Q1: 8 mins remaining: Geelong 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 1-1 (7) Goal! Nankervis does some great tap work from a boundary throw-in deep in Richmond’s forward line and Riewoldt does the rest, snapping truly for the first major of the game.
Q1: 8 mins remaining: Geelong 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 0-1 (1) 200-man Tuohy gets a kick and then gets dragged. Charming.
Q1: 10 mins remaining: Geelong 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 0-1 (1) Nice hanger from Grimes deep in defence nullifies a Geelong inside-50. At the other end, Castagna gets on the end of a chain of passes but his set shot from a tight angle results only in a behind.
Q1: 12 mins remaining: Geelong 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 0-0 (0) A bit of Dusty magic sets up a Richmond forward thrust and Lynch almost pulls down a one-hander in the right forward pocket. But no cigar. Finals-like start to the match.
Q1: 13 mins remaining: Geelong 0-1 (1) vs Richmond 0-0 (0) Geelong looking to control the footy early but Richmond manning up well. Space and time at a premium for all concerned.
Q1: 15 mins remaining: Geelong 0-0 (0) vs Richmond 0-0 (0) And we’re away. Early centre clearance for Geelong. Ripping tackle from Blicavs earns an early HTB call.
It would be outright rude of me to not point out that a Richmond player is also celebrating a milestone tonight, Happy 50th, Jack Graham.
Coming from a Crows fan, Jack would look good in the tri-stripes next year.
Richmond FC 🐯🏆
(@Richmond_FC)50 games for Jack Graham, that is!
A special banner designed by Harper & Kenzie Cotchin, inspired by our @orcs1 crew 💛 pic.twitter.com/i1MXTvkMJe
Yes Harry, you’ve miscalculated. Back in the old days, quarters used to last longer than 16 minutes.
Back to Zach, and you’ve got to hand it to the lad from Portlaoise, a speck in the Irish province of Leinster with a population of 20,000 and change. Tuohy has succeeded in crafting a an excellent career which started at Carlton in 2010 and is still going strong at Geelong. They love Zachary at the Cattery. Congrats on game No 200.
This, surely, is his finest moment. Great craic.
Righto, straight to brass tacks. Who is going to win? For what it’s worth, my two cents – which is worth about two cents – has Geelong prevailing by five points in a low-scoring arm wrestle. We’re unlikely to be treated – or, if you’re a Richmond fan, subjected – to a repeat of the round-six fixture of 2007 that saw Geelong boot a lazy 35 snags. They did finish the year with a 119-point win in the grand final, so in retrospect it wasn’t as bad as it looked for the Tigers.
Preamble
Scott Heinrich
Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of what many in the industry wouldn’t hesitate to call a dead-set Friday night blockbuster. And at this stage of what’s been a wretched old year, it doesn’t get much better than Geelong versus Richmond at the home of footy – Queensland. It’s a rematch of the 2019 preliminary final and there would be no shortage of
people
Even non-Victorians – or “people from interstate” as some AFL insiders would have them known – will concede that one, or both, of these teams are perfectly legitimate candidates to progress through to the 2020 decider. Certainly, the winner tonight will be ensconced in the top four and well placed for a run at the title. For Richmond, it’s almost a must-win.
Still no Joel Selwood for Geelong, but the Cats welcome back everyone’s favourite Irishman – Zach Tuohy – for his 200th senior appearance. The Tigers, who’ll be relieved to return the club’s focus to on-field affairs, have two big ins in the shape of Dylan Grimes and Kane Lambert. One of the outs is Jack Higgins, which leads me to wonder who has been handed the task of telling jokes.
To get involved in tonight’s funfair, or to even share your best (clean) joke, send me an email or a tweet @scott_heinrich