Richmond assistant coach Adam Kingsley on SEN this morning with Garry Lyon and Tim Watson.
AUDIO: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=974574-----------------------------------------
Richmond’s midfield was cast aside by the Blues at the MCG last Thursday and this weekend presents a similar challenge in the form of the highly rated Giants on-ball brigade.
The likes of Josh Kelly, Tim Taranto, Callan Ward, Stephen Coniglio and Tom Green form a formidable midfield, but Kingsley has faith in Richmond’s structure.
“They’re obviously a really talented midfield and they’ve got a great mix of inside and outside ability,” Kingsley added.
“It’s going to be a challenge for us, but the reality is we have structures on the inside, we have structures on the outside and we ask our players to really execute their roles and fundamentals.
“A big part of the fundamentals is competing and being able to get their hands on the ball. We’re pretty confident with the guys we have. We think we’re still a pretty good midfield, we just had what would probably be described as a poor quarter.
“We’re still quite confident, but we know that each and every week we’re going to get challenged and we need to be able to compete and get our hands on the ball and do what we’ve done for a long time now.”
After a successful era, there are questions regarding the Tigers’ desire to go again and contend now that many of the club’s established stars are in their twilight years.
So, is the hunger still there?
“We’re confident that we can still compete, but a poor quarter last week puts that in some doubt,” Kingsley replied.
“The season will play out how it does, all we’ll focus on is our game and our players and trying to get the best out of them.
“We still remain quite confident that we’ll be a good team and a team that will compete pretty deep into the season.”
Richmond’s midfield could be further impacted against GWS by the absence of Dustin Martin who is taking time out to deal with a personal issue.
Away from the midfield, Kingsley expects Noah Balta to fill the second key forward slot with Jack Riewoldt sidelined by a thumb injury.
Three-time Coleman Medallist Riewoldt should be back for the Round 3 meeting with St Kilda.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2022/03/24/richmond-hopeful-despite-frustrating-prestia-injury/