Season review: Richmond (theRoar)

[one-eyed]

Season review: Richmond
By mastermind5991
theRoar.com.au
15 Sep 2013

For Richmond and its long-suffering community, season 2013 will go down as a memorable year for the club as they finally lived up to their potential, and in the process, ended a very long finals drought dating back to 2001.

Damien Hardwick did a great job throughout the season lifting the Tigers back into September, as the men from Punt Road showed significant improvement under his tutelage over the last four years.

And although their finals return was short-lived, the season was still a successful one and it’ll be one that the fans will not forget easily.

What went right

The Tigers reaching the finals for the first time since 2001 was the biggest highlight of the season.

They began their season with a narrow five-point victory over Carlton, and it was this character-building victory that lay the foundations for a successful year.

The team compiled a 15-7 win-loss record for the year, easily their best record in 12 years. They managed to overcome their Gold Coast curse and also defeat Hawthorn by 41 points.

They also defeated Fremantle at home, whilst they (with the exception of rounds four to six) rarely lost consecutive matches throughout the season, maintaining consistency all season round.

Trent Cotchin did an exceptionable job in his first season as captain, and there is no doubt that he can once again lead the Tigers deep into next season.

What went wrong

Although the Tigers suffered seven regular season losses during the year, some of them either came unexpectedly, or were just plain disappointing.

The Tigers copped a 62-point hiding from North Melbourne in Round 15, and were also outplayed by Geelong and the Sydney Swans in Rounds six and 18 respectively.

They were also criticised for their dismal performance during the annual Dreamtime at the G match against Essendon in round nine; never during any stage of that match were the Tigers in a position to challenge.

And finally, the way they bowed out of September was disappointing, as they let slip a good chance to win its first final since 2001 (which was, ironically, against Carlton) when they lost by 20 points after leading by 32 in the third quarter.

The future

Now that they have finally gotten that finals monkey off their backs, the Tigers must now ensure that they make the finals consistently. They must also learn how to knock off the top sides at crucial stages during the season.

They can look back at what Carlton went through during their lowest period and use that as their motivation to continue to do well in 2014. Perhaps the Tigers could go on to achieve better things next year – you never know!

Questions the fans will want answered in 2014

1. Can the Tigers live up to their potential again?
2. Who will be the key players as they look to make the finals again?
3. Can Damien Hardwick achieve more than just a finals appearance?

And last but not least

Can the Tigers build on from the momentum of reaching the finals this year to achieve even bigger things in 2014?

http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/09/15/season-review-richmond/

[Owl]

wtf would we look to what Carlton went thru except to cheer ourselves up?  We have been lower than those cheating pricks and it wasn't because we got caught cheating and we didn't then go on to TANK to fix it.

[Judge Roughneck]

They can look back at what Carlton went through during their lowest period and use that as their motivation to continue to do well in 2014.

three number one draft picks?