Richmond won the 2017 premiership because it excelled in specific areas.
Although the intangible belief that pulsated through the Tigers in September was a driving factor behind the club's success, they led the way in some key categories.
They were also innovative, partly as a result of injuries to tall forwards.
- The Tigers ranked No.2 in the AFL for time in forward half. Teams that won that statistic last year were victorious 71.1 per cent of the time.
- Richmond was No.2 in the competition for forward-half turnovers (28.9 per game), behind fellow grand finalist Adelaide (29.3).
- Coach Damien Hardwick's adapted his game-plan to accommodate a predominantly small forward line. For the most part, he used a 1-5 structure: one tall forward (Jack Riewoldt) and five small forwards.
- Led by Alex Rance as the general, the Tigers employed an aggressive all-ground defence, compressing the field and limiting the opposition team's ability to move the ball out its own defence with any efficiency.
Based on their pre-season form (they averaged 126 points from their two matches), the Tigers look set to again be one of the competition’s benchmark teams.
Some opposition teams would have spent pre-season trying to replicate parts of the Tigers' game-plan, or working on ways to break them down.
Here is a look at some of the trends that emerged from the JLT Community Series, and what we could expect this season.
1. Direct ball movement
Richmond's small forwards Daniel Rioli, Dan Butler and Jason Castagna earned plaudits for their forward pressure last season. The trio was an important element of the Tigers' success, but so too was the club's aggressive and direct ball movement. Even with a 1-5 forward setup, Richmond was prepared to kick long to contests and get the ball inside forward 50 at all costs. If Jack Riewoldt didn't mark the footy, his job was to bring it to ground and let Rioli, Butler, Castagna, Kane Lambert and Jacob Townsend swarm the opposition and outnumber them at the fall of the ball. Quick ball movement was something we saw from some teams through the JLT series. There was less of an emphasis on switching the ball or going back to 'anchor' players behind the ball, and more of a focus on moving the ball with speed. Avoiding giving up ground to rivals is going to be imperative this season, according to one opposition scout. Essendon, Greater Western Sydney, Hawthorn and Sydney all demonstrated their willingness to move the ball through the corridor. Champion Data figures show corridor usage increased to 49.1 per cent in the JLT series, slightly up from 48 per cent in the 2017 home and away season.
2. High defensive presses with risk/reward element
One drawback of teams adopting a high defensive press is the rate at which teams are able to get out the back of that zone formation and kick cheap goals. Teams will have no hesitation rolling their defenders up past halfway, often having them sitting off their direct opponents and filling space in the defensive zone. With clubs compressing the ground and trying to stifle the opposition's ball movement out of the back half, there will be occasions when defensive zones break down and are made to look second-rate. With the territory battle crucial, coaches are prepared to put up with the odd occasion where the opposition breaks through their defensive systems. The loss of Brodie Smith, who will miss most of the season with a serious knee injury, will hurt Adelaide. He has the ability to penetrate a team's defensive structure with his long kicking.
3. Star midfielders spending more time forward
Geelong's Patrick Dangerfield and Richmond's Dustin Martin were successful in forward roles last year, and other teams will try it. Stationing a midfielder deep in the forward line is an old coaching trick (don’t forget Darren Jarman's six goals playing out of the square in the 1997 Grand Final against St Kilda) back in vogue. Fremantle shifted Nat Fyfe into attack at stages in the pre-season competition, while Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury has been slated to play some time in attack this year. The Western Bulldogs' Marcus Bontempelli and Carlton's Patrick Cripps, big-bodied midfielders who excel in one-on-one battles, were other players to spend significant time in attack. Isolating your best midfielder in a one-on-one contest creates match-up problems for the opposition and allow the team to be unpredictable elsewhere.
4. The role of the seventh defender
When teams are trying to slow the momentum of an opponent or get the game back on their terms, they often make shift multiple players to critical spots. Teams create the 'loose' or the 'extra' by rolling one of their wingman to the back of the centre square, thus making him a defender. A high half-forward then moves on to the wing and plays as a midfielder, leaving a five-man forward line. In general play stoppages, most teams play with a 'skinny' and 'fat-side' winger. The 'skinny' wingman is set up parallel to the contest to provide defensive coverage, while the 'fat' winger stations himself on a 45-degree angle to the stoppage and inboard, enable him to attack or defend where necessary.
5. Length and width
Although corridor use was a priority for many teams, making the ground ‘wider’ to break down an all-team defensive zone was a focus of others. The counter-tactic against a team trying to compress the ground and create a smaller area to defend is to spread numbers wide, making that defensive task more difficult. Melbourne worked on this this widening method often in training drills over summer. The Demons are instructed to hold their width, with teammates knowing they are there for the bail-out kick if needed. Look also for teams to 'lengthen' the game. When players are in open space streaming toward forward 50, forwards are instructed to 'lengthen' – by running back towards goal – thus creating even more space for the ball-carrier to run into. In theory, the carrier then has the option of kicking the goal or passing the ball to a teammate who is unopposed if his direct opponent comes up in an attempt to stop the carrier running into an open goal.
