AFL Round 1 – Carlton v Richmond: Europhia, Nerves and Ty Vickery

So it’s the end of round one – footy is back!! The tiges have finally won against Carlton, so the Herald Sun has been reluctantly brought into the household alongside the more favoured Age. Of course, there’s been a fight between my little brother and I for the rights of reading one or the other first, so Dad intervened and nicked both before they got demolished. Along with the AFL, footy cards are now on sale. So brother and I have always got $3 in our pockets every time we head into town. Anyhow, back to the Thursday night.
I’d tipped the tigers, and my dream team was stocked with our players, so there was even more tension in the house. Dad, bro and I sit down as 7:30 comes and goes, and Ivan jumps to the heavens for the first time this year. I keep on forgetting to breathe. Our midfield looked good in the Preseason, but Hampson kicks the first. The mighty tiges reply by kicking three behinds, and then Betts and Murphy kick two more. Dad forlornly says “We’ve already lost.” Jack misses, but Lids gets our first, due to a Micheal Jamieson dive to touch the ball fails dismally. Three points later, big Ty Vickery kicks another, and we all pump fists, and yell synchronised “Go Ty!”‘s. Mum gives us a quizzical look from the lounge room, puts two and two together, and goes back to her book. We spray two more shots before Jack puts one through… after the siren. We go into the first break all square, though we have 4 more scoring shots, and have hit the woodwork three times. The scores sit at 2.7 to 3.3.
The second stanza starts with Ty kicking his second after about twenty seconds. We exchange looks, and then see Ty take a good grab due to nice teamwork with Jack. Before we get to excited, Ty misses. Bacher Houli gets a goal due to a soft fifty-two minutes later. Armfield belts the post, sharing the love, then the tiges take over. Gibbs goes of with a niggle, Robinson clashes with Ty, suffers a head knock, and then wanders off to the bench as mum criticises the medical staff for not using the stretcher. Ty gets his third, Captain Cotchin sets up Kingy for his first, but Yarran chips in with the first Blue goal of the quarter, as Gibbs sneaks back on. A review stops things for a while, but then Dusty Martin kicks a beauty from the boundary 50 out, causing a crazy happy dance from Dad, as we head into half time 38 points up. Nan calls, raving about how good we are, but I stop her before she
says we are going to win. Robinson gets subbed out, and Aaron Joseph comes on. Cotchin is being tagged harshly by Carrazzo, but like vintage Cotchy, he still stars. Jack hasn’t kicked a goal, but Ty has stood up.
Judd hasn’t had an impact, but he is Judd…
Into the third quarter we go then, and Gibbs kicks an early one to start off, and just as my fingernails start to need biting, Dan Jackson shrugs a Murphy tackle and bangs one home. Betts and Lids kick one each, but then Judd brings the Blues alive, kicking two in two minutes, before two silly mistakes from Carlton defenders gift McGuane and King goals. As Richmond supporters nation wide relax, Chris Yarran decides to take out his anger by punching Bachar and getting himself reported.
Siren sounds, the tigers are 36 points up and I think about relaxing.
Captain has 25 touches, Lids and Vickery have kicked 3 each. I’m a Richmond supporter, so I’m still nervous.
And we stop.
Troy Chaplin cops a bang on the head, and heads to the bench. Sub Nahas isn’t moving yet.
Gibbs, Hampson then Kruezer kick goals. Nahas comes in for Brandon Ellis, but the Blues keep on coming. Rance takes a great grab in defence, then Yarran misses. Garlett goals twice, Jack misses, then Yarran and Kruezer miss. Yarran had Brock McLean all alone in the goal square. Richmond fans nationally exhale. The tigers manage to get out defense, into the forward line for one last gasp, but Josh Bootsma manages to grab the ball. McGuane dives, lays a great tackle, and receives a free kick. He misses. But the siren beats the Blues. 5 points separate us. Sweet victory. We roar as one, and collapse.
Cotch and Ty were awesome, while Gibbs and Judd were great for Carlton.
The only downside is that at the end of the round, the tiges are ninth.
We play the Saints next week, and hopefully my fingernails have grown back.
See you next week!

RICHMOND: 14.22 (106)
CARLTON: 14.17 (101)

GOALS
RICHMOND: Deledio, Vickery 3, King, McGuane 2, Martin, Jackson, Houli, Conca
CARLTON: Gibbs, Judd, Betts, Kruezer, Garlett, Murphy 2, Yarran, Hampson

BEST
RICHMOND: Cotchin, Vickery, Tuck, Deledio, Jackson, Rance, Morris.
CARLTON: Kruezer, Judd, Gibbs, Murphy, Hampson, Jamieson.

VOTES: Vickery 1, Kruezer 2, Cotchin 3.

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