By Sam McClure
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has criticised the behaviour of star player Shai Bolton for taunting an opponent as he was running into goal.
In the early stages of the last quarter of Friday night’s win over the Blues - minutes prior to an epic Carlton comeback that fell just short - Bolton held out the ball to a chasing Sam Docherty before kicking a goal.
The incident was greeted with boos from Carlton fans as it was replayed on the big screens.
While Carlton coach Michael Voss claimed he hadn’t seen the incident and chose not to comment, Hardwick had firm views.
“He’s made a mistake. It’s not us, it’s not what we’re about,” Hardwick said after the game.
“He’ll be regretful, he’ll be accountable and responsible for it. It’s certainly not part of who he is and part of what we are, so we’re disappointed but we’ll work our way through it and he’ll learn some lessons from it. It’s not a great look.”
Richmond’s Shai Bolton tangled with Blues defender Sam Docherty on Friday night.Credit:Getty Images
Hardwick said he didn’t believe he needed to address it with Bolton personally.
“I’d hope [Bolton was aware of his mistake], it’s not what we stand for,” he said.
“One of the things we always want to do is honour our competition and that goes against that.”
Bolton’s taunt to Docherty followed a series of fiery clashes between Carlton and Richmond players throughout the game.
Tensions boiled over at three-quarter-time when Carlton captain Patrick Cripps lashed out at Tigers midfielder Dion Prestia after Cripps was awarded a free kick for a push.
As Cripps booted the ball away on the siren, he and Prestia exchanged jumper punches and a melee ensued.
Hardwick praised the defensive effort of his players and said his team is still improving.
“It’s a difficult one to assess because we’re doing a lot of things right, but our scoring profile is not where we need it to be,” Hardwick said.
“We’re getting a lot more inside 50s than our opposition and in fairness that’s been a staple of when we’ve had success. We know what our game looks like ... we’ve just got to get better at generating more shots on goal.
“We’re winning ugly, I would think. But I’d rather do that than ... lose attractive?”
Voss questioned a controversial score review decision that could have cost his side a crucial win. With nine minutes left in the final quarter and with the Blues charging, wingman Jack Newnes snapped over his shoulder to put his side within three points.
However, the goal was overturned when score reviewers deemed that Tigers defender Nathan Broad had got a fingertip to the ball before it crossed the line.
Richmond went up the other end and kicked a goal directly from the kick-in to extend their lead.
When asked about the incident, Voss wasn’t convinced the correct decision was made.
“It didn’t look it from where I was, but I don’t watch the 10 different angles of it, I’ve got one. But it was touched then we move on,” Voss said.
The kick was deemed a goal by the officiating goal umpire and ball was brought back to the middle. It means that clear evidence had to show that the wrong decision was made for the goal to be overturned.
“I think it’s got to be definitive, doesn’t it?” Voss said.
“If we’re going to make decisions like that, in games, you would hope it’s definitive. I guess I’ve now got the luxury to sit back and see it and make my own judgements with it slowed down but certainly, we’d want to make sure that we were absolutely 100% sure before we’re overturning something like that.
“But clearly a call was made and we’ve got to end up living with the result.”
Voss lamented his side’s inability to win contested ball against the Tigers, which has been a hallmark under his reign at Ikon Park.
The Blues also conceded a whopping 76 inside 50s, which put extreme pressure on the injury-ravaged defence.
Debutant and mid-season draftee Sam Durdin hobbled off with a knee complaint. Carlton was already dealing with significant injuries to their key defenders and had drafted Durdin from SANFL club Glenelg as a defensive reinforcement.
Voss was able to see the funny side of the club’s injury crisis but said no one was complaining.
“We’re not referencing it. We’ve really embraced building team spirit within this group and a really selfless brand of football. And that requires stepping up sometimes,” he said.
“So that’s what we’re going to ask the players to do, step up.”
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