Richmond vs Western Bulldogs
Sunday 14 April 2013, 1:10pm
Venue: Etihad Stadium

Head-to-head:
NAB Cup Round 4, 2013: Western Bulldogs12. 11. (83) defeated by Richmond 14. 8. (92), VISY Park
Round 20, 2012: Richmond 22. 18. (150) defeat Western Bulldogs 12. 8. (80), MCG
Round 8, 2011: Western Bulldogs 23. 15. (153) defeats Richmond 18. 10. (118), Etihad Stadium
Round 2, 2010: Richmond 7. 6. (48) defeated by Western Bulldogs 17. 18. (120), MCG
Round 11, 2009: Richmond 14. 5. (89) defeated by Western Bulldogs 24. 13. (157), Etihad Stadium

Last time they met:

  • Richmond trio Trent Cotchin, Brett Deledio and Dustin Martin all performed strongly with 35, 31 and 30 disposals respectively. Matthew Boyd led the Dogs possession count with 33 himself.
  • Seven Bulldogs players had under ten senior games under their belt – including Fletcher Roberts and Lin Jong who made their debut against Richmond
  • While the Tigers had almost double the forward 50 entries (65) to the Bulldogs (36), Richmond had a lower conversion rate (55% to 60%)
  • After 203 games with the Western Bulldogs, Ryan Hargrave played his final game in the red, white and blue against the Tigers

Recent form:

Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs have outperformed external expectations so far this season, and as a group are reaping the benefits of the increased midfield depth and an extra pre-season under their young player’s belts. A number of promising second and third year players in Luke Dahlhaus, Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis have already shown their willingness to take on added responsibility - while the reinvigoration of Adam Cooney has been an added bonus. With one convincing win and a competitive showing against one of the competition’s premiership favourites, the Bulldogs will be looking to continue their encouraging form into round three.

Richmond

With a two – nil start to the home and away season, Richmond are poised to make a competitive run towards finals in season 2013. The composition of their list is beginning to look very solid as a large portion of their playing group approach the 100-150 game mark. Their multi-pronged midfield attack will prove hard to match up against for opposition teams while the scoring power of Jack Riewoldt and his fellow forwards looks a potent combination.

Key matchups and game breakers:

  • During the round four NAB Cup hitout, Nick Lower did a very solid job of counteracting Trent Cotchin’s influence. If the Bulldog is able to replicate his performance on Sunday, it could go a long way to swinging the results in his team’s favour
  • Bulldogs tall defensive duo Jordan Roughead and Dale Morris are proving they can compete with some of the opposition’s powerhouse forwards and will aim to continue their run against Richmond. Morris kept Riewoldt to two goals and five disposals last time they met, while Roughead has shown a real capacity to hold down a key defensive post.
  • Tom Liberatore is proving to be a headache around the clearances for opposition teams and Richmond will need to nullify his influence if they want to win the midfield battle. In the first two rounds the 20-year-old has collected 11 and 12 clearances respectively – while he found 10 against Richmond in NAB Cup round four.

By the numbers:

  • The Bulldogs and Richmond have both scored a total of 205 points this season, although Richmond have conceded 183 points, while the Bulldogs have only had 165 points scored against them
  • Both sides have shown they have considerable talent in the clearances stat, but the differences between the top two extractors is still telling with Tom Liberatore (11.5) and Will Minson (6) averaging a substantial number more clearances each game in comparison to Shane Tuck (5.6) and Trent Cotchin (5.1)
  • The Bulldogs are averaging 52.5 disposals more than their direct opposition
  • During NAB Cup round four the Dogs led at each of the first three changes before Richmond made a comeback to take the lead and win the game.

What we said:

Their whole club is progressing well. I think Richmond should be given a lot of respect for the way they have resourced their club. They’ve drafted well, they’ve bought good people into their club, they are well coached and prepared. They are a club that have shown that if you are prepared to work and be patient and be stable, you can achieve long term success and they are well placed to do it.

- Western Bulldogs Senior Coach Brendan McCartney

What they said:

We certainly realise that the Bulldogs are a side that caught a few people unaware with how well they are actually playing. We've been watching them. We played them NAB [round] four and they certainly gave us a run for our money there. Their uncontested ball and their clearance numbers are very good; they're certainly up there in the top three within the AFL. Although they had a loss last week, it was a competitive loss against a very good side in Fremantle, so we've certainly got a big challenge ahead of us come Sunday.

- Richmond Senior Coach, Damien Hardwick