Brief lapses cost TigersBy Paul Daffey
afl.com.au
1:16 PM Thu 12 Apr, 2012RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick says his team is on the right track despite losses to Carlton and Collingwood in the opening two rounds.
But he adds that the Tigers are not going to underestimate round-three opponent Melbourne despite the Demons' shocking early-season form.
Richmond lost to Carlton (44 points) and Collingwood (21) after short lapses for which they were punished.
Carlton overran the Tigers, kicking the last six goals, and Collingwood won on the back of a withering eight-minute burst in the third quarter during which it kicked five goals.
"We've played 25 minutes of bad footy over the course of the first two rounds and it's cost us dearly in both games," Hardwick said. "We've been in positions in both games where we could have grabbed our chances.
"Overall we're just not taking our chances. But we're improving as a footy club. Both sides belted us last year - by close to 70 and 100 points — so we're bridging the gap.
"We've just got to keep persevering for a four-quarter effort."
Collingwood last year defeated Richmond by 71 points in round four and Carlton won by 103 points in round 15.
Hardwick said Melbourne had played well in the first halves against the Brisbane Lions and West Coast, "then things went amiss."
The Demons ended up losing by 41 points and 108 points respectively.
"They've been a bit unlucky," Hardwick said. "They've got some areas they want to improve in, as have we, but we understand it's going to be a tough game.
"They're going better than their figures suggest."
In reviewing the Carlton and Collingwood performances, Hardwick said it was a fact of footy that matches ebbed and flowed. One team dominates for a period and then the opposition rallies.
"The funny thing about it is if you lose everyone thinks you're not playing to a certain standard.
"The reality is that the other (winning) side doesn't play the way it wants to play for certain stages, but they can sustain the way they want to play it for longer periods."
A case in point was Geelong's two-point victory over Hawthorn on Monday.
"That was an extreme example of a game of ebbs and flows. It's just a matter of the club that's got more experience and bigger bodies, which came out in favour of Geelong."
Since Hardwick took over as Richmond coach before the 2010 season, the Tigers and Melbourne have been compared as young teams coming through.
The prospect of seeing two young, exciting teams attracted 61,900 to their round-14 match at the MCG last season. Melbourne won by 27 points, but only after an out-of-their-skins tackling performance.
The Demons laid 34 tackles inside 50, way above their season average of 12.
Hardwick said the Tigers were sick of the comparisons.
"That's old news: the Melbourne list versus the Richmond list. That's been done to death, as far as we're concerned."
Melbourne recruit Mitch Clark impressed the Tigers' coaching staff by kicking five goals during the loss to West Coast.
Hardwick said Alex Rance or Dylan Grimes would get the job on Clark.
Rance last week had a career-high 34 disposals, while Grimes had 20 disposals, a high figure considering he was solely negating backman before this season.
http://www.afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/208/newsId/132878/Default.aspx
