Tigers out to roar in run homeMatt Murnane
August 5, 2011RICHMOND has vowed to ''make a statement'' in the final five weeks of the season to prove to its supporters the club is not going backwards.
While pointing out that improvement should not be judged solely on its win-loss record, Tigers coach Damien Hardwick yesterday admitted the club needed as many wins as possible to improve the outlook for players and fans heading into 2012.
Richmond is two points better off than it was at this time last year, having posted five wins and a draw from 17 games, compared with five wins in 2010.
The Tigers finished with six wins last year, setting Hardwick's men a challenge during the next five matches to go past that mark, starting with Sunday's match against West Coast at Patersons Stadium.
''I think we'll make a statement over the next five weeks,'' he said.
''[Winning] is important just for the mindset of our playing group. To their credit, they have been really upbeat and we know that in certain areas of our game we are improving.
''There's certainly a number of areas we still have to improve on. But the one thing we're still looking for is a number of wins to get us going for next year.''
The Tigers, coming off the bye, take a five-game losing streak into the run home, which features games against West Coast (fifth), Sydney (sixth), Melbourne (11th), Adelaide (14th) and North Melbourne (10th).
Hardwick declared all five were winnable, but even victories against two or three of the bottom-eight sides would get the Tigers out of 13th and moving in the right direction.
But the sticking point for many Tigers supporters is the nature of the improvement.
Richmond did not win a game in the first nine rounds last year but went on to win six of its last 13 matches.
The club carried that momentum into the first nine rounds this year, banking four wins and a draw, but has since stalled dramatically, winning just one match in the past 10.
Of Richmond's 5½ wins this year, only one has come against a top-eight team - Fremantle - while the draw came against seventh-placed St Kilda.
The Tigers are one of only three teams to lose to 16th-placed Gold Coast and one of only two to lose to bottom-placed Port Adelaide.
A dreadful run with injuries has been one reason for the form slump, a point highlighted last night when the Tigers had just 26 fit players to choose from. The injury crisis will allow 19-year-old Matt Dea to play his first senior game this season after a broken foot limited his 2010 contribution to just three matches.
Four other players, forward Brad Miller and midfielders Shaun Grigg, Mitch Farmer and Jeromey Webberley, were added to an extended interchange.
The Eagles, meanwhile, have recalled star midfielder Daniel Kerr and ruckman Nic Naitanui from injury.
Hardwick was adamant Richmond had improved this year, pointing to the number of young players that had come on this year. ''The one thing about our list is that it's dramatically younger than this time last year,'' he said.
''We've got a number of players that we feel have improved. [Dylan] Grimes has shown us he can play, [Alex] Rance has obviously been an improver and Ty Vickery has stood up.''
Hardwick would not expand on the areas he felt the Tigers' game plan had improved, but statistics show his team is winning more of the ball this year, has also lifted its skill and forward-50 efficiency, and is scoring more heavily.
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