Why there’s no denying the TigersJake Niall
Chief football writer, The Age
March 15, 2021 Assume, for argument’s sake, that the Richmond Football Club goes on to win a fourth flag within five seasons in 2021 and that the grand final side is the same as the one that overran the Cats at the Gabba.
In that event, Jason Castagna will be a four-time premiership player, as will Nathan Broad, Toby Nankervis and Daniel Rioli, the latter equalling the flag tally of his celebrated cousin, Cyril.
That quartet would have more premierships in their resumes than the greats of Geelong: Joel Selwood, Matthew Scarlett, Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson, Corey Enright, Paul Chapman, Joel Corey and the rest, and would equal the super six of Hawthorn’s 2008 and three-peat team - Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead, Cyril Rioli, Jordan Lewis and Grant Birchall.
The point is that it’s easy to see why we have so underestimated Richmond throughout their four-season supremacy.
The Tigers don’t have the outrageous talent that Geelong owned from 2007 until 2011 or that the Hawks fielded from 2012 until 2015. Their midfield is nowhere near the monstrous Geelong mids of the triple-flag team, and their forwards - despite Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt - have not been within cooee of the collective at Alastair Clarkson’s disposal over those four seasons: Lance Franklin (until the end of 2013), Roughead, Rioli, Luke Breust, Jack Gunston and David Hale, with Paul Puopolo playing the pressure-terrier role.
What has separated Richmond from the rest over those four years has been method - the imperfect, chaotic way that the Tigers play, with their pressure and surging style. They are, perhaps more than any team in the game’s history, a unit that is greater than the sum of individual parts.
If they are toppled in 2021, the likelihood is either that they’ve faltered - undone by injury - or that another club, finally, has found a method that either matches or surpasses the Tigers.
In 2017 and even 2019, there was a fair degree of scepticism within the game and its punditry about the Tigers, because we kept looking at the names (aside from the deadset guns) and wondering how this group could maintain an edge over teams that were no less talented.
When they won in 2017 and even 2019, one could point to the grand final opponents, non-Victorian visitors to the MCG who missed the finals the following season. I did not believe that they had a two-flag team, much less one that would win and potentially four, even though there are names - Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin principally - who deserve to be graded higher than their perceived station.
In 2021, there’s no longer Richmond denialism. They are favourites, until proven otherwise. The question is whether there’s a club with the mettle, game style - and good fortune - to tame them.
Port Adelaide, Geelong and the Brisbane Lions shape as teams that are most capable of supplanting Richmond. Yes, they were all in the top four last year, but each of them has added talent - Port bringing in Aliir Aliir to an undersized defence and Orazio Fantasia to an already imposing group of small forwards; the Lions have Joe Daniher in the goal-square, while the Cats will have Jeremy Cameron helping Tom Hawkins terrorise tall backs, with Shaun Higgins and Isaac Smith providing further experience and class.
Of that trio, Port is the team that most appeals as the challenger. The Power have similar speed to Richmond, can play a frenetic style - or slow play - and have more growth in their younger ranks, especially Connor Rozee, Zak Butters, Xavier Duursma and Mitch Georgiades.
Full article: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/why-the-tigers-can-t-be-denied-20210314-p57amx.html
