Yze, at least publicly, took a more conciliatory tone, though he may be more outspoken behind closed doors in the team review.
“They broke a lot of our tackles, that just becomes an ineffective tackle, that's why our tackle numbers were low,” Yze said.
Tigers coach Adem Yze.Credit: AFL photos
“Our tackle attempts were right, and our method, they just owned the ball a bit too much – 115 uncontested marks tested our defence. They kept us out when we needed to.”
The matchup is often the barometer of a team's effort, but Yze said he couldn't fault his team in that area.
“If it was about effort and intent, you'd be a little concerned, but I can't doubt that with our players,” Yze said. “I can't fault it. I can see some frustration with our execution. I just don't want that to dampen our spirits.”
Yze played during an era when coaching spiels were commonplace. Today's players don't react as well.
Shai Bolton won't look back on his performance against the Bulldogs fondly.Credit: Getty Images
Perhaps that explains Yze opting for the carrot over the stick of Shai Bolton, whose first half was close to the worst of his career. All Bolton had to show for the half on the stat sheet was effective kicking.
Worse still, he gave what appeared to be blistering heat to young Seth Campbell for turning the ball over to try and find Bolton, who would have gone into an open goal.
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It's hard to know exactly what was said from the stands, but it wasn't great to have an Australian and double premiership player shouting and waving his arms in such demonstrable fashion at a rookie who had just had a blue in his ninth game
Yze, however, showed Bolton the empathy his star player failed to show his younger teammate.
“At the end, our players give some feedback, they continue,” Yze said. “Then they talked about it. He cares a lot about our football club. He wants us to improve. He wants us to be better. I can't deny that he showed that love for his football club with a bang, with frustration.”
“I would be more worried if he didn't try as hard as he did in the second half. It was great for us.”
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To Bolton's credit, he was one of Richmond's best players when the floodgates opened for the Dogs, whose lead exploded into three figures at the end of last season, with 15 possessions and two goals later of rest
When fellow rookie Mykelti Lefau made a pass late in the third quarter, Bolton raised his hand to acknowledge the mistake.
A night of terror was compounded by injuries to Jack Graham, Sam Banks and Maurice Rioli, the latter occurring in the dying minutes of the game when he injured his ankle in a tackle. They join Tom Lynch, Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper and Jack Ross on a long injury list.
Graham faces another spell on the sidelines with a strain in the same hamstring he injured on the eve of ANZAC Day.
Banks was knocked out in a nasty matchup with Tim English, who accidentally tunneled him after being pushed in a tag contest by Noah Balta. Banks was walking around the rooms, the club said, after being stretchered off, but will miss next week under the league's concussion protocols.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge and his team found temporary relief after a strong response to their poor performance against Hawthorn, but next week's assignment against Greater Western Sydney will provide a more accurate gauge .
“Richmond have some real challenges with their injury numbers,” Beveridge said. “We know going up to Sydney will be different.”
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