14 SPORT MONDAY APRIL 17 2017 Pyke crows at Betts’ six of the best after tough week Yarran on

ADELAIDE star “That is the quality of the pect from a senior player,” “We know what Eddie Adelaide’s sole fresh injury the road to responded to a week which in- guy,” Pyke said. Pyke said. brings to the team,” Pyke said. was to defender Jake Kelly, cluded a race row with a bril- “He had dealt with that issue Betts had spent much of the “He’s part of our leadership who was sent to hospital mid- AFL return liant six-goal performance to and he was in a really good week dealing with being racial- group and he has got a won- game with an eye injury. lift the Crows over Essendon. head space and we saw that.” ly vilified during and after last derful rapport with the players. Pyke said forward-ruckman FORMER Carlton and Rich- Betts’ ability to deliver for Betts tossed the coin pre- week’s game against Port. “We don’t underestimate Josh Jenkins, sidelined for two mond speedster Adelaide in the 65-point game with Essendon’s An- Pre-game, anti-racism mes- the good response he also gets games because of injured ribs, has made a successful start to thumping left coach Don Pyke thony McDonald-Tipungwuti. sages were displayed on the from the playing group. would face fitness tests ahead his journey back to the AFL, crowing about the small for- “And then he got down to Crows’ banner and also on the They’re really supportive of of next Saturday’s away fixture running out for a WAFL re- ward’s special qualities. business, which you would ex- oval’s large screens. Eddie as well. against Gold Coast. serves game on Saturday. Yarran stepped onto East Fremantle Oval to represent Swan Districts’ reserves side, playing in a forward role and racking up 10 disposals in the first half against East Freman- tle before being taken off the The roar ground as planned. He then took part in a brief boxing session for an extra car- dio workout. It was Yarran’s first com- petitive game since Round 22 in 2015, his last for Carlton. of Tigers Months later he was traded from the Blues to Richmond, but struggled to get going due to foot and calf issues. He was then granted personal leave and retired late last year due to a mental health condition. gets real Yarran returned home to during the off-season and linked back up ANDREW HAMILTON with Swan Districts, his orig- inal WAFL club he represent- RICHMOND have made BRISBANE V ed during his junior career. their best start to a season in 22 RICHMOND The 26-year-old said he was years after rolling through the disappointed with how his r:;; LIONS Lions by 52 point at the Gabba. 3.2 4.3 8.6 10.7 Richmond stint finished up. The 17.17 (119) to 10.7 (67) l~ 67 “I miss football and that was victory in front of 21,669 was TIGERS my childhood dream to play 5.6 10.9 13.14 17.17 the Tigers’ 10th consecutive 119 AFL,” Yarran told Channel 7 win over the Lions. GOALS post-match. They were a class above Richmond: J Castagna 4 J Riewoldt 4 “To see it all go away like it Brisbane with their skills and D Rioli 2 C Menadue D Butler D Grimes did was frustrating for myself. J Caddy S Grigg T Cotchin T Nankervis ball movement and that was Brisbane: D Beams 2 D Zorko 2 E Yarran said he still had aspi- the difference. Hipwood 2 J Schache L Taylor M rations to play senior AFL While the Tigers are on a Robinson T Bell footy again, but this year roll, the Lions are stuck on a BEST would be a week-by-week Richmond: T Cotchin D Rioli J Riewoldt loop – this loss had echoes of D Prestia J Castagna proposition. the past two performances Brisbane: T Rockliff S Martin M “I’ll see how the year goes against Essendon and St Kilda. Robinson D Beams D Zorko and we’ll take it from there,” They allowed the Tigers to UMPIRES Yarran said. gather momentum throughout S Ryan B Ryan J Mollison Yarran was taken by the CROWD the opening half where the 21,669 at Gabba Blues in the 2008 national lead was stretched to 51 points. draft alongside fellow Swan Then came the trademark Districts excitement machine Brisbane fightback, which als, won a career high 15 clear- and close friend came off the back of a drop in ances and laid 11 tackles. and went on to play 119 AFL intensity by the Tigers. But the Lions were unable games. Three goals in a row to Josh to get their running game Schache, Lewis Taylor and going because of poor skills. saw the start of Richmond were clean. They the standard Brisbane chant. were superbly led by Trent But it was short-lived and Cotchin and , their opponents, thanks to who were the best players on superior skills, ran away with the ground. AFL PREMIERSHIP the game. Brisbane were down a man ROUND 4 Had it not been for poor for three quarters after losing P W L D % Pts conversion by Richmond and to a minor ham- Crows 4 4 - - 146.2 16 decent accuracy by Brisbane, string strain in the opening Tigers 4 4 - - 141.5 16 this would have been a major quarter. Giants 4 3 1 - 133.7 12 Cats 3 3 - - 125.6 12 percentage booster. Richmond’s transition from Eagles 4 3 1 - 123.3 12 The Lions had the slightly defence has been a feature of Bulldogs 4 3 1 - 106.9 12 better of the clearance count, their undefeated start to the Power 4 2 2 - 119.7 8 Demons 4 2 2 - 105.4 8 thanks to a stellar game from season and Brisbane’s intent to Suns 4 2 2 - 102.0 8 former captain apply pressure was obvious Saints 4 2 2 - 98.9 8 and complete dominance by from the start. Bombers 4 2 2 - 92.7 8 ruckman , who Their first goal came when Dockers 4 2 2 - 74.1 8 Magpies 4 1 3 - 86.7 4 lowered Tiger counterpart Tom Bell caught Blues 4 1 3 - 79.4 4 ’s colours for holding the ball at halfback. Lions 4 1 3 - 75.1 4 the first time this season. But the pressure dropped Richmond ruckman Toby Nankervis and Brisbane’s Stefan Martin, jostle for position during the Round Swans 4 - 4 - 80.1 0 Kangaroos 4 - 4 - 80.0 0 Rockliff gathered 32 dispos- away pretty quickly after that. 4 AFL match at the Gabba yesterday, where the Tigers won by 52 points Picture: GETTY Hawks 4 - 4 - 63.3 0 Suns soaring after win but May faces sideline stint AFL - ROUND 5 Friday: Power v Blues (7.20pm) Saturday: Bulldogs v Lions (1.15pm), GOLD Coast’s win over Carl- hamstring. He immediately ing centre half-back Rory of this week’s big test against him a nine but he probably Suns v Crows (4.05pm), Swans v ton has come at a cost with co- went to the bench where ice Thompson (quad) against the the Crows. could have got a 10 if he’d held Giants (6.55pm), Dockers v captain to miss was applied and is set for a Blues and face ladder-leaders Co-captain Tom Lynch (a few more) marks,” Eade Kangaroos (7.10pm) around three weeks with a period on the sidelines. Adelaide at Metricon Stadium kicked a career-best bag of said. “But he was terrific. His Sunday: Saints v Cats (2.50pm), hamstring injury. “Steven May will miss at in Round 5. seven goals in the 17.6 (108) to leadership was fantastic. Hawks v Eagles (4.10pm) May chased Blues’ star Pat- least two or three (games) … The Suns improved to a 2-2 12.10 (82) win that was set up Two-time Brownlow med- Monday: Tigers v Demons (6.55pm) rick Cripps in the last quarter with that hammy,” coach Rod- record with the win but will with a stunning seven-goals- allist Gary Ablett found plenty Tuesday: Bombers v Magpies of the Suns’ 26-point win at ney Eade said. also monitor to-one third quarter. of the ball again with 34 pos- (2.50pm) Etihad Stadium but pulled up The news is a blow for Gold (ankle) and “If you were marking (Tom) sessions, including 11 clearan- NT times suddenly clutching his left Coast, who were already miss- (hamstring tightness) ahead out of 10 you’d probably give ces, and a goal.

NTNE01Z01MA - V1