (22) Carlton: The Blues have been committed in defence. They have honoured their coach’s prematch words. Half-chances have been extinguished repeatedly, and bodies have been put on the line when it’s mattered.
Q2: 9 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 3.4 (22) Carlton: It’s been non-stop since the opening bounce and fatigue is starting to show. It favours the Blues who benefit from a couple of one-on-one wins and are awarded a free inside 50 but Cripps plays on and Owies can only kick a point. Cripps has another opportunity on the burst, shapes to kick, but he’s scragged and Richmond go coast to coast in a flash! Ben Miller is the unlikely recipient of the leading mark in the right forward pocket. He doesn’t look confident with the set shot, and he shows why, with a mongrel squirter that does well to be considered a disposal.
Q2: 12 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 3.2 (20) Carlton: Great work on centre wing by Pickett, Bolton, and Rioli. The latter looks certain to kick a goal but there’s a desperate late tackle from Saad to snuff out the danger. Excellent footy.
Q2: 14 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 3.2 (20) Carlton: The Blues look to hit straight back but McKay belts the ball into touch after marking on the lead from the centre clearance. Bolton – who is becoming the game’s dynamic force – then takes a hanger on centre wing, finds Riewoldt’s safe hands, but the move breaks down and the Tigers leave more points on the field.
Q2: 15 mins remaining: Richmond 2.4 (16) v 3.2 (20) Carlton: Saad finally has time to clear down the left. Motlop does well to turn his man and run, but Curnow can’t pull down the contested mark and the ball is soon back in Carlton’s defensive 50. Both sides fancy their luck in transition, striving for the intercept, but Richmond do enough to keep the ball alive and Maurice Rioli is paid a holding free as he leads out of the arc. And he goes back and kicks truly – just at the limit of his range!
Q2: 17 mins remaining: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 3.2 (20) Carlton: There’s a hot footy in midfield and debutant Hollands is munched, crunched, and composted by Nankervis. Again though, another entry goes to waste, and the second effort grinds to a halt when McGovern wraps up Martin before he can extend his fend-off. I’d have paid that as a tackle, but the umps are happy for a ball-up. Richmond pressure continues.
Q2: 19 mins remaining: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 3.2 (20) Carlton: The Tigers win the first clearance of the second quarter. Riewoldt takes another strong running mark. But another promising chance goes begging. Carlton go from end to end in a flash and McKay looks certain to mark on the line but allows the ball to bounce instead and it jags through for a behind.
In exciting quarter-time stats news – everyone’s touched the footy! I don’t know why that makes me so happy, but it just feels right at the start of the new season. George Hewett (11 disposals) has touched it the most.
Footy is definitely back 😍#AFLTigersBlues | #gotiges pic.twitter.com/SaV7WU6DoE
— Richmond FC 🐯 (@Richmond_FC) March 16, 2023
QT: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 3.1 (19) Carlton
Both teams kicked goals in the opening minute of the season, after which most of the quarter took place in Carlton’s defensive end. Richmond were wasteful in front of goal, allowing the Blues off the hook repeatedly, and they were made to pay with Carlton’s efficiency at the other end.
Q1: 1 mins remaining: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 3.1 (19) Carlton: The pressure is unrelenting from the Tigers. Another hack clear is met in the air by Vlastuin but Cerra is sharp on the deck and he earns a free-kick for high contact. The Blues breathe another sigh of relief.
Q1: 3 mins remaining: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 3.0 (18) Carlton: The Tiges return to their encampment in Carlton territory but yet again they fail to make it count. Prestia this time misses the lot with a set shot from the arc. One goal from 17 inside-50s so far.
Q1: 4 mins remaining: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 3.0 (18) Carlton: Riewoldt has been busy getting up the ground to receive the clearing kick out of defence. He does so again on the right flank but the ball doesn’t reach Martin near halfway and Carlton pounce. McKay is isolated one-out, he competes well in the air with Balta then is quickest at ground level. The left-footed snap is true and the Blues extend their lead.
Q1: 6 mins remaining: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 2.0 (12) Carlton: Richmond just keep coming, refusing to allow the ball out of Carlton’s defensive 50. It’s chaotic and messy and helter-skelter, and Bolton is crunched holding the ball at the top of the square! Smehow the Blues are holding on.
Q1: 8 mins remaining: Richmond 1.4 (10) v 2.0 (12) Carlton: Finally the Blues get a breather with a free in midfield and immediately set about threading the needle by foot through the corridor. Richmond are again up to the task of keeping Curnow and co quiet, now can they rebound? Not this time, because Hollands does well on debut. But the Sherrin just keeps coming back! And this time there’s a lead – and it’s found. Lynch goes back, and misses! That was a certain goal but the big forward slides his effort wide. Carlton are riding their luck.
Q1: 10 mins remaining: Richmond 1.3 (9) v 2.0 (12) Carlton: Still the pressure comes with Blues defenders forced to hack clear to packs along the boundary instead of picking targets. Richmond are applying suffocating pressure but can’t find the crucial final pass.
Q1: 11 mins remaining: Richmond 1.3 (9) v 2.0 (12) Carlton: The Blues can’t clear their defensive 50 but Richmond can only manage three consecutive behinds.
Q1: 13 mins remaining: Richmond 1.2 (8) v 2.0 (12) Carlton: Graham misses an open goal on an angle when he could have straightened up. Richmond are eager to get the ball forward early and maximise the one-on-one skills of Lynch, Riewoldt, and Martin. Carlton are much happier taking their time and piecing their way through the lines.
Q1: 15 mins remaining: Richmond 1.0 (6) v 2.0 (12) Carlton: The Blues again waste an excellent rebound opportunity with a poor kick in the final third. Richmond build down the right wing and Lynch makes McGovern look foolish in a marking contest but the big Tiger gets too cute with his possession and Carlton escape.
And how! The ball takes an age to travel from the back pocket to the front down the left flank, but it ends with Jack Silvagni taking an early contender for mark of the year! In his 100th match the son of a son of a gun took flight, found some shoulders to ride and pulled the pill down with confidence. Not only that, but he strokes home the goal from a narrow angle. Glorious.
Q1: 17 mins remaining: Richmond 1.0 (6) v 1.0 (6) Carlton: The Blues butcher three good opportunities, the first two with poor entries, the third with nervous hands after a Richmond turnover. The Tigers threaten to make them pay when Riewoldt accepts a clearing kick with one hand, holding off his marker with the other, but Martin doesn’t have the speed to turn the bouncing ball into a scoring opportunity.
Q1: 19 mins remaining: Richmond 1.0 (6) v 1.0 (6) Carlton: Does anyone fancy a shootout? Richmond: one clearance, one goal. Carlton, one clearance, one goal. A long inside 50, the Blues pack brings the ball to ground, and Fisher snaps nattily across his body with his left foot to level the scores.
Q1: 19 mins remaining: Richmond 1.0 (6) v 0.0 (0) Carlton: 23 seconds into the 2023 season is all it takes for Dustin Martin to make his mark. Nankervis slapped a long bomb inside 50, McGovern fumbled the chest mark, Martin mopped up, took a step and snapped a trademark goal. Plus ca change.
Opening bounce!
Season 2023 is underway…
And now Richmond take to the turf in their familiar yellow and black uniform.
It’s pretty warm in Melbourne tonight with the temperature still in the mid-20s, making all those preseason bicep curls nice and shiny.
First out onto the G are Carlton. Led by Patrick Cripps, and serenaded by the worst club song, the Blues are wearing white shorts.
Michael Voss has had a word:
We feel we’ve got an extra level of detail in our game style and roles and hoping that turns into consistency as a footy team and we can execute under pressure and no doubt the Tiges tonight will put the pressure on. We have to stand firm and execute.
I have an expectation of the way we want to play. We’ve played a really strong contested style of game. Tried to add things into that over the preseason to aid us and how we become a bit more efficient in a few different areas.
Footy celebrates these moments and creates lasting memories as well as any sport. It’s always a treat to see a new player, especially one who grew up a fan of the club.
Life, hey 💙 #AFLTigersBlues pic.twitter.com/csXFlpcZ2c
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) March 16, 2023
A new Yellow & Black chapter begins 💛#AFLTigersBlues | #gotiges pic.twitter.com/9TjHhSs9pE
— Richmond FC 🐯 (@Richmond_FC) March 16, 2023
Channel Seven welcomes the 2023 season with an intro package to the soundtrack of some Motley Crue noise from 1989. Don’t change Straya.
Crowds to the traditional Richmond v Carlton @AFL opener since 2015...
— Austadiums Sport (@au_sport) March 16, 2023
2022 - 72,179
2021 - 49,218*
2020 - 0*
2019 - 85,016
2018 - 90,151
2017 - 73,137
2016 - 75,706
2015 - 83,493
What do you predict tonight's @MCG crowd to be?
#AFL #AFLTigersBlues
Carlton XXII
Ollie Hollands and Lachie Cowan will make their AFL debuts for their boyhood team, while Blake Acres lines up in navy for the first time since his switch from Fremantle.
“I think we had multiple conversations last year about being able to sustain what we do and play the way we need to be able to play,” head coach Michael Voss told the media this week. “There’s an intensity that we need to match to be consistent but there’s also a style that we want to play against – we have to be able to replicate that no matter the opposition we’re playing no matter what we’re challenged with. We want to bring a really contested style of game and we want to bring that consistently and that’s an expectation we should have of ourselves more than anything else.”
B: Le. Young, J. Weitering, A. Saad
HB: S. Docherty, M. McGovern. L. Cowan
C: B. Acres, P. Cripps (c), O. Hollands
HF: J. Martin, H. McKay, J.Silvagni
F: M. Owies, C. Curnow, Z. Fisher
FOLL: T. De Koning, M. Kennedy, G. Hewett
I/C: N. Newman, A. Cerra, E. Curnow, J. Motlop
Sub: L. O’Brien
Richmond XXII
All eyes will be on gun recruits Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper as the Tigers unveil their new look midfield. “We have been really impressed by what both can bring,” gushed Damien Hardwick during the week. “They are both different. They complement each other. They complement us.”
Injury doubts Dion Prestia and Jayden Short both make the 22, one brimful of experience.
B: N. Balta, N. Vlastuin, D. Grimes (c)
HB: N. Broad, L. Baker, D. Rioli
C: K. McIntosh, D. Prestia, J. Short
HF: M. Rioli, J. Graham, S. Bolton
F: J. Riewoldt, D. Martin, T. Lynch
FOLL: T. Nankervis, T. Taranto, J. Hopper
I/C: B. Miller, M. Pickett, T. Cotchin, R. Mansell
Sub: J. Ross
Jonathan Horn has tipped Collingwood for the flag. I can only presume this is for the maximum wind-up value. He was on superb form last season, and I can’t wait for more of his weekly columns this year.
After three chaotic years, where Covid-19 caused the competition to be relocated to Queensland and then Western Australia, and where the AFLW season was bounced from the start of the year to the end, the league has had a chance to regain its breath.
🐯Looks like public tickets are sold out for Richmond v Carlton in Round 1. 🤑
— Cheryl Critchley (@CherylCritchley) March 5, 2023
🐯It's going to be huuuuuuge! 🙌#AFLTigersBlues #GoTigers pic.twitter.com/ABlvNY9cwI
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Richmond v Carlton on the opening night of the 2023 AFL Premiership season. The opening bounce at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is 7.20 pm AEDT.
Footy’s back; if it ever truly went away? Almost six months on from Geelong’s catwalk to the 2022 flag the 18 challengers are back to do it all again. And as has become traditional, the curtain is raised by the Tigers and Blues on a balmy Thursday night at the G.
Both sides arrive with high ambitions. Richmond won their third flag in four years as recently as 2020, and the offseason recruitment of Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto demonstrates a belief that the premiership window remains open at Punt Road. However, after consecutive mid-table finishes and eight players already in their 30s, it is a delicate balancing act in Tigerland.
Following an injury-interrupted 2022 Dustin Martin is back in the starting line-up and ready to return to his Brownlow Medal winning form. “He has had a great pre-season,” according to Damien Hardwick. Martin is set for a different role this year with the Tigers now stacked in midfield and more in need of his game-breaking talent further towards goal. “It will be a slightly different role for him,” Hardwick said. “He has normally gone between midfield and forward. This year he will probably be more forward, less mid. What we do know, I think from a Richmond point of view, and an AFL community point of view is that we just love having him back, and we look forward to him having his best season because he is the sort of guy you come and watch play.”
The lot of a Bluebagger over the past couple of decades has been nothing but misery, but after so much darkness, the dawn could finally be approaching. Michael Voss’s first year as head coach began promisingly, and an 8-2 record after ten rounds set the Blues up for a first crack at September since 2013. But a sequence of four wins and 12 defeats exposed the work that still needed to be done at Ikon Park.
On form, the spine of the team rivals all comers, the product of a group of players in their late 20s with over 100 first grade appearances under their belts (the likes of Jacob Weitering, Adam Saad, Sam Docherty, Patrick Cripps, and Jack Martin) and a tier behind them nearing similar milestones (I’m thinking of Jack Silvagni, Zac Fisher, Adam Cerra, Harry McKay, and Charlie Curnow) so the foundation feels solid. But around them things need to fall the right way, which means they can ill-afford the year-ending injury to Zac Williams and delayed season-start to Sam Walsh.
After tonight Carlton face the reigning premiers, before a trip to western Sydney. Failure to earn at least one win from these three tricky encounters would heap pressure on Voss, and we know that tends not to end well for coaches at such a demanding club.
I’ll be back shortly with more build-up. In the meantime, feel free to send me an email or fly a tweet to @JPHowcroft.
