Match result: North Ballarat 6.11 (47) defeated by Richmond 19.15 (129)
Venue: Punt Road Oval
In action:
- Sam Durdin (14 disposals, 5 marks, 6 tackles, 5 spoils)
- Braydon Preuss (11 disposals, 4 marks, 7 hit-outs)
- Joel Tippett (18 disposals, 8 marks)
- Max Warren (15 disposals, 5 marks)
- Aaron Mullett (14 disposals) – second half only
- Trent Dumont (22 disposals, 8 marks, 4 tackles)
- Aaron Black (10 disposals)
NMFC.com.au's best: Aaron Mullett
Match-ups
- Sam Durdin v Liam McBean
- Joel Tippett v Ty Vickery
Story of the game
The Roosters were right in the game early, trailing by just two goals at quarter-time, but by the main break the game was all but over.
Gerard Fitzgerald’s team didn’t lack supply going forward, but it was the Tigers’ relentless pressure that proved the difference.
"They (Richmond) were just a lot better inside the contest," Development Manager Ben Dyer said.
"They were clean and pressured North Ballarat every time they got their ball.
"Any of North Ballarat’s inside 50’s were really under pressure."
Richmond finished the game with only nine more forward entries than the Roosters, but ultimately had 17 more scoring shots, a sign of their efficiency.
A five goal to nil final term saw North Ballarat fall to an 82-point defeat.
Points of interest
1. All eyes were on the return of Aaron Mullett, who came onto the field after half-time.
"He had 14 disposals in a half of footy which was a pretty good return," Dyer said.
"His focus was on making sure he defended hard one-on-one and he got the chance to do that with the amount of ball the opposition had.
"He got the collision he needed with the shoulder (after surgery), with a couple of tackles and a smother in there.
"When they are playing those first games back, you just want them to get through and find a bit of the ball, so he was able to do those things."
2. The Roosters’ key-forwards struggle with the poor ball-use going inside 50.
Aaron Black and Braydon Preuss battled all day, without impacting the scoreboard.
"Both teams had a spare or even two back at times, so he always had bodies in front of him,” Dyer said of Black.
"He found a bit of it in the second half up around the wing. He played with a fair bit of energy, which is all you can do in those scenarios.
"He was looking to come off and pressure and tackle and stop the Tigers’ ability to move it once they got it; credit to him for trying to find other ways to get into the game."
Preuss shared his time between attack and the ruck.
"He was often fighting two against one, so it was pretty tough.
"His ruck-work was pretty good though. When he went on the ball, particularly against Shaun Hampson who’d been pretty effective, he was able to go toe-to-toe strength-wise and won a few hit-outs.
"His work inside was better."
3. Despite his direct opponent booting five goals, Sam Durdin was one of the Roosters’ better performers.
The 2014 draftee lined up on Richmond-listed big man Liam McBean.
"Only two of those goals you could attribute to ‘Durds’ and one of those was just a handball over the top," Dyer said.
"Last week he had a few lapses through concentration and fatigue, but this week he was pretty hard to play on all day and got involved a bit more offensively as well.
"McBean had height and probably weight on him, but he’s (Durdin) got a knack of getting himself in the right place at the right time.
"His ability to stop his opponent getting to where he wants to get to is good."
Joel Tippett also performed well in a key defensive post, lining up on Ty Vickery.
"Vickery kicked one off the first centre bounce, but after that he (Tippett) bodied up really well.
"He (Vickery) kicked three and one of them was on somebody else, so considering the amount of ball that went in there, 'Tippo' held up really well.
"He looked good when he had it, made some good decisions and used the ball pretty well.”
4. Trent Dumont was influential through the midfield, without having the impact of his previous VFL appearances.
"He was a bit rusty early. He didn’t have the impact with his disposal in the first half," Dyer said.
"He got a lot better in the second half. He started to drive through contest a lot more and got a bit more dynamic with ball in hand.
"He got a lot better as the game went on. It wasn’t a vintage ‘Froggy’ performance, but he worked through it which was good."
Most likely call-up: Trent Dumont
Next week: v Northern Blues, Saturday May 16, 12.40pm at Etihad Stadium
