Rucci’s Rip: Richmond show quickly how hard-earned credibility can be lostMichelangelo Rucci
Adelaide Advertiser
April 07, 2014 RICHMOND. No AFL team captures the theme of how credibility is hard earned and quickly lost better than the enigmatic Tigers.
Richmond can on one hand say it is the last club to beat AFL premier Hawthorn that is now on a 10-game winning streak (two short of the Hawks’ club record) and has emerged from Round 3 as the league’s imposing pacesetter. And then that credible note means little after the Tigers lose to the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.
How bizarre is this group of Tigers which - for the first time in two decades - has appeared perfectly nurtured by the club’s determined vision to have coach, chief executive and president on the same page singing the same hymn? On-field, Richmond has remained off key.
Damien Hardwick is one of the most pragmatic coaches in the AFL. His description of Richmond’s second-quarter disappearing act as being just “short of shocking” and a scene that should never have unfolded is not a one-off syndrome at Tigerland. Even last season when Hardwick delivered Richmond to the promised land of AFL finals - for a very short tour - the Tigers could contrast supposedly defining wins against eventual grand finalists Hawthorn and Fremantle with embarrassing collapses to Carlton, including in the elimination finals.
There always seems to be an annoying splinter in the Tigers’ paw. There has been for some time considering Richmond has not won a premiership since 1982 [ed. sic], has played in just three final series to end that drought (1995, 2001 and last year) and has not qualified for consecutive final series since 1975.
“We have only ourselves to blame,” Hardwick says of the self-described “hole” the Tigers are in with their 1-2 start to a season that will be unforgiving to inconsistent teams. If blame must come from being left vulnerable in ruck while former Crows ruckman Ivan Maric recuperates from an ankle injury, then Hardwick has a point.
“We take stock, re-adjust and get our season going again,” adds Hardwick. All easier said than done considering the AFL does not have a June trade window for the Tigers to plug holes that have emerged in his line-up - a problem Hardwick today shares with Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson who has no win after three games.
Round 3 delivered a paradox. Yes, the AFL has engineered an ultra-competitive competition behind standout team Hawthorn. But the talent drain from recent AFL drafts and wildcard recruiting rules to allow expansion on the Gold Coast and in western Sydney has made it difficult for established clubs to guard against critical holes emerging in their squads. At Adelaide, the Kurt Tippett draft sanctions - including the ones the Crows imposed on themselves in 2012 - are now evident.
“It is a challenge; it is a brutal industry,” Hardwick says. “The season is going to be as close as we have seen for a long period of time. You have to be playing at your best all the time. You can’t be off 10 per cent or a team will get a jump.”
Those clubs that restocked before expansion - in particular Hawthorn with its target recruiting and Port Adelaide that found a gem such as Chad Wingard in the compromised drafts of recent seasons - will do better than Richmond in avoiding having its collection of premiership players get old wondering if their exclusive club will ever induct new members.
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