Tigers glimpse future, hit by reality Michael Horan
From: Herald Sun
April 16, 2011 RICHMOND gave a glimpse of a bright future last night but also learnt a sober lesson from the best side in the league in its 71-point thrashing by Collingwood at the MCG.
The Tigers came from 50 points down at halftime to reel off a six goals-to-two third term before the premier flexed its muscles and reminded the Tigers of the gap between a top side and battler.
"There's no doubt they're where we aspire to be," Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said of the Magpies.
"They're a bloody good side."
That said, the young Tigers stunned the Pies after the long interval when they kicked five unanswered goals and became the first team this year to post more contested possessions in a quarter than Collingwood.
But younger bodies and a comparative lack of experience resulted in a thorough hiding.
"We've just got to persevere with the talent we've got to take us forward, keep adding to that talent along the way and get our game style up and going. We saw patches of that tonight," Hardwick said.
"We played the reigning premier, we learnt a little about ourselves but also we learnt the level we have to play for four quarters to be a good side.
"We showed that when we play good footy we win the ball and get it going our way, we're quite capable of matching the top sides."
The Tigers have only two points from the opening four games against opponents (Carlton, St Kilda, Hawthorn and Collingwood) who were all finalists last season.
"We've played four really good opponents thus far - a draw from hell, to be perfectly honest ... we played four of the sides the will probably make up the top six this year.
"They (Collingwood) are probably three or four years ahead of us," Hardwick said. "They started their process around 2005, six years ago. We started ours last year, so I understand we've got a fair way to go."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-glimpse-future-hit-by-reality/story-e6frf9jf-1226040008500
