The Barometer - Round 11Herald-Sun
May 26, 2014RICHMONDON THE BLOCK: The block is clear at Tigerland for the first time in a while. Daniel Jackson might struggle to come up for Saturday night’s Dreamtime game against Essendon but it’s hard to see anyone being dropped on form. If Damien Hardwick really wants to make a change Matt Dea, Ben Lennon and Matt McDonough were serviceable rather than spectacular against GWS, but none of them did much wrong. The one dilemma will be finding a spot for Ivan Maric if the big man is ready to rock — can the Tigers play Maric, Shaun Hampson, Ty Vickery and Ben Griffiths in the same side?
ON THE CUSP: Maric had 41 hit-outs, 19 disposals and two goals in the VFL to put up his hand for his first game this year. Anthony Miles (eight clearances) is the logical replacement for Jackson if required, while Ricky Petterd and Brett O’Hanlon continued their strong VFL form to remain on the fringe of senior selection.
AL PATON’S FORECAST: No microwaves, no chook poo — things are looking up at Punt Rd after a much-needed win. The opposition wasn’t much but the best part of Richmond’s demolition job on GWS (apart from Jack’s 11 goals) was under-fire players such as Bachar Houli, Troy Chaplin and Ty Vickery repaying the coach’s faith with their best games in weeks. They will be placed under a lot more pressure against the Bombers but if they can carry the confidence and slick ball movement from Saturday the Tigers have to be a chance given Essendon’s form issues. That would set up another mini-final against the Kangaroos the next week — Tiger fans might have to get used to hearing that phrase.
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