Make Richmond great again? Well, the Tigers weren't great but they were pretty good on Friday night in their 19-point win against Adelaide.
Damien Hardwick borrowed the famous line from the US president during the week and there was enough evidence in the 0.14.8 (92) to 0.10.13 (73) win to suggest they're taking steps in the right direction.
In addition to a number of encouraging individual performances, Richmond appeared intent on moving the ball quickly and displayed impressive intensity around the ball.
Recruits Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy and Toby Nankervis all showed enough to suggest they would make their new team better.
Prestia and Caddy gathered 21 disposals each, while Nankervis was a strong presence at the stoppages.
Jason Castagna caught the eye with three goals, his third capping a lightning-quick piece of ball movement from defence that would have warmed the hearts of Tigers fans.
Jack Riewoldt was held by Daniel Talia for most of the evening but he was let off the chain late to finish with three goals.
David Astbury did an outstanding job on Crows skipper Taylor Walker, who finished goalless, with the Tigers' defence doing well to blunt the visitors' vaunted attack.
Shaun Grigg led the way with 24 possessions, while Brandon Ellis and Trent Cotchin were also prominent with 23 and 22 touches respectively.
For Adelaide, Rory Laird was outstanding with 32 disposals and Matt Crouch important with 26.
With 23 possessions, young Crow Harrison Wigg won plenty of the ball but would need to add a little more polish to his disposals before he forces an AFL debut.
Luckless defender Andy Otten played his first game for 929 days and showed enough to suggest he could resurrect his career after two knee reconstructions.
Josh Jenkins top-scored with four goals.
Both sides had key players out - Shaun Hampson, Alex Rance and Bachar Houli for Richmond and Rory Sloane, Scott Thompson, Brad Crouch and Jake Lever for the Crows to name a few.
"We played well enough ... it was exciting to see some of our young players really stand up," Hardwick said.
"(Dan) Butler, (Jason) Castagna, (Daniel) Rioli all looked good and those guys have still got some improvement in them as well.
"Then to see our three recruits in Caddy, Nankervis and Prestia (play well) really excited us."
The Tigers escaped unscathed, but the Crows weren't so lucky with Sam Jacobs (back), Mitch McGovern (knee), Jono Beech (calf) and Cam Ellis-Yolman (knee) all suffering minor injuries.
Coach Don Pyke rotated several new faces through his midfield unit and he was pleased with what he saw.
"It was a good opportunity for some of those guys ... some of them played some really good footy at SANFL level last year and I thought there were some really positive signs," Pyke said.
"I wasn't expecting those guys to come in and have a breakout game ... they'll get better (next week) and beyond."
Share
