Richmond’s season finish has been called many things and could end in September victoryJon Ralph
Herald-Sun
August 22, 2014 A FREE roll of the dice. A Hail Mary pass.
Or at the very least a barnstorming end to a year that sets up a top-four tilt in 2015.
Richmond’s scintillating finish to the season has been called many things, but no one has paused to consider it could be their best chance to win finals since 2001.
So much still must go right for Richmond to enter September that it is still seen as a wild thrill ride.
But consider what happens if they can do the unthinkable — knock off Sydney and see other games tip their way?
How many times have Richmond hit September with a nine-match winning streak, with not a single injury to a best-22 player and perhaps a dozen players in career-best form?
Go back to the glorious premiership years for a perfect storm like that.
The Tigers won’t win the flag this year and might fall short of September.
But if they do make finals they should not start backslapping and consider it Mission Accomplished.
Instead Richmond should look at this as an opportunity to do what they haven’t done since 2001 — win a game of finals footy.
This club has won just two of seven finals since the 1982 Grand Final and would face a side like a tiring Port Adelaide in an elimination final.
A star might do a knee in Round 1 next year, or Gold Coast might morph into a contender, or Sydney might add another matchwinner to their glittering array of stars.
The point is this: seize the day, because at Richmond, you never know when it is coming again or whether you will turn up to play the next year.
Two wins and an Adelaide loss to North Melbourne would slingshot the Tigers into September but another scenario involving two archrivals is just as juicy.
Richmond’s percentage is 1.4 points below Essendon — 104.5 to the Dons’ 105.8 — which is about four goals on the points for column.
If the Tigers win twice — with a percentage booster against St Kilda — then Carlton enters Round 23 with a potential chance to tip its much-hated foe Essendon from September.
It wouldn’t have the satisfaction of historic elevation into the finals because of Essendon’s supplements scandal but it would be some way to put an exclamation mark on a season.
Sydney might seem invincible but Richmond was two goals up at half time in Round 14 before a one-goal second half. Before that the Tigers had won three of the previous five against Sydney.
Damien Hardwick won’t talk percentage boosters against St Kilda or finals permutations but he admits his son is getting carried away.
“My son BJ is doing the ladder predictor on a nightly basis so he’s got us finishing third,’’ he joked.
“We have just got to win footy games and at the end of the day, whatever happens happens.”
If Richmond can hit September they will have beaten Port Adelaide, West Coast, Essendon, Adelaide and Sydney in the space of seven weeks: white-hot form.
The winning streak is well established, but consider an injury list the envy of the competition.
Reigning Jack Dyer Medallist Dan Jackson is back and pushing for selection after groin issues, Reece Conca is available for selection, defender David Astbury will play VFL and Matt Thomas (knee) will be rested this week to ensure he takes on Sydney.
Ty Vickery comes back next week but if Ben Griffiths stands up against Sydney he will start winning back trust in the VFL.
A mass of players are in career-best form.
The list goes something like this: Brett Deledio, Brandon Ellis, Alex Rance, Ivan Maric, Nathan Foley, Dustin Martin, Ricky Petterd, Shane Edwards, Ben Griffiths.
Trent Cotchin has latterly emerged as a flint-hard leader, Jack Riewoldt (48 goals) is not kicking goals but is giving them off and bringing the ball to ground.
Late bloomer Nathan Gordon, nicknamed Red Dog given his 16km match-day GPS data, has emerged as key role player.
Champion Data shows massive gains from Rounds 15-21 for players like Cotchin (+19.7 Champion Data points), Deledio (20.
, Ellis (18.1), Maric (27.6), Shane Edwards (22.9) and Griffiths (22.4) to name a few.
Hardwick maintains the game plan hasn’t changed, but the players have executed it more effectively.
“Belief in football is an amazing factor. For us that’s the big one — the ability to trust your instinct,” he said this week.
“Normally our players play best when they play on feel.
“Nothing has changed from last year, we haven’t made a directive at all to play a more offensive brand of footy, they have just taken it upon themselves to play the way they want to play.”
There are too many false dawns at Richmond, too many ninth finishes that never turn into finals campaigns the following year.
The time for gnashing of teeth over the 3-10 start and the missed opportunities will come soon if the campaign founders in the next fortnight.
But if the cards fall their way Richmond could play a role they are unfamiliar with — 2014 finals smoky.
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