The Couch Expert (22/5/2011) | Thebigtip

Richmond vs Essendon - Dream Time at the G

What’s with all the creaking and dust? Ahhh that’s it... Richmond supporters coming out of the woodwork and dusting off the “YELLOW and BLACK”. As intense as games get, the Richmond Football Club richly deserved this victory and to be honest, the Bombers were lucky to be so close at the last break.

Trent Cotchin appears to have his wretched run of injuries behind him. A wonderful field kick, wins his own ball and a natural leader, Cotchin was superb from the first bounce to the final siren.

If you take an engine out of a car, it wont run (unless of course it’s a Flintstones vehicle), and if the Bombers midfield with Watson and Hocking (clearly their two best in 2011) is, well arguably not a Mercedes, but possibly a late Model Commodore, without them they are a spluttering Datsun 180B as witnessed at Dream Time at the G, especially in the first half.

I don’t mean to bash the much maligned Brett Stanton (he will have plenty coming his way this week) but he single handedly cancelled out admirable performances from  McVeigh and Lonergan who battled manfully all night without reward.

Whilst I would never purchase a Matthew Lloyd audio book or have him read bedtime stories to my daughter, his special comments are insightful and without bias. During the call he raised something I have long believed; Patty Ryder should play at Centre Half Back if he is not going to play in the ruck. A man not reaching his potential so far, it appeared for the first three quarters Ryder was in fact dreaming, as he sleep walked his way around the MCG.

The Advantage Rule; nearing the conclusion of the 3rd Quarter, Richmond were paid a free kick between wing and half back. The ball fell to a Richmond player, who clearly did not want to play on; he had stopped, or slowed considerably, as had his team mates. It was in Richmond’s best interest to slow the game down at this point and protect its lead. Yet, the umpire was bellowing “advantage, advantage”. Do I have this wrong, but is it not the player who has the choice to take any advantage that may be there?

Richmond, on a number of occasions, transitioned the ball from the last line of defence to a shot on goal. Their quick and effective ball movement and leg speed will trouble more than just the Bombers over the journey of this season and well into the future. As a football supporter, its great to see the Tigers relevant again and if nothing else, hearing the ‘Yellow and Black’. It is, after all, the best club song in the AFL!
 

Collingwood vs Adelaide

It was widely recognised by the football world that Dale Thomas was one of, if not the most improved player in 2010 from the previous year. In 2011, he has again taken his game to another level and his second half today was as good a half of footy as I have seen for the year. Whilst it is difficult to appreciate how much territory he covered today from the vantage point of the couch, it appeared he had run himself ragged. Looking a lot like Jay from hit BBC series the InBetweeners, his work ethic can not be questioned as it may have been early in his career.

What can the Crows take out of this game? More than competitive for 3.5 quarters, they seemed helpless in stopping the Collingwood juggernaut. Too few appear to be doing too much for the Adelaide Football Club. Perhaps moving Dangerfield into the midfield may have been an option to assist Scott Thompson who played the role of Snowball in George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm.