This was published 3 years ago
Thanks so much for joining us for this season-opening match tonight.
Carlton and Richmond have played out a draw in front of 88,000 fans at the MCG.
We appreciate all the comments and interactions as always.
Please join us again tomorrow evening as we live blog another cracking contest between Collingwood and Geelong at the MCG.
But until then, bye for now.
If Richmond entered this match as the more seasoned side, the Blues carried the greater burden: That of the not-so-quiet desperation of a proud club that has spent too long in the cellar and not in the premiership conversation.
Richmond were the club with more to lose if you consider the demographics of the teams. The Tigers fielded a side with seven players aged 30 or more and three of those - Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin - are totemic figures in the club’s storied history. A fourth, Dylan Grimes, is not far behind the trinity in terms of stature for the faithful and at, this moment, is more crucial to the team structure as nearly anyone.
Further, the Tigers have doubled down on the here and now by spending draft capital - and seven year contracts - on ex-Giants Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper; of that pair, Taranto was the more productive, especially in a fierce but scrappy first half.
Blues coach Michael Voss made it clear that his side would have been comfortably beaten had this game between played last year.
That alone has him feeling positive about the season to come.
“Cohesiveness has been a big thing in the pre-season in building that. Our back half has copped a fair hit in the last 12 months and we have spent time in building cohesiveness in the back half,” Voss said.
“That familiarity can build that trust with each other and become the stable defence that we are looking for.
“If that game happens last year, we lose by six goals.
“For that game to play out the way it did and still be in front and a chance to win and still be disappointed that we didn’t get the result, that is why I say I think it shows real progress in our group.”
Do you feel you have tweaked the way that you play at all?
We have tweaked a couple of things. Once again certain sides throw various challenges at us, there is no question, as Carlton did tonight. We’ve got a general idea how we think the game is to be played. We’re consistently adding pieces of that puzzle that will get us better along the way. We have been solid at the offensive side of the game and defence we have been OK and clearances hasn’t been a strength. Taranto and Hopper will help us there, and if we can get the ball in the front half that, ideally, promotes a Richmond-style of game.
Where is Noah Cumberland?
We love Noah, but he plays similar to Dustin [Martin]. We are trying to implement a couple of things to his game. He is an AFL level player … but we have to make sure that we pick the right side to make us win. Sometimes it will be one step back to go two steps forward, and we have been pretty invested in that role.
When Lynch took the mark, were you confident he’d kick the goal?
I was hoping. I was. I think that he missed one early, didn’t he, on the full? He is generally a pretty good shot at goal. I was happy with that one. We had a couple of other stinkers along the way. Anyway, sometimes you have to make your own luck.
Dimma in the end do you feel like you dodged a bullet or 20-plus inside 50s or do you see did the opposite way?
Once again it’s the scoreboard that always takes the outcome. I sort of thought it looked like a Richmond game. I thought that we had them pinned in the front half for the vast majority. We lacked polish and kicked four out on the full and missed a couple of sodas in fronts. The polish is one thing that we can take and improve.
Is that generally for round 1 or something that you are trying to get rid of?
I think it’s something that we have been generally good at. Traditionally we haven’t been the fastest starting side and if there is one area of our game we sort of look at, it is probably the polish factor. What we are really happy with tonight was our system and our defence. I thought that we kept them to a really manageable score and couldn’t capitalise when we needed to. Carlton roll back hard to get back and do that really well. I thought that we understood it but we didn’t execute what we were after for some of the parts.
Where do you stand on the draw? Are you one who wants extra time or are you content with that?
Carlton coach Michael Voss is proud of his side and thinks the draw shows mental strength from his players.
“A bit above the shoulders tonight, for sure, because, there were moments where we had to hold it for long periods of time,” Voss said.
“I think the number was 15 forward half intercepts and that is a lot of ball in your back half that you can’t get out. We have to go to work on that.
“You look at the other side it means that we held and we held tight. I don’t think that has been said about us in the last little while. I think that is something that we can take away and build on.”
Carlton midfielder Sam Docherty says his side was forced to play the way they didn’t want to so are proud to have fought out a draw.
Docherty said coach Michael Voss spoke to the players on the ground and pointed out their growth as a side from last year.
“[He told us to be] Proud of what we put out there,” Docherty told Channel Seven.
“Statistically the game didn’t look the way we liked. To show up as a group, to stay and defend a fair few inside 50s and hold our own in that. We will have to see it as a positive.
Tim Taranto - 32 disposals, 12 contested possessions, five clearances, eight tackles
Dan Rioli - 27 disposals, five rebound-50s, five inside-50s
Tom Lynch - 10 disposals, four contested marks, 3.3