Neil Balme on Macquarie Sports Radio / Tigers hungry for success in 2019

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AUDIO: https://omny.fm/shows/breakfast-with-tony-leonard-tony-shaw-and-jimmy-ba/neil-balme-richmond-football-manager/embed?style=artwork

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Hungry for success in 2019

Matt Thompson, Tony Shaw and Jimmy Bartel
Macquarie Sports Radio
1 Nov 2018

After a disappointing finish to the 2018 season, Richmond will be hoping to climb the mountain again in 2019 to be champions of the AFL.

Speaking on Macquarie Sports Radio Breakfast, General Manger of Football at the Tigers Neil Balme is confident the playing group will hit the ground running with renewed enthusiasm when they return for pre-season in mid-November, early December.

“We’re hoping so, I’m sure there will be. They had a terrific attitude towards the season generally last year”

The Tigers were minor premiers in 2018 but fell short of playing off in the Grand Final losing to arch-rivals Collingwood on preliminary final weekend by 39 points.

“We were a bit disappointed with the last game but that’s the competition. It’s pretty tough, you play against a side who plays really well and they sort of get you on the hop a little bit.” Balme said on reflection of that loss.

During the AFL trade period, the Tigers recruited former captain of the Gold Coast Suns, Tom Lynch. He will work in tandem with Jack Riewoldt in the forward line and has already set about getting Richmond back to a spot on Grand Final day.

With the inclusion of Lynch, Balme is expecting to see a revitalized group of hungry Tigers destined for success “I’ve got no doubt the hunger will be there. They get a decent break nowadays, I couldn’t tell you exactly how they’re feeling but I’d be pretty disappointed if they weren’t really excited about the year.”

In other news at Richmond, Jacob Townsend was cut however Balme confirmed the Tigers are “certainly happy for him to stay with us if he wants to” by re-recruiting him in this years upcoming rookie draft. Nathan Drummond and Mabior Chol were also not offered contracts after the first period of list lodgements.

https://www.sportsradio.com.au/hungry-for-success-in-2019/