HOW THE ‘RICHMONDY’ TIGERS CAN RECOVER FROM AN “OLD AFFLICTION”By Andrew Slevison
SEN
18 July 2022Are ‘Richmondy’ things creeping back in at Tigerland?
The term found its way into the footy dialect some years back when the Richmond Football Club somehow found new way to lose.
The last two weeks, it has returned.
A 40-point lead in Round 17 ended in a two-point loss to the Gold Coast Suns with a goal after the final siren.
Last weekend, it was the unfathomable result to bottom-of-the-ladder North Melbourne, who previously had one win over a COVID-ravaged West Coast to their name.
Damien Hardwick described the performance as “abysmal”, “diabolical” and that it was “Richmond killing Richmond”. 11 goals 22 from 21 more inside 50s will bring on that kind of reaction.
But what does it all mean for the 2017, 2019 and 2020 premiers?
Gerard Whateley and David King attempted to give it all some meaning on SEN’s Whateley.
“I think Wil Anderson is the author of ‘Richmondy’ which was an old syndrome where there were unique and peculiar ways to lose from positions of strength,” said Whateley.
“That was the way before they ironed it out and became the team of their time.
“The last two weeks suggests that old affliction is back.
“Diagnose Richmond for me, David.”
King assessed what the Tigers put up at Marvel Stadium on Saturday evening, saying the overall feel is not quite as bad as it looks considering the scoring chances they are creating.
“You could hear the frustration in his (Hardwick’s) voice and you can see it,” King said.
“They were all over the Kangaroos, 67 inside 50s.
“The game itself, everything is in great order except for the final piece in the puzzle and that’s conversion. 11 goals 22 (behinds) and most of those close to goal where you almost pencil them in.
“Jack (Riewoldt) has kicked 2.6. Normally you’d laugh about that, ‘Ohh, I kicked 2.6 today and it’s a bit of a joke’, but when you get rolled like this against the cellar dwellers, then all of a sudden it’s no laughing matter.
“Richmond had so much more to play for, they had lapses again.
“The co-captain, Dylan Grimes, he would feel personally like he’s cost them the last two games. He would have to have gone to bed on Saturday night thinking, ‘What is happening with me? Why am I having these lapses? When the crunch moment comes, I’m off. Why am I off?’
“Those little doubts that creep into the individual and then it permeates through the group.
“(Nick) Vlastuin getting out-marked, just little setup things, playing on when you shouldn’t, they’re basic errors but they have cost them another loss.
“They should be another three wins on the season already.”
Richmond’s last four losses have come by a total of 15 points.
If those went the other way, they’d be top three. But that is not the case.
“They should be right in the mix, but they’re not,” Whateley added.
“They’re eighth and they’re vulnerable.”
Despite Whateley’s reluctance, King is keeping the faith.
“They are vulnerable, but I still think they’ll get there,” he said.
“They’re good enough to get there and there is going to be a team that finishes fifth, after a pretty good year, come up against Richmond.
“When the hammer drops on Round 23, every coach will say, ‘Righto, a new season starts’, and you forget everything in terms of the qualifying. There will be a team that finishes fifth that has to play Richmond, who are in great order, despite what the wins and losses sheet will say.”
Whateley replied: “I’m only a maybe on that now.
“They don’t keep losing these games without good cause. It’s fun to say ‘Richmondy’, but there’s a core issue here, quite clearly.
“They’ve been coughing up leads since the start of the season and they have blown winning positions. I don’t agree that it’s just a one or two-week issue. I think this has been part of their make-up and it rears its head from time to time.
“It has cost them, I could stretch as far as five (games). I don’t see that it is going to be ironed out and they’ll run the table in the last five weeks.”
King says there is still so much to like about the Tigers who have the second highest points scored (1631) this season.
He has identified what he believes is an issue, but is confident Hardwick and his troops will get it right when it matters most.
“I would rather have Richmond’s problem where the mechanics of your game are in order, and you have a patch where for some reason you drop your lot,” King concluded.
“I’ve no problem with that. That’s not something you need to train, to change mechanics, to put hours into. That’s a meeting, that’s a conversation, that’s setting standards from your leadership group, on field, in game, right through to training. ‘We can’t lapse at training anymore because this has crept into our game-day approach’.
“The biggest problem they’ve got is winning contest in their forward half. Since the bye, they’re 18th in the competition. That’s the problem that I see.
“They’ve got to start winning contest and if they can do that and even become mid-table there, we know their power, we know their ability to score.
“It’s just been overtaken by Geelong right now, but I still think their system is the most dangerous way of playing in the competition.
“I’ve got enormous faith in Richmond. I’m not spooked by the losses, because I still think their game is in great order.”
In an uncanny wrinkle, the Tigers lost to Gold Coast by two points by virtue of an after-the-siren Karmichael Hunt goal in 2012 before going down to the Kangaroos by four points the following week.
Fast forward to 2022, and the Noah Anderson goal for a two-point defeat was followed up by, yes you guessed it, a four-point loss to the Roos.
This Friday night it is the fourth-placed Fremantle, on the back of their own loss to Sydney, at the scene of last weekend’s unspeakable crime.
Another loss from a winning position would be the ultimate ‘Richmondy’ act.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2022/07/18/how-the-richmondy-tigers-can-recover-from-an-old-affliction/
