Can Tigers remove the asterisk in their 2017 record?Glen Quartermain,
PerthNow
28 April 2017NO player better personifies the spirit of Tigerland than Jack Riewoldt.
Like Matthew Richardson before him, Riewoldt is the AFL equivalent of a Shakespearean tragedy: a fascinating symmetry of football poetry and verse, gaiety and pathos.
On Monday night in Melbourne, Riewoldt stamped his imprimatur on the Anzac Eve clash with Melbourne at the MCG: 10 kicks, two handballs, three marks, six goals. He willed the Tigers over the line and his animation at the final siren was palpable through the telly.
After the game, Riewoldt described the “yellooooow and black” chant from the stands as deafening, dwarfed only by the noise from the Carlton-Richmond 2013 elimination final.
It was hard not to be pulled in by the fervour from Richmond fans, who go OK on the passion scale.
The Tigers’ attack on the Sherrin in that last quarter was like a feeding frenzy off Cape Cuvier. Put your hand in and there was every chance it would not be there at the end of the passage of play.
The victory gave the Tigers a 5-0 record as one of only three undefeated teams alongside Adelaide and Geelong.
Now they have a chance to remove the asterisk against their name as their victims so far this year have been Carlton, Collingwood, West Coast at the MCG, Brisbane at the Gabba and a Melbourne side that was three down in the final term.
The audit comes on Sunday in the form of a table-topping, offensively brutal and defensively underrated Adelaide at their home fortress.
Win that and there will be a new generation of true believers – and not just from Richmond quarters.
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