SEASON 27: Richmond Will Never Win Every Clearance. What Has to Happen When It Loses One?
We've just dropped another deep dive feature called SEASON 27: Richmond Will Never Win Every Clearance. What Has to Happen When It Loses One? on rtssg.com...
Richmond spent enough of 2026 trying to prove it could win the football at stoppage that the next question can hide inside the improvement. No midfield wins every clearance. Even very good ones are beaten at the source. The revealing part is what the opposition is allowed to inherit from that first win.
The question Tiger supporters should be asking is simple:
When Richmond loses a clearance in 2027, what has to happen next so one lost possession does not decide the entire chain?
Because that's exactly what this feature examines.
Is the raw clearance count still the right scoreboard? Does centre bounce change the emergency? And who actually owns the first Richmond response when the opponent gets clean possession?
In the article we break down:
why the raw clearance count can hide the more important question
what Richmond’s late-2026 improvement at the source actually proved
why a centre-bounce loss presents a different problem
what should qualify as a survivable lost clearance
who owns Richmond’s first defensive action after the opponent exits
whether Richmond needs a permanent defensive-midfield function
what the question changes for Sam Lonergan and the stoppage programme
which lessons from Richmond’s 2017–20 system still travel into 2027
how far Richmond can protect the loss without becoming too defensive
what this question means for the young backline receiving the next ball
which public measures can reveal improvement before the ladder does
what becomes unacceptable if the same pattern survives into mid-season
And that's only the start.
Public stops at the unresolved question. The evidence chain, mechanism, consequence and RTSSG conclusion remain inside the full member feature.
Read the full feature now on rtssg.com
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