Cagey tigers
Adelaide Advertiser
MICHELANGELO RUCCI CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER | June 05, 2008 11:30pm
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace has primed his Adelaide rival, Neil Craig, to expect the unexpected at the MCG tomorrow afternoon.
Two years after the Tigers scored an upset win - by denying the Crows the ball at the Telstra Dome - Wallace has monopolised the element of surprise.
"I saw Neil came to watch our game in Sydney last week - and it was a wasted trip because we showed nothing," said Wallace, referring to the embarrassed Tigers' 82-point loss to the Swans at the SCG on Sunday.
Wallace last night made one promise; he will not revert to boring the Crows out of possession, as he did in 2006.
"We were a bottom side then and we didn't think we could compete," said Wallace, reflecting on the state of the Tigers before the upset three-point win.
"Our team is now three-to-four years into its development and it is time to start competing - to take sides on."
ADELAIDE at selection last night ensured it had no obvious vulnerable point.
The Crows avoided recalling key forward Trent Hentschel - 22 months after suffering major damage to his right leg - as a knee-jerk replacement for suspended forward Brett Burton.
Adelaide opted to rely on Luke Jericho, two weeks after he was dropped despite kicking three goals against Melbourne. The Crows also chose to rest ruckman Jonathon Griffin, who has carried a hip injury for much of the past month. His exit - leaving Ivan Maric to take charge of ruck duties - prompted the recall of Ken McGregor for the first time since he shored up Adelaide's defence against Carlton at the MCG on April 26.
RICHMOND has recalled centre half-back Graham Polak and added defender Luke McGuane and veteran midfielder Greg Tivendale to its four-man interchange bench.
The Tigers have lost captain Kane Johnson (knee) and dropped teenager Jack Riewoldt and Chris Hyde.
Wallace revealed a change of routine at Punt Rd this week to give the Tigers extra preparation on the "the very well-drilled" Crows, who had an eight-day turnaround from last Friday's five-point win against Essendon.
"We've tried not to over-react to what happened in Sydney," said Wallace. "But we did bring forward the review of the Sydney match from Tuesday to Monday to get that game out of the way and start our preparation for the Crows early."
Adelaide will complete training at Max Basheer Reserve at 10am today.
Richmond has named experienced key forward Matthew Richardson on a wing - and Wallace hopes a return to more time on the training track will help Richardson be influential against the fourth-ranked Crows.
"He's had a knee injury," said Wallace. "We hope that has settled down so that Matthew can get his absolute best."
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/sport/afl/story/0,26547,23818331-5016212,00.html
