Tigers out to cause more pain Rohan Connolly
The Age
August 29, 2013It's fair to say the whole football world is pretty dirty on Essendon right now, but perhaps Richmond more than most, for a couple of good reasons.
First, there's those perennial gags about ''Ninthmond''.
The Tigers have managed to put them to rest this year with 14 wins but, perversely, because of the Bombers' expulsion from the finals, for the only time in football history, ninth would have been good enough.
But on a broader scale, the Essendon scandal has also deprived of oxygen one of the genuine ''feel good'' stories of 2013, namely Richmond's return to finals action after an absence of 12 years, just its third finals campaign since 1982.
That's of far less concern to the Tigers' players than their fans, keen as they are to deliver another blow to Essendon's pride on Saturday night at the MCG.
But Damien Hardwick's side will be pondering just what sort of Bomber line-up it will be confronting. One determined to make a sizeable statement? Or one with the last ounce of emotional energy drained after having been denied a finals spot its victories this year entitled it to?
Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin, understandably, is leaning towards the former view. ''I think what we've seen this year is the more and more they've been in the media the better they've performed and the pressure's been on,'' Cotchin told the AFL website on Wednesday. ''We have no doubt that they're going to come out firing and we need to make sure that we're on our game and play four quarters of consistent footy that's going to help us build into playing our best footy in finals.''
The other unknown for the Tigers is just who they'll be taking on in an elimination final, another issue to which Essendon is central.
Had Essendon been playing finals, a win on Saturday would have locked in a home-state final against Port Adelaide, which Richmond beat by 41 points in Adelaide earlier this season.
As it stands now, the Tigers, should they win, would be almost certain to play either Carlton or North Melbourne, the Roos having dealt Richmond its biggest belting of the season, and the Blues having beaten them only a fortnight ago.
Defeat and a Collingwood victory would still ensure that final against the Power, but that's not the sort of game any finals side should be playing, let alone one as inexperienced in September as this Richmond outfit, only five of its list having played finals previously.
''I don't think it matters [who Richmond plays],'' Cotchin said. ''We're very excited about the opportunity to play in our first finals series in a number of years, and the guys are just really setting themselves for playing some really good footy.''
Arguably the keenest will be former skipper Chris Newman, who now holds the unwanted record of most AFL games (232) without a finals appearance.
The 31-year-old is a 50-50 chance to play against Essendon after missing the past two games with a slight ankle injury. Also in that bracket this week are Luke McGuane, with a knee injury, and David Astbury, who has a quad strain.
But beyond that trio, Richmond's list is healthy and, after a 121-point belting of Greater Western Sydney last week, not short on confidence or depth, the likes of Shane Tuck, Robin Nahas and Sam Lonergan in reserve if needs be.
The Tigers have a 3-5 record this season against other sides in the top eight, having beaten Hawthorn, Fremantle and Port Adelaide. One of the five games in the ''loss'' column was the Dreamtime game in round nine, which the Bombers won by 29 points.
But Richmond has won nine of 12 games since then. Indeed, one more victory will give the Tigers as many wins as they enjoyed in that last finals year in 2001.
And given that they'll be playing the following week, Saturday might at least be one evening when the side with the yellow sash is commanding as much attention as the team with the red one.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-out-to-cause-more-pain-20130828-2sqx5.html
