Tigers have point to prove on big stageCraig O'Donoghue Melbourne,
The West Australian
May 30, 2013Richmond defender Troy Chaplin says the Tigers are embracing the challenge of playing on Monday night in Perth and promises they will attack West Coast after playing conservatively against Essendon last Saturday night.
The 10th-placed Tigers were expected to be one of the big improvers this season, but have been unable to win against quality teams.
Their four losses have been against Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon and Fremantle, raising questions about how they handle big occasions.
Chaplin said the players addressed their lacklustre effort against the Bombers and were focused on playing with more confidence.
"If we're going to lose a game, you need to lose a game having a crack and trying to kick goals. We went into our shell a little bit," he said.
"It's Monday night football, the whole nation is going to be watching, so we're on the big stage again.
"What better opportunity than this week?"
Chaplin said Richmond were likely to consider adding taller players to the back line because of West Coast's goal-scoring power.
Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling kicked five goals each last week, Josh Hill and Mark LeCras contributed three each and Nic Naitanui booted two.
The Eagles took 25 marks inside 50m last week, moving them into top spot for that statistic this season.
They are also ranked second for contested marks.
Richmond are in the bottom six for marks conceded in their defensive 50m.
Chaplin said West Coast's forwards posed a big challenge.
"They'll just swing in and out of there all day," he said.
"Looking at them, if they can get a match-up, they'll try and clear out the forward 50.
"Looking at LeCras a couple of weeks ago, he got a match-up and pushed everyone up.
"If Kennedy got a match-up, he played deep. They're just so fit that they can rotate. They can play high for a period of time and then play deep. It depends on who they get."
Richmond have their bye after Monday's game but Chaplin said they would be in a strong position regardless of the result.
"Our mindset is in a really good place at the moment. We're still ahead of the ledger (at) 5-4," he said.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/-/afl/17386165/tigers-have-point-to-prove-on-big-stage/
