Young Sydney defender Jake Lloyd says plans are firmly in place to combat Richmond’s lively forwards in a mammoth top-of-the-table clash at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.
While 567-goal Richmond star Jack Riewoldt spearheads his side’s forward line, a host of smaller and speedier goal-sneaks are crucial to the Tigers forward of the ball.
Daniel Rioli, Shane Edwards, Jason Castagna and Dan Butler all stand at no higher than 182 centimetres, while Riewoldt and fellow key forward Josh Caddy round out the Tigers’ front six.
Their small and nimble forwards are integral to their high-intensity brand of football, a style bookended by the manic ground-level pressure shown by the likes of Dustin Martin in the midfield and Rioli in Richmond’s front half.
Lloyd said the Swans’ focus was zoomed in on the light-footed Tigers forwards.
“They’re a lot smaller than a lot of forward lines we come up against so it’s just about our pressure up the ground and forcing them to kick it in a bit longer and allowing us to come across and help defend,” Lloyd said on Macquarie Sports Radio on Wednesday.
“With their smalls around goal we’ve got to trap them in and we’ve got to be a bit tighter than what we probably have been in the past against them.
“I think last year at the MCG they kicked about five goals in the first quarter and a lot from crumbing.
“So their smalls are really dangerous and it’s really important that we shut them out early and that us small defenders really trap them in.”
Lloyd, Nick Smith, Jarrad McVeigh and Aliir Aliir will all be tasked with shutting a small Tigers forward out of the game, while Riewoldt and Caddy will have the attention of key Swans backmen Heath Grundy and Dane Rampe.
While the likes of Rioli and Castagna feed off the work of the Tigers’ taller forwards at one end of the Docklands venue, enigmatic Swans Ben Ronke, Will Hayward and the returning James Rose will be pivotal to Sydney’s forward set-up.
Rose has played just eight senior games across three seasons and is set for his first AFL outing since Round 6, 2017.
Lloyd said the Tigers had strike right across the ground and underscored the importance of an all-in Swans effort.
“Martin is obviously a key player for them in the midfield and the battle he’s going to have with Kennedy, Hannebery or George Hewett, whoever that may be – that will be crucial for us,” Lloyd said.
“Hopefully Buddy down forward can get a couple of goals early and get his tail up.
“It’s just going to take a team performance.
“Our younger guys have really stood up this year. Young Ollie Florent playing in the midfield, young Ben Ronke up forward – these guys have really stood up when we have been up against it. Hopefully we see another big game from them."
