Richmond and Melbourne’s Anzac Day Eve clash on Wednesday night was less than the spectacle it could have been.
That much is clear, especially if the reaction from fans is anything to go by.
The Demons’ 43-point win over the Tigers was littered with skill errors and a lack of composure from both sides.
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Particularly in the first half, the two sides — who are now into their ninth year of the annual Anzac Day Eve tradition — looked uncharacteristically overawed by the occasion, running past the footy, dropping regulation marks, and finding opposition players with crucial kicks inside 50.
It didn’t go unnoticed by the general AFL public, who were scathing in their assessment.
“Fair contender for the worst half of the season so far!” one fan said.
“This quite possibly is the worst quarter of football I’ve seen in a long time. Pathetic from both teams,” another said during the second term.
“To be fair, this is exactly the standard of footy expected for games scheduled on a Wednesday night,” a third said.
Watching the half-time Auskickers, Triple M’s Ethan Meldrum noted: “One of the Auskickers has just shanked one out-on-the-full from five metres out. It may still be the highest quality passage of play anyone at the MCG has seen here tonight.”
The criticism kept on coming, both during and after the game — somewhat hyperbolically at times.
“Is this the worst game of AFL ever played?” someone said.
“Horrible game and the jumper clash makes it even harder to watch.”
“I was done at half time The modern game can be a horrible watch at times. Worst game of the year.”
“I went one better and pulled the main circuit breaker for the house, nup, footy still the same.”
“Never ever want to hear anyone talk about Ross Lyon’s supposed dour style of football again.”
“That was a terrible spectacle.”
“Worst 43 point win in a while.”
That was just a snapshot of some of the feedback that lovers of the game had.
But it didn’t bother victorious coach Simon Goodwin, who agreed it was a mistake-laden game, but was happy to take the four points nonetheless.
“It was a pretty scrappy affair. Anyone watching the game, some of the turnovers — it was extraordinary, to be honest,” Goodwin said.
“(It) made a few people laugh in the box and certainly down on the bench — that’s just pretty unlike us in terms of where we were turning the ball over and how easy we were turning it over.
“But one thing we’ve worked really hard on is how we stay optimistic and positive in situations that are stressful.
“I’ve seen games like that before when you execute with the ball like that where you get beat.
“But our players stayed to the now, they stayed positive, they stayed optimistic and they worked their way through it and in the way they came away with a good win.”
Speaking to Channel 7 after the game, veteran Dees defender Steven May almost felt like he had to apologise to fans for the level of footy that was being played.
“That first half wasn’t our best football,” he said.
“I feel sorry for all you guys watching at home. It wouldn’t have been too nice to watch.
“Luckily Richmond didn’t take their chances (when) we had some poor turnovers.
“But we were able to regroup and look after the ball a bit better (thereafter).”
Jake Lever (15 intercepts, 26 disposals) and Steven May (12 marks) were typically prolific in setting up Melbourne from defence.
For Richmond, Maurice Rioli Jr (two goals) impressed, while Hopper racked up plenty of the ball before his exit.
Marlion Pickett applied a hard tag to Christian Petracca while Toby Nankervis had an entertaining ruck duel with Max Gawn, who was named best on ground.
Pickett could come under match review officer scrutiny for hitting Clayton Oliver in the stomach, causing the star Demon to drop to the turf just before quarter-time.
Melbourne trailed by a point at half-time but kicked 10 second-half goals to move to 5-2 and sneak inside the top four ahead of the rest of the round’s games.
“To our boys’ credit, I thought our effort and intensity was strong throughout the game, it was just our execution,” Yze said.
“Their polish in front of goal and their skill execution was just better than ours and they got reward for effort and we didn’t.”
Melbourne face Geelong at the MCG next Saturday while 17th-placed Richmond (1-6) host Fremantle next Sunday.
– With AAP