Can Tigers make eight?
Jon Pierik
Herald-Sun
23mar06
RICHMOND coach Terry Wallace says the Tigers will have a good indication of whether they are a finals threat after negotiating a horror opening month to the season.
The Tigers begin their campaign under the intense glare of Friday night lights next week against the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome, and return a week later to meet flag favourite St Kilda.
Then follows a pair of daunting interstate trips to face West Coast in Perth and the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.
The draw is a stark contrast to last year when the Tigers began with four matches in Melbourne, with Geelong the only of those opponents to go on and make the finals.
"I think we'll have a fair guide on where we are going after four or five rounds," Wallace said yesterday.
"The difference between last year and this year is we had some very winnable home games early in the season last year. This year we have an interesting run early in the season.
"We have got some pretty tough games in the lead-up.
"I think two of our four first games are interstate.
"It's really important to be up and running.
"If we can play well early, that might put us in good stead when we have those home games later in the season."
The Tigers edged out Brisbane at the Gabba last season, and lost by only two points to West Coast at the MCG in the only meeting between the sides.
If the Tigers can negotiate what looms as a bumpy opening, they can take great heart in knowing seven of their last eight matches are in Victoria, including their final six.
The Tigers were full of vigour and purpose at training at Bulleen yesterday, with Wallace putting his men through a sapping two-hour session, which involved match practice.
The question many pundits are asking about the Tigers is whether their stunning start to last season (7-2 win-loss record after nine matches) or their dismal ending (3-10 after Nathan Brown broke his leg) is more indicative of their true standing.
It's a question Wallace can't answer yet but, if nothing else, he says his men will improve.
That improvement could come from many directions, such as youngsters Andrew Raines, Thomas Roach, Daniel Jackson and Brett Deledio, or those who have been in system for four or five years, such as Andrew Krakouer, Mark Coughlan and Pat Bowden.
"We would expect that we would be better as a team," Wallace said. "We have more understanding at how we want to play the game, just a bit more maturity in some of the guys.
"But we haven't got control on how much better anyone else is. We just have to keep continuing to make sure the graph goes up. To me that's the most important thing.
"If our graph continues to rise, whether it rises a little bit or a lot, or somewhere in-between, that's fine.
"What we can't have is a graph that goes up and down like a yo-yo."
Wallace wants to see less reliance on Matthew Richardson up forward, a concern which should ease now Brown has returned from injury.
Richardson is coming off a 65-goal season – a tally he has bettered only twice before.
"I still think last year we put too many eggs in the one basket, especially when Browny went down," Wallace said.
"The better sides have a variety of forward options.
"If you are going to go to the one option on a regular basis, you are going to be picked off.
"We have to let him know he is an absolute integral part of our game plan but not the game plan."
The Tigers will use a VFL practice match against the Northern Bullants at Princes Park tomorrow (4pm) to give players, including David Rodan and Trent Knobel, match time.
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