Not spotless? Who cares. Tigers unfussed over interstate 'flaw'By Peter Ryan
The Age
13 July 2018 — 3:31pmRichmond last left Spotless Stadium with the world waiting for a reaction.
They had suffered their third heartbreaking loss in a row to bring their losing streak to four. They clung to a spot in the eight by percentage. Talkback lines were being thrown open. Richmond were the only topic.
Since that moment, when the Giants won by three points after kicking a goal with a minute remaining, the Tigers have reeled off 25 wins in their past 31 games and won the flag.
They are one win from breaking the record for the longest winning streak at the MCG with 17 on the trot at the home of football.
They are the second-highest-scoring team this season and the second hardest to score against.
Their ball use against Adelaide last Friday night was exhilarating as they shared the football around at pace racking up 449 disposals between them, the most in the club's rich history.
They need just 2000 members to reach 100,000 members.
And yet they head to Spotless Stadium this week with a minor knock on them: they haven't won outside Victoria this season.
David Astbury, the dependable and respected full-back who celebrates his 100th game this week, is completely unruffled when the matter is raised.
In fact, rather than being defensive, he rebounds with poise.
"I don't buy into it," Astbury said. "I understand when you're 12 (wins) and three (losses) and you have won 17 games in a row at the MCG, it's natural for someone to start scratching around and try to find a flaw."
Their three losses on the road, to Adelaide in round two, West Coast in round nine and Port Adelaide (minus Dustin Martin) in round 12 were against good teams that are proving hard to beat anywhere in 2018.
Greater Western Sydney sit comfortably in that class of opponent on recent form.
"The way the [Giants] are playing they present a massive challenge [and] as much as I don't read into it too much, it would be nice to quieten the noise of those that do," he said.
Astbury has heard his fair share of noise, too, having arrived at the Tigers in 2010, Hardwick's first year as coach, from the small Victorian country town of Tatyoon.
He rode the Tiger roller-coaster as hard as anyone with injury restricting him to just 41 games in his first six seasons, fighting an individual battle while the team's mini-battles kept mounting.
He did not play in a final until last season in the middle of a remarkable run of continuity in which he racked up 50 consecutive games before missing round 13 with injury. He reaches 100 needing just one win to hit a career tally of 50 wins.
Astbury admits there were times when he wondered why he couldn't get a run at the game he loves but those feelings are long gone, having left him well before the Tigers began to click as a winning combination.
They had already gelled off the field before the start of last year, with great friends and defensive allies such as Dylan Grimes, Alex Rance and Nick Vlastuin part of a miserly collective that celebrate each other's strengths.
"We just always talk about how we can make life easier for someone else, which is why we do the little things," Astbury said.
They were already taking that approach when the loss to the Giants came last year so they were able to go again as the process rather than the outcome remained the focus.
In the book Yellow and Black , Shaun Grigg's words to the midfield group ahead of the round 10 Dreamtime at the 'G game revealed the positive mindset: "Go out there with confidence, boys. Don't think about what's been or what if - just play in the moment."
Astbury says the game is physically demanding enough so that attitude, which the coach displayed too, kept the group mentally fresh after a win or a loss.
Astbury also began to discover that, working with Grimes at his teammate's winery or ducking back quietly to the 20 hectares he bought near where he grew up energised him, the country air as much a mental recovery as saltwater can be for tired bones.
Now he plays football in an environment that lessens the burden on players and makes it easier for them to stay instinctive and fresh.
"If you are not having fun you become naturally really hard on yourself and it is just exhausting," Astbury said.
"We're in an environment now where mistakes are almost promoted and celebrated because of the intent."
Astbury can even laugh at the notion the Tigers are going to be impossible to stop between now and October.
He knows how unpredictable football is and how hard the Tigers need to work to beat their opposition, with the chaotic nature of the game a constant reminder of the challenge.
"I am actually blown away by some of the commentary around us being runaway favourites because every week it feels like we are challenged and it is just so tight," Astbury said.
"I think it is so difficult, particularly in today's day and age and the brand of football that we play, to be such clear favourites. I think the group is exactly the same.
"We are a humble and hungry football side focused on the task, not on the fact people are writing about us being a good football side."
Hardwick agrees, saying the Tigers are a process-driven football side with no illusions.
"We have great belief in our players and our playing group and the way we play the game," Hardwick said.
"That is not to say that we are not going to lose some games along the way. There are some fantastic sides out there."
Their only loss in Victoria since this time last year was at Geelong in round 21.
They sit on top whereas last year they were sitting sixth, just 1.3 per cent ahead of St Kilda.
But not much has changed at the Tigers for close to two years as they enjoy the journey rather than worrying about the destination.
"I knew at this stage last year that we were a bloody good football side and that we were capable of what we achieved," Astbury said.
"It's no secret that I feel that way again."
You can't needle Richmond any more.
Regardless of what happens, they're on an even keel.
"We just concentrate on what we can control," Hardwick said.
Astbury's even temperament reflects a group that has worked through adversity and reached a good spot.
Not spotless ... who cares?
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/not-spotless-who-cares-tigers-unfussed-over-interstate-flaw-20180713-p4zr9m.html
