Tigers face up to Cairns AFL hoodooGreg Buckle, AAP July 9, 2013, 6:09 pmRichmond captain Trent Cotchin wants his men to proceed with caution in Saturday's AFL clash with Gold Coast, instead of bombing away like they did against North Melbourne.
The Tigers were being talked about as top-four contenders going into last week's clash, but Richmond's pride took a hit with a 62-point loss to the 10th-placed Kangaroos.
Sixth-placed Richmond have suffered embarrassing losses in home games in Cairns against the Suns in the past two years and face another challenge on Saturday with the game's best player Gary Ablett set to return to the Gold Coast side.
"We've just got to be smarter with the way we go inside 50," Cotchin told a media conference on Tuesday.
"We kicked it to their spare quite a bit.
"You can't allow a player, probably (Lachie) Hansen was the one who had the most impact, to drop off like that and take so many uncontested marks.
"There'll be a few little changes to the way we've been playing, especially last week with our bombing inside-50.
"We'll be okay."
Cotchin says the Tigers are determined to learn from their mistakes up north. Richmond's three-year deal to play Gold Coast in Cairns expires this weekend and, so far, the Tigers have a 0-2 record.
"We've let ourselves down in the past couple of years but we're a different team. Aside from last week, we've really come a long way," Cotchin said of the Tigers, who are on track for their first finals appearance since 2001.
"The conditions up in Cairns are a little bit different to down in Melbourne. We've prepared for that.
"We've had two years of it now and we know what to expect."
Cotchin was among his side's better players last week but the 2012 All-Australian's numbers are down this season, averaging 25.38 possessions per game compared to 27.55 last year.
The Brownlow runner-up is also hoping to have a greater impact on the scoreboard after booting only three goals in 13 matches.
The 23-year-old said he'd been hanging around half-forward less and spending more time in defence in 2013.
Richmond face tough battles against top-five sides Fremantle, Sydney and Hawthorn after their clash with 13th-placed Gold Coast.
"We've got to make sure this week is a building block to playing the most consistent and quality footy that we have all season," Cotchin said.
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