CROWD MAY BACKFIRE ON TIGERS: BOMBERSOME think it could be their biggest advantage, but a premiership coach warns the Tiger army could also backfire on Richmond.
September 21, 2017
FOX SPORTSA RABID, 90,000-strong Tiger Army may prove too daunting for even Richmond in Saturday’s preliminary final against GWS, premiership coach Mark Thompson warns.
But the two-time premiership winning Geelong coach was confident the Tigers had finally “grown up” and would not suffer stage fright in the MCG Grand Final qualifier.
The Giants have played loud music at training this week in preparation for the roar to come from the MCG’s overwhelming black and yellow majority on Saturday.
Thompson admitted nothing would quite prepare the Giants for what was to come, but added that the huge crowd could also backfire on the Tigers in their first preliminary final since 2001.
“I have seen it work both ways with Richmond,” Thompson told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I have seen it bring them home and I have seen it scare the players to the point where they don’t feel like playing.”
However, Thompson warned the Giants they were about to encounter a crowd he believed they would never witness again.
“It’s a weird one. You’ve got the Giants, a team that is playing their second preliminary final in a row, at the MCG, in front of a crowd the likes they will never see again,” he said.
“And they are against Richmond who haven’t been in a preliminary final for years but have that confidence with their support at their home ground.
“But if they (Giants) win, it will be one of the best wins ever (in front of that crowd).”
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