Tigers fuming over rushed behind call
RICHMOND has lashed out at the rushed behind rule as “a load of rubbish” as it prepares to tackle hoodoo side North Melbourne tonight.
The Tigers were able to withstand the free kick and goal paid against Jayden Short for rushing the ball in their sixth win of the year last Saturday. But while coach Damien Hardwick labelled the decision as simply a mistake, football boss Neil Balme was scathing yesterday.
He said Short had won an intense 70m foot race with Josh Green and it was insulting to say he had not been under real pressure.
“If anyone who has any empathy for the game at all can think that was a reasonable decision I give up,’’ Balme told SEN radio.
“It just makes no sense. The poor backline player has to be Harry Houdini, pick it up, dodge around three blokes and act like he wants to keep the ball in play. It’s madness.
“If anyone could say that Jayden Short wasn’t under pressure, they have never been to the footy let alone played the game.
“He has run 70m flat out with a guy right up his ginger and instead of trying to trick everyone by fumbling the ball over the line, he makes a conscious decision. People say the guidelines were right because there is no perceived pressure. What a load of rubbish. No perceived pressure? There is a guy chasing him for 70m.”
The Tigers will move on to tonight’s clash against a Roos side that has won seven of the past eight games against Richmond. The only blemish was Round 23 in 2015 where the Roos rested most of their stars.
Both sides are in form and there are a handful of mouthwatering contests, including the battle between in-form ruckmen Toby Nankervis and Todd Goldstein.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says Nankervis will hold up his end of the bargain after his matchwinning goal last week against Essendon.
“He’s been really impressive, Nank. Goldstein played 97 per cent of game time last week in the ruck and had one rotation,’’ he said.
“It will be a big job for Nank and we are really confident the way he attacks the contest.
“He might not get him in the hit-outs but we are confident with him at ground level. He’s held his head up high for the first 10 rounds.”
North Melbourne resisted the chance to bring back tagger Ben Jacobs despite strong VFL form but could still decide to run with star Dustin Martin.