Snap Shot is a weekly column taking a look at the lighter side of football.
Plenty of reasons will be advanced for Richmond’s third quarter fade-out against Adelaide that saw the Crows almost snatch the lead before the Tigers settled to kick the final five goals of the match.
But Snap Shot has a theory that you won’t find in any analysis of the game as to why the Tigers didn’t have their minds on the job during the third quarter on Saturday at the Adelaide Oval.
Tiger Tom Lynch is part-owner of two horses that ran on Saturday while the Tigers played Adelaide.Credit:AFL Photos / Getty Images
A group of Tigers players are involved in Melbourne Cup chance Soulcombe which won the group-three Queens Cup during the Cup Carnival.
On Saturday, the gelding was back at Flemington in the Lexus Roy Higgins, trying to win and gain automatic entry into this year’s Melbourne Cup.
Luckily, the race was at 3pm, so the players involved managed to find a place 100 minutes before the first bounce at Adelaide Oval to watch him just fall short after running into new Cup favourite Goldman, a New Zealand stayer on the rise.
Soulcombe, ridden by Craig Williams, wins the Queen’s Cup at Flemington. Connections, including a selection of Tigers stars, are already eyeing the 2023 Melbourne Cup.Credit:Brett Holburt, Racing Photos
That was fine, but there was another runner that Soulcombe owners Liam Baker, Tom Lynch, Jayden Short, Jack Riewoldt, Jack Graham and Nathan Broad were interested in jumping from the barriers that afternoon, and teammates Dion Prestia and Kane Lambert were also on board.
The only problem was this other horse, Pontedera, was racing at Adelaide’s Morphettville Park at 4.32pm, about the same time Richmond opened up a 45-point, second-quarter lead.
With Morphettville Park about 10 kilometres from Adelaide Oval, it’s unlikely the Tigers players heard the roar as he went around the field to win by half a length.
But what we do know is that word filtered back to the Tiger boys midway through the match that Pontedera had won the Benchmark 64 in Adelaide under the guidance of Ben Price.
Exactly how or when we are not sure, but we do know that the Crows came flying like Kiwi during the third quarter only to find they couldn’t stay the distance with Richmond.
Nick and Josh Daicos after Nick’s debut in 2022.Credit:Getty Images
Which Daicos has the votes?
The precociously talented Nick Daicos could have between four and six Brownlow Medal votes in the armaguard van by now, and his brother Josh might also have polled in each of the first two rounds.
But Snap Shot is concerned they may steal votes from each other, denying each other a chance at winning “Charlie”.
Now we know it’s only round two, but there is a reason to be concerned as there is a precedent for such drama at Collingwood, as was outlined in The Brownlow: A tribute to the greats of Australian Football in 2003.
Collingwood legend Harry Collier was awarded the 1930 Brownlow Medal retrospectively after he and Footscray’s Alan Hopkins originally lost it on countback to Richmond’s Stan Judkins because they played fewer games than Judkins after all three polled four Brownlow votes. In those days only one vote was awarded to the best player on the ground.
Of course, Collier’s brother Albert was a star too, winning the 1929 Brownlow Medal, so the chance of a mix-up was high.
The possibility of a perceived mix-up was higher still, so controversy raged soon after when it was revealed that on one of the voting slips only the surname Collier was written. Which brother was it?
VFL officials declared the vote invalid and neither Collier received a vote. The umpire allegedly said he had intended the vote to go to “the little one” which, of course, was Harry.
Imagine the uproar now if that occurred. Just a word of warning from Snap Shot to umpires when awarding the Daicos brothers’ votes: concentrate.
On the coach’s whiteboard
Before you go, here are …
Five people Snap Shot believe are prime suspects who should be investigated for turning the lights off at the Gabba last Friday night:
- Peter V’landys: Was there an AFL official who didn’t think of the NRL chairman when the lights went out?
- Mitch Robinson: The ex-Brisbane utility wanted a better send-off. Perhaps this was a message.
- Ed Sheeran: Why not? We blame the singer for everything else stadium-related.
- Ron Issko: With fans wanting a day grand final retained, the president of the AFL Fans Association had a motive.
- John Denver’s estate: God bless him, but this was the only way a stadium was going to sing Take Me Home, Country Road in unison ever again.
They said
“He’s the one that we’re really missing” – Sam Mitchell on Footy Classified about Jack Gunston leaving.
But they forgot to say
“He’s not the only one that we’re really missing. Add Ben McEvoy, Liam Shiels, Shaun Burgoyne, Jaeger O’Meara, Tom Mitchell, Adem Yze, Damian Monkhorst and Cameron Matthews, and you’ll be in the ballpark as to who we’re missing.”
