One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on June 15, 2013, 12:21:35 AM
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Richmond faces an acid test against Adelaide at the MCG
Gerard Whateley
From: Herald Sun
June 14, 2013 6:27PM
WE'VE been here before with Richmond, standing on the bring after the breakthrough.
A chance to consolidate the gains and reinforce the climb.
Given its recent history, the opportunity creates a quiet desperation. The steps on the ascent are eyed with suspicion and uncertainty. The must-win games are unnerving, the should-win matches little short of excruciating.
Under such a strain the Tigers have typically receded. A freefall back to familiar ground. Expectation returned to a dormant state, to be faced another time.
That time is now. From this precipice, Richmond must step up.
Damien Hardwick's team memorably reached base camp on the cusp of last winter. For an afternoon it terrorised Hawthorn and the rollercoaster turned joy ride. Richmond's yearning became an awakening.
In the aftermath, the leadership spoke of the uncertainties of the past. Fluctuating levels of resilience and commitment. The newfound surety brought with it calm.
And in the calm was found the confidence.
The trouncing of Hawthorn followed a beating of the Sydney Swans.
They were days to fire the imagination.
No sooner was New Richmond declared than it fell through the ice. Scorched into the mind calamitous losses to Fremantle, Gold Coast and Carlton.
At the end of the campaign a draw with lowly Port Adelaide seemed unnecessary mockery of a faithful tormented beyond what seems reasonable.
The fresh assault has been quietly taken. Footing was found on the first couple of steps. Jittery they might have been, but timely were the early markers.
Teams from the higher ground issued the checks. Reality dispensed by Collingwood, Geelong and Essendon.
The gains were in question until the early days of winter. A performance in the west to re-establish the foundations. Triumph on the road seems to increase the magnitude of achievement. Victory over West Coast was a much-heralded landslide.
Discipline and daring were in perfect counterbalance. Wise heads and impetuous youth prevailed in tandem. Crucially, while the Tigers were good with the ball, they were better without it.
It was a performance for its participants to believe in. To trust and repeat. But not to get carried away with it. For all the caution of the journey, the Tigers retain a special capacity to become overexcited.
With a week to refresh, Richmond goes once more unto the breach. To a match that a good side wins without undue stress. The sort that has tripped up this side.
The Tigers are expected and should expect to beat Adelaide. Such circumstance has been known to prompt spasm. When the tension sets in at Richmond it stifles the run and undermines the decision-making. It was the road to ruin at the hand of Essendon.
As mitigation Adelaide has reached its lowest point. After being brutalised by the Swans, Brenton Sanderson has set the challenge to which any team worth its salt responds.
"If this is a proud group, if this is a club that wants to be a finalist in 2013, we've got to start winning games straight away," the plain-speaking coach said publicly. You can be sure the message is blunter within.
The elements should combine for a furious contest at the MCG and provide deep insight into the psyche of Richmond. Will it set out to absorb the Adelaide onslaught early?
Or will it have the gumption to seize the momentum and unload the full artillery on a vulnerable opponent from the outset?
Does Richmond have the killer within to set the Crows immediately on the back foot and bury a travelling adversary in a hostile environment under a mountain of doubt?
Can Richmond live in the moment without obsessing about a result 120 minutes in the distance? Can it go from contest to contest and ride the necessary twists and turns without stressing the notion that it should be winning?
Will it accept and welcome the pressure this day presents, knowing it is but a sample of what Elimination Final day would hold?
It might seem a perpetual state but the football world is waiting for Richmond.
Even Richmond is waiting for Richmond.
Today it steps out on to the snow-covered crevasse and we hold our collective breath over the fate of the mission.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-faces-an-acid-test-against-adelaide-at-the-mcg/story-fndv8t7m-1226664068582
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Gerard on the 'special' pills again
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gerard is right
he likes us tiges and is a very good journo unlike boof head robbo
these games are ones we choke on
lets hope we can finally show we r worth being in finals
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I like Gerard, one of the best journos going around. Substance over headlines.
Massive massive game today
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12 point game? ;D
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I like him too but he clearly uses acid himself
The article is like a long acid trip fairytale
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I like him too but he clearly uses acid himself
The article is like a long acid trip fairytale
Its one hell of an article. Thank god he didnt use words we cant understand :lol
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12 point game? ;D
Bigger than that, lose today and the rebuild has failed and Dimma has to go....end of story
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12 point game? ;D
Bigger than that, lose today and the rebuild has failed and Dimma has to go....end of story
yes this is correct, failure today would be disaster. ;D
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I like him too but he clearly uses acid himself
The article is like a long acid trip fairytale
Its one hell of an article. Thank god he didnt use words we cant understand :lol
:thumbsup :cheers
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The elements should combine for a furious contest at the MCG and provide deep insight into the psyche of Richmond. Will it set out to absorb the Adelaide onslaught early?
Or will it have the gumption to seize the momentum and unload the full artillery on a vulnerable opponent from the outset?
Does Richmond have the killer within to set the Crows immediately on the back foot and bury a travelling adversary in a hostile environment under a mountain of doubt?
Can Richmond live in the moment without obsessing about a result 120 minutes in the distance? Can it go from contest to contest and ride the necessary twists and turns without stressing the notion that it should be winning?
Will it accept and welcome the pressure this day presents, knowing it is but a sample of what Elimination Final day would hold?
The most important thing to take out of Whateley's article is the need for us to find that killer instinct on days like today. In the past we've failed because we became reactive waiting for what the opposition will do rather than being proactive and setting the tone for the game ourselves from the first bounce.
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Killer instinct still not there yet given our lapses in the 2nd, 3rd and early in the last quarter yesterday, but the main thing is we mostly controlled and won comfortably a game we would've dropped in previous year.
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we shopuld have killed adelaide off yesterday, instead of being a 10 pluse goal win it was just a 6 goal win, we were a 10 goal better side but gave them cheap easy goals
we need to show no mercy and aim to kill and destroy
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We seem to relax when the game becomes "junk time" and cough up easy goals.
You still only get 4 points wether you win by 38 or 60.
Absoutely delighted with the last two wins.
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On AFL360 last week, Robbo was goading Gerard about his playing days, and what did it take to get him angry. When Gerard replied he wasn't the 'angry type" Robbo then asked him what type he was. Gerard replied "small and scared". This didn't surprise me at all. Gerard is the type who is more designed to pontificate endlessly with a lot of flowery speech about yearning and awakening and plummeting over the edge of hope-dashing precipices.
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was it gerard or his brother who was the subject of Barrassi's "Healy! Weak as pi$$! Get him off!"
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we shopuld have killed adelaide off yesterday, instead of being a 10 pluse goal win it was just a 6 goal win, we were a 10 goal better side but gave them cheap easy goals
we need to show no mercy and aim to kill and destroy
Agree 100%.
We just arent putting sides away.
Port, Melbourne, Adelaide etc
We look a 10 goal plus better unit and a chance of a real big win, and seem to not go for the kill
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Gerard is the type who is more designed to pontificate endlessly with a lot of flowery speech about yearning and awakening and plummeting over the edge of hope-dashing precipices.
A man's gotta know his limitations & strengths.
IMHO Gerard contributes his fair share to both racing & footy and enriches the view of the game without pretence to actually influencing the tactics of the game.