Pep talk works wonders

Riewoldt fires up forwards

FOR a team that had become so dependable in finals, Richmond looked nothing like the Tigers of old in the first half last night.

So much so that just seconds before the umpire bounced the ball after halftime, Jack Riewoldt called the forwards together and they formed a huddle inside 50m.

Riewoldt had just one kick in the first half and zero influence on the game under constant attention from Lachie Henderson, but he appeared to be imploring his fellow forwards to lift and impose themselves on the contest.

The Tigers then broke from the huddle and went to their Geelong opponents and got in their faces.

Richmond then kicked two goals in five minutes, Geelong’s lead was cut from 15 points to three in the blink of an eye, and there was no turning back. And the man who started the fightback was Tasmanian-born Riewoldt, who converted the first set shot on goal.

The Tigers then turned the game further up the ground with their run and pressure, which had deserted them just half an hour earlier.

Without their most important intercept defender in Nick Vlastuin, who was wiped out in the first term, they made so many mistakes.

Nathan Broad’s hurried kick from defence, Marlion Pickett’s handball to no one in particular and Noah Balta’s simple miskick in the back half all resulted in turnovers.

And Bachar Houli, who had 51 disposals in the Tigers’ two winning grand finals, had just five touches in the first half.

But how the tide turned, as Houli, Liam Baker and Jayden Short began linking up by hand from defence. Suddenly this was more like Richmond.

It started with Riewoldt’s pep talk and goal just after halftime and finished with his second goal from the boundary just before the final siren. This was the Tigers of old again.