Saints are a test for Tigers
By Len Johnson
The Age
July 13, 2005
St Kilda provided a harsh reality check for Richmond when it thrashed the Tigers by 68 points in round five, and Terry Wallace reckons Saturday's return match at the MCG will be a measure of whether his side has improved.
Wallace said the Tigers learned "valuable lessons" from the loss, and applied some of them as they won the next four games. Now, the question is whether they can apply them against St Kilda on Saturday.
"They were just far more ready for a pressure-based game at that stage than what we were," Wallace said at his weekly news conference yesterday.
"This time round got a lot more games under our belt, gained a bit of confidence. Hopefully on the MCG, where we believe we play our best football, we can put up a better showing."
The first meeting between the clubs was at Docklands. St Kilda does not have anywhere near as good a record at the MCG in recent times. "The MCG is our home and we look forward to playing there as often as we can. It is our last home game there this year which, this far out, is probably a bit unusual,"" Wallace said.
Of the round-five encounter, Wallace said St Kilda "out-muscled us, outplayed us and blew us out of the water early". The Saints kicked eight goals to three in the first quarter, five to two in the second, five to three in the third and four to three in the last term.
It was one of two heavy losses to credentialled sides (the other to Geelong in round one) that caused many to wonder how real was Richmond's improvement under Wallace. Four more consecutive losses going into the mid-season break added to the queries, but the Tigers have beaten Sydney and Essendon since to stabilise their season.
Wallace pointed out that the four losses - to Melbourne, West Coast, the Kangaroos and Adelaide - were to sides that, on form at the time, were close to the best four in the competition.
Wallace talked up the challenge facing Richmond before some of the earlier big games, but is adopting a more softly-softly approach this time.
The coach said he had talked of last weekend's match against Essendon as a "crunch game" precisely because winning it would set up the Tigers for a series of games that would determine whether they ultimately reached the top eight.
"Why did I do that earlier in the season," asked Wallace, "because I wanted to see what the group had to offer. We set the bar very high, very early, just to raise the expectation of the group."
Now it was up to the players to recognise they faced a challenge.
"I think now that we've come through that and we're at the next stage," said Wallace.
Richmond has lost Andrew Kellaway with a broken jaw - the Tigers' latest victim of a broken bone - and Wallace said he was "not confident at all" that skipper Kane Johnson would return from a jarred knee.
"He's confident. He's making all the right noises," Wallace said. "Most of his running has been in a straight line. He needs to show us he can do normal match running."
On the plus side, key forward Matthew Richardson has responded to a virtual three weeks' rest either side of the mid-season break and his knee is as good as it has been all season, said Wallace.
Jay Schulz and Shane Morrison were in line to replace Kellaway, said Wallace. Either would fit in without a major change to the team structure. Nathan Foley, who had over 40 possessions in the VFL last week, was another who could come under consideration.
Richmond will have its main training session at Arden Street this morning [11am].
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/07/12/1120934240737.html
