Tigers are tough to assess, says Brad Scott Alana Schetzer
The Age
June 6, 2014 Richmond has pledged to come out firing in its match against a resurgent North Melbourne on Saturday night, adding seven players to its squad as it attempts to find consistent winning form.
The Tigers were forced to leave out four players due to injury, with Dylan Grimes (toe), Shaun Grigg (hamstring), Daniel Jackson (hip) and Reece Conca (groin) all non-starters. Into the squad comes Jake Batchelor, Brad Helbig, Brett O'Hanlon, Anthony Miles, Nick Vlastuin, Ricky Petterd and Ty Vickery.
Coach Damien Hardwick said focusing on a strong workrate around contested possessions and tackles would be a key to avoiding a repeat of its heavy loss against Essendon last weekend.
''Talk is cheap; we have to make sure we deliver on the field and that's something we haven't done for the majority of the season,'' he said.
''We've just got to make sure we get the game on terms rather than letting them dictate play. If you let the Kangaroos dictate play, you're going to get hurt on the scoreboard.
''The great thing about our game is that we get another chance to prove to ourselves that we're better than what we were last week.''
North Melbourne enjoyed a strong performance against West Coast last week and coach Brad Scott said it was difficult to assess the Tigers' threat, saying they've proven to be a capable team.
''Even in games they haven't won, they play some pretty attractive and devastating footy at times,'' he said. ''We're really conscience of the fact that at their best they can move the footy really quickly and can be quite damaging. We expect them to come out breathing fire.''
Hardwick was adamant it was essential his team got their ''potency up forward firing and going in the right direction'' from the opening bounce.
''[The Roos] attack really hard back-half but they play an exciting brand of footy … we'll be defensively trying to impact the scoreboard ourselves,'' he said.
Scott said his team could not afford to underestimate Richmond and that a second consecutive win was crucial if the club was to become a good team.
''I think that the pressure's on us to become a good team and good teams are consistent and do it regardless of circumstance. We haven't been able to do that yet,'' he said.
The Kangaroos have won their past two games against Richmond. In their last clash - in round 15 last year - the Roos won by 62 points.
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