WHY TIGERS HAVE ‘LOST RESPECT’ OF AFL WORLDFoxsports
7 September 2020As far as this era of the club goes, Richmond is in uncharted territory.
Under Damien Hardwick in recent years, the Tigers have not only achieved so much on the field, they’ve won ample admiration from the footy world for how they’ve gone about, punctuated by their selfless, team-orientated manner and healthy culture.
This year, they’re still on target for great things. But if they do claim a third flag in four seasons, they’ll win it with arguably less admiration from non-Richmond fans.
The Tigers in 2020 have adopted an us-against-them attitude - a mentality brought on by a combination of uncontrollable circumstances and their own unforced errors.
At the same time, the ‘us’ part of the equation needs to be strong and united, according to David King.
The dual premiership Kangaroo’s observation comes in the aftermath of Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones’ monumentally poor error last week.
Theirs was the latest in a string of unwanted off-field misdemeanours and storylines involving people linked to the Tigers. Some of the incidents had been minor and purely hearsay, others more serious.
Through all the issues, Hardwick has publicly remained staunch in his support of his players and club.
But King indicated Stack and Coleman-Jones’ blue was a major setback for the Tigers’ new-found mentality.
“It almost looks like Damien Hardwick started an ‘us versus the world’ mentality, taking on David Schwarz, taking on anyone that says anything negative about Richmond - bang, he’s firing back,” King told Fox Footy’s Saturday Countdown.
“This gets watered down a little bit when your own join ‘the rest of the world’ in breaking down what you’re trying to do. They (Stack and Coleman-Jones) made a clear decision to break the rules knowing what the fallout would be.
“No one’s saying (sack them), but if you’re going to build the ‘us against the world mentality’, make sure the ‘us’ is tight and in your corner. And when you have these little incidents chip away, can you still keep doing that? I don’t know, it’s an interesting watch.”
Despite the array of setbacks, the Tigers remain a strong flag fancy and top-four chance.
But Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson believes the weight of issues had the potential to hinder their quest for a third flag in four seasons.
“You need everything to go right for you - and that’s what’s happened with Richmond when they have won the flags,” Johnson told Fox Footy’s Saturday Stretch.
“Everything’s gone right for them - injuries, the way the players have been as a group.
“Now all of a sudden, they’ve chipped away at that - and I think that has an effect on things because all of a sudden you’re not talking about just footy and performance, you’re talking about everything else as well, from the president through to the CEOs through to the coaches through to the playing group.
“As much as you can sit there and say ‘it’s not going to bother us’, ultimately you’re talking about that the whole time and it can weigh on you.”
AFL 360 co-host Mark Robinson, though, believes the latest off-field issue could galvanise the Tigers even more.
“You’re Damien Hardwick. You sit down the playing group and say: ‘We have an opportunity to win a flag, that’s the opportunity in front of us. Our weeks have been building up where we’ve been stuffing up,” Robinson told Saturday Countdown.
“Call it hubris, call it getting ahead of ourselves, thinking we’re better than what they are ... What are we going to do as a group from here? This is a chance to galvanise. Head down, bum up, shut up, do your job’.
“That’s, I think, the collective what’s got to go through the Richmond Football Club now because you know what? They have lost our respect a little bit.
“We’re not kicking them to death, we like good winners and like good losers. (But) when you’re a smart-arse winner, no one likes it.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2020-round-15-and-round-16-analysis-talking-points-reaction-top-stories-richmond-problems-brodie-grundy-form/news-story/1e4404ebd2b4ff4552c17e757de618fd
