Richmond confident of matching CatsGuy Hand
AAP
April 20, 2012Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says the Tigers' pre-season AFL win over Geelong is irrelevant.
So is the fact the last time Geelong were beaten by North Melbourne and played the Tigers the next week, the Cats won by 157 points to start a dynasty.
Hardwick's reasoning is that Geelong have come a long way since the NAB Cup.
And results this season show Richmond are no longer the rabble they were reduced to in 2007 at Etihad Stadium in one of their worst-ever losses.
Hardwick has stopped short of declaring the Tigers can produce a breakthrough home-and-away victory against the defending premiers, though they won at the same venue by 59 points in the NAB Cup.
But he is confident they'll be competitive when they take on the Cats at Simonds Stadium on Sunday.
"Geelong are an outstanding side so we've certainly got our work cut out against formidable opposition," Hardwick said on Friday.
"Whether that (a breakthrough win against a top four side) is next week, the week after or whenever, we'll go into every week confident, and this week's no different.
"We've planned, we're prepared, the boys are training to a standard we always want to improve, but they're going about it the right way.
"We know we'll put in a solid performance. We've just got to make sure we put in greater consistency for a longer period of time."
Richmond actually sit above Geelong on the AFL ladder - albeit on percentage - with both sides having 1-2 win-loss records.
The Tigers' win over Melbourne last weekend perhaps reinforced Richmond are capable of beating poor sides, yet their losses against Carlton and Collingwood to open the season show how far they have to go to be at the pointy end.
Richmond trained at Geelong's home ground Simonds Stadium on Thursday, primarily to get the feel of a field which is undergoing redevelopment work and minus one grandstand.
Hardwick said it was a worthwhile exercise.
"We'd train at the MCG every week if we could. If you can train on the ground you're playing on, you'd do it all the time," Hardwick said.
"Without that grandstand down there, the wind can be quite tricky. We had a northerly down there. They're predicting there's going to be a northerly at the weekend."
The Cats will unfurl their 2011 premiership flag before Sunday's match.
Midfielder Shane Edwards has withdrawn from the Richmond squad due to calf soreness.
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