After The Game v Richmond, Rd 8 2024 - With Snaps Truly ...

G’day friends,

You won’t be surprised to know I was asked by the Freo brains trust to go to work on the Tigers this week. Find out what I could about their weaknesses. I used to know Sheeds a bit back in the day, so we had a quiet yarn.

It was pretty revealing.

Apparently, Tigers have poor endurance. Couple of runs and jumps and they’re stuffed.

For all that Eye of the Tiger rubbish, they can’t see very well either and really hate being punched in the eyes and nose.

They live solitary lives, so have very little capacity for making friends.

And female tigers attract males by producing a very distinctive smelling wee.

And here’s the headline that matters – Tigers are orange and black and not yellow and black.

“Bloody hell Sheeds,” I said as he showed me a photograph from an old National Geographic. “How long you been sittin’ on this for?”

He sipped his tea and answered quietly. “I was waiting for someone to ask.”

So, whatever the Richmond Football Club says it is or represents, it isn’t and it doesn’t.

I handed my dossier, my bombshell to a grateful Bob Murphy who immediately passed it around.

Look out for Moose and the General having a quiet word with Shai Bolton and his mates about who they really are, if so required.

But such action was not required today.

I know we sometimes get the tremors when playing the hopeless and inept, seeing something of ourselves in their dead-eyed mediocrity, but that wasn’t going to happen on the grand MCG stage.

Richmond goaled first, but a 50-metre penalty brought Darcy close enough to square the ledger.

Fyfe was perhaps surprisingly named on the sub’s bench and it was Hayden Young who relished the opportunity to dominate in the middle.

A strong lead by Amiss produced our second goal. And a beautiful Young pass, this time on his right foot under pressure, found Jackson who in turn found Walters who kicked our third. It took a while for the quarter to take shape, but Freo led by 13 at the first change.

Bit ugly early in the second. Freo getting lots of uncontested ball down back, but the path forward was congested. Eventually there was reward for effort with goals to Treacy and then Sharp to make it five in a row.

Richmond simply couldn’t score and at the half the margin was 25 points. No, it wasn’t. It was 31. A free kick on the siren and another 50-metre penalty walked Sean Darcy into the mouth of goal and he converted.

Freo seemingly doing it easily. Tiger fans booed a good deal.

In the third, Freddy got us on the board with a flying left foot snap, but Richmond through link up players Baker and Rioli finally began to get a run on. Lefau up front was proving a handful.

The Tiger-like team, banged on three goals and at last we had a contest.

I didn’t want it to be a contest.

It took Matt Johnson, bursting through a pack to reestablish Freo’s authority and with some spectacular pressure moments from first Emmett and then Clark to smother a Dusty snap on goal, we turned for home 24 points clear.

Darcy was subbed out, a tactical call to allow Fyfe to get amongst it and with Jackson now in the ruck, Freo had vigour and run. And with sixth place on the ladder at stake there was plenty to play for.

Exceptional ball movement provided Josh Treacy with two opportunities. He bagged them both. Richmond replied, but so did Josh. What a compelling power forward he has become.

Remember The Name Banfield popped up with another and the brilliant Hayden Young followed it up. Moments later he burst from a pack to bang through another exquisite goal, before a fracas on the siren gifted Amiss his second.

Freo won by 54 points. And produced an emphatic seven goals to two finish to bring it home. Special mention to Luke Ryan. The General produced, statistically at least the game of his career, 39 disposals. 15 marks. Brilliant.

Next up the Swans at home.

And thanks to Sheeds for the intelligence. Who’d a thought real Tigers were “Orange and black?”

Today they were toothless too.

By our multi-talented and amazingly insightful footy scribe, SNAPS TRULY. Snaps has seen and done it all. He may or may not have been a fringe player at Fremantle. Don’t miss Snaps’ report after each Freo Dockers match here on the Shipping News throughout the 2024 season.

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