CAN WE “PUT A LINE” THROUGH RICHMOND'S PREMIERSHIP HOPES?Kane Cornes doesn't think Richmond can win the premiership in season 2021, saying they look a “shell of themselves”.
“I think there are enough warning signs now that we can put a line through Richmond for genuine premiership contenders,” Cornes told AFL Media’s The Round So Far.
“The body of work there now is to say that they are not going to win the premiership this year.
“Uncharacteristic errors again in their back half … they just looked a shell of themselves and their record at the MCG this year is concerning.”
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/06/27/can-we-put-a-line-through-richmonds-premiership-hopes/----------------------------------------------
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has “put a line through” Richmond for this year’s premiership after Friday night’s shock loss to St Kilda.
Speaking on Channel Nine, Cornes said the side’s hopes of a premiership defence were shot after its latest setback.
“I don’t think they can win it from here. I’ve been hesitant to make that call, but I think now there is a big enough body of work from 14 games to see it ... Richmond can’t win it now,” he said on the Sunday Footy Show.
“There’s enough evidence to say that. I think some of their experienced players just aren’t impacting, I think there’s a blueprint now to stop Dustin Martin and teams have finally been able to work that out and are putting more time into him with that bigger body, defensive player that can stop him.
“I think Trent Cotchin’s impact across the midfield has been nowhere near the impact that he has had in previous seasons and you just can’t win it from outside the top four I don’t think. They’re three games off the top four.”
Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd agreed, expressing concerns over the way the Tigers have been winning in 2021 as opposed to their premiership-winning campaigns.
“I’ll just say, they aren’t the manic side that’s had them at the top for four to five years,” he said.
“I’m not seeing forward pressure. I’m seeing them winning games off Shai Bolton brilliance, Jack Riewoldt brilliance, Jack Riewoldt brilliance, Dustin Martin brilliance, not the team ethos that won them games over the previous four or five year.”
Speaking on AFL Media’s The Round so Far, Cornes pointed to the side’s subpar record at the MCG in 2021 - a ground the Tigers had thrived at in recent years, saying they were “a shell of themselves”.
“They have just been a walk up win 87 to 90% of their games at the MCG - there‘s not that fear factor there anymore,” he said.
“Perhaps that is part of the Richmond army - 14,000 there on Friday night. I’m not sure where all the Richmond fans have gone, I understand the circumstances that we live in, but perhaps not having the 80,000 there on a Friday night that they usually would have affected them and their record says that as well.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/richmond-tigers/afl-news-2021-richmond-loss-ladder-fixture-might-not-make-finals-kane-cornes-comments-damien-hardwick/news-story/c12ef6672a3b86d85f44c45047736fad
