Tigers stalk the talk (Age)

[one-eyed]

Tigers stalk the talk
Jesse Hogan
The Age
May 28, 2012

AS RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick seeks to quell surging expectations of his long-dormant team, his opposite number at the club the Tigers face this weekend is lauding the potential of his own.

Hardwick has already urged his players to ignore the positive media they will face this week after thrashing Hawthorn on Saturday.

''We spoke about it after the game - the media will jump on it,'' Hardwick said yesterday on 3AW. ''It was an impressive win from our boys, there's no doubt about that, but we just spoke about [focusing on] what happens inside the four walls of Punt Road.''
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The Tigers' opponent on Friday night, St Kilda, is just two wins shy of a top-four berth, which counters subdued expectations created by its week-one finals exit and change of coach last season.

First-year Saints coach Scott Watters said yesterday he was buoyed by the lack of a clear top echelon of teams this season.

''I'm certainly not putting any ceiling on what we can achieve. This is a year that's probably one out of every 15 where it's an open competition,'' he told Channel Seven's AFL Game Day.

''At the start of the year, many were almost trying to write this club off, for want of a better description. I'm not buying into that. We're in the contest [for finals] and that's where we want to be.

''We've still got a lot of work to do, but have a look around, every week the results change. We feel we have as much right [to be rated a contender] as anyone else.''

Watters also declared that the Saints' ''best footy is good enough'' to achieve his lofty goals.

St Kilda's revitalisation this season, notably among veterans such as Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt, has been influenced by Watters' arrival following Ross Lyon's largely successful five-year tenure.

The Saints have also had valuable contributions from a group of young players - a demographic in which they were rated poorly by many pundits.

''We're all loving it,'' said emerging Saints defender Tom Simpkin.

''We bring a lot of energy, blokes like Ahmed Saad, Jamie Cripps, Terry Milera. It helps out the likes of [Stephen] Milne. It really carries us through and helps us win games I think, their energy and their spark.''

The Saints' small-forward brigade of Milne, Saad and Milera has proved hard for opponents to curtail, having collectively kicked 21 goals in the past four matches.

Milera yesterday raised the possibility of a fourth goalsneak, Adam Schneider, returning from a nagging hamstring injury in time for Friday's match.

''As long as we play our roles and stick to the team structures I think

we'll be fine [with all four selected]. 'Schneids' is maybe in next week. Hopefully we can all get in and play a game together."

Hardwick yesterday underlined the threat St Kilda — particularly its forwards — would pose as the Tigers chase a fourth victory in their past five matches, despite their tough fixture.

"They are obviously hitting their straps," Hardwick said. "They've been fantastic for probably the past three or four weeks. Under Scotty they've started to gel a little bit.

"A lot will be said of the midfield battle but we've got to curtail those goals. Their smaller forwards were pretty good once again last night — Milne and those sort of players — so we'll certainly have our work cut out for us."

If Richmond is to win, it will have to overcome a record of success at Etihad Stadium that is inferior to its home ground, the MCG. The Tigers have lost five of their past six matches at Docklands, as well as their past 10 matches against the Saints there. Their previous victory over St Kilda at the venue was in early 2003.

Vital St Kilda defender Sam Fisher is not expected to recover from a hamstring injury in time to return to the team to face the Tigers.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-stalk-the-talk-20120527-1zd7k.html#ixzz1w4zmcGl2

[Ruanaidh]

Dimma is soooooo right to keep a firm lid on things. I really loved his understated Press Conference. When/if we are entrenched in the eight....well ....

[Stripes]

He is a good operator Dimma. The media do a wonderful job of building us up so we can take an equally significant fall whenever we have shown any promise. This has been the downfall of our players and then supporters for years now - handling the hype. The media do it to sell papers but at least Dimma is trying to ensure we are better equipped and prepared for growing expectation than we have been in the past. Hopefully we can learn from the disasters of the past (Carlton Open round games in particular!)

Great to hear Dimma also letting us know of exactly where the dangers are for the Saints - their small forwards. Milne has toweled us up every game for the last decade and now he has some small, dangerous friends to share the avenues to goal. We have never had small defenders to blanket such opponents. This year I believe Morris is capable of limiting Milne's dominance but I'm not sure we have the cattle beyond him to cover the others. Dea may be able to do a role, Newman at a stretch but I'm really unsure 

Hopefully, with so many small forwards they have less midfielders which allows us to dominant the center of the ground and deprive them of opportunities to run on to the ball.