The Tackle: Carlton and Richmond in crisisMark Robinson
Herald-Sun
June 23, 2014 12:43PMTHE crisis on the field at Richmond and Carlton has no boundaries.
The two powerhouses who played off in last year’s elimination final sit on three and four wins respectively.
Their seasons are a debacle.
The hopes of Tigers improving in 2014 were strong.
Mick Malthouse’s hopes at Carlton were stronger.
...
While Malthouse says the list won’t be severely culled, Blues fans would argue differently.
Richmond fans are worse.
They are disillusioned and defeated. They are protesting with their absence from games, which is killing the club’s profitability.
If they lose to St Kilda this weekend, the wooden spoon is banging on the Punt Rd door.
This from a team which won 15 games last year and narrowly missed a top four finish.
Next week they play the bottom-of-the-table Brisbane.
It doesn’t have to be said, but two losses would rate this season as perhaps Richmond’s worst in its history.
They have won the wooden spoon before, but were the expectations in those seasons as high as they were going into this season?
The Tigers’ historians would need to tell us that.
On Friday night, the effort was there, but the talent was not.
They defended strongly and maintained the ball, but kicked one goal in the second half.
It would seem the Tigers have been crushed so much this season, their games are being judged by effort.
Last season, they were judged in the win/loss column.
In what’s left of their season, the next two matches are critical.
Two losses and the self-examination will be fierce, if it hasn’t already started.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/the-tackle-carlton-and-richmond-in-crisis-but-can-geelong-still-win-the-premiership/story-fndv8f7j-1226963486387
