Richmond Tigers trounce Adelaide Crows to end 37-year premiership drought

Richmond are premiers. No, you are not crazy, nor is this an April Fool’s joke six months late. This really happened. For the second year in a row, a Victorian football fairytale came true as the Tigers, for so long the butt of jokes, ended a 37-year drought with an emphatic win over Adelaide.

Such a result would have been scarcely believable at the end of last year when the Tigers ended a sorry season with a 113-point thumping in Sydney.

Tigers win first Premiership in 37 years

After a rocky start Richmond took control of the second-half, romping to a 48 point win.

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Pyke: Adelaide must learn from …

Pyke: Adelaide must learn from devastation

Crows coach Don Pyke believes his side will dust itself from today’s heartbreak and come back stronger.

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Clarkson interrupts Hardwick’s press conference

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Tigers win first Premiership in 37 years

After a rocky start Richmond took control of the second-half, romping to a 48 point win.

Back then, Trent Cotchin was mocked for celebrating a meaningless late goal. Now, he is a premiership captain. Their coach, Damien Hardwick, was on shaky ground. Now, he is an immortal at Tigerland, fit to be mentioned alongside Kevin Bartlett, Tom Hafey and co.

To long-time supporters, they really were the “Tiger of old”. For those who can only remember the bad times, they were the Tiger of new.

If last year’s win by the Western Bulldogs gave hope to the downtrodden, then Richmond’s will do likewise for perennial cellar dwellers. No team had come from further back than 13th to win the flag.

This was a premiership to savour for the true believers. The old Tigers would have sacked Hardwick and torn the joint down. Instead, they backed him, gave him a new coaching staff that produced a game plan that would prove bombproof in September.

In front of 100,021 supporters, the Tigers dished out a 48-point shellacking to the Crows, who produced one of their worst efforts of the year on the biggest stage of all.

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From quarter-time on, it was feeding time at the MCG – and Crow pie was on the menu. The match followed the Tigers’ trend this September. Adsorb the early pressure, wear the opposition down before sprinting clear from their tired opponents in the second half.

The Crows were unable to cope with the manic pressure from the Tigers, who outscored them by almost 10 goals in the final three quarters.

The Tigers smashed them in the contested possession count and when they tackled they made it count. The Crows were rattled and jumping at shadows, lacking the poise to move the ball with the fluency that had made them the most potent side of the past six months.

The vaunted trio of Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts and Josh Jenkins produced just three goals between them. Jack Graham, in the spirit of Shane Ellen for Adelaide 20 years earlier, matched that by himself.

There was no player with as much influence as Brownlow Medallist Dusty Martin, who wasted few of his 28 possessions. He was part of a dominant midfield that smothered the Crows.

Bachar Houli played the best match of his career, setting up numerous counter-attacks with his incisive left boot. Jack Riewoldt overcame three early misses to be the most influential forward on the ground.

The Crows had few good players though Matt Crouch, with 35 touches, could hold his head high.

Tigers fans who had been waiting 37 years for this day were not given the start they wanted but they would have been emboldened by what they saw in the next 15 minutes.

The pressure that has been a Tiger trademark came to the fore. Kane Lambert’s bring-down tackle, one of several that earned free kicks, set up their first.

The Crows’ best period in the second coincided with Rory Sloane’s early dominance. He had eight touches in the first 13 minutes of the quarter when they wasted chances but only two more until the break. If not for Alex Rance, the Crows would have broken clear.

When Richmond’s turn came, they worked the Crows over. Goals were initially hard to come by but by trapping the ball in their forward half they were turning the heat on Adelaide.

From a glass-half-full view for Adelaide, they had just played some of their worst football for the season but were only 10 points down so they had plenty of room for improvement.

So too did the Tigers. The start to the third term, the one they call the “premiership quarter”, was yellow and black manna. Try these numbers on for size.

In a breathtaking first 10 minutes, the Tigers won a lopsided possession count 32-10, had seven of the first eight inside-50 entries and stretched their lead to 28 points. The Crows were not at breaking point, they had already been broken.

Grand final votes

Dustin Martin (Richmond) 9

Bachar Houli (Richmond) 8

Dion Prestia (Richmond) 8

Alex Rance (Richmond) 7

Jack Riewoldt (Richmond) 7

Article source: http://watoday.com.au/afl/afl-news/richmond-tigers-have-proven-the-doubters-wrong-with-2017-grand-final-win-20170930-gyry45.html