Post-May syndrome strikes again
Paul Gough
Sportal/exclusive to afl.com.au
14 June, 2004
Richmond fans could have been excused for feeling a case of déjà vu as they watched their club's season all but end, against Fremantle at the MCG on Sunday.
It was not just the fact they watched as the Tigers lost a game they should have won - after leading by 39 points late in the second quarter - that would have the "Tiger Army" thinking "here we go again."
But it was the timing of this latest setback that continues an alarming trend for Richmond under coach Danny Frawley.
A win against the Dockers would have stopped what is fast becoming known as the "post May curse" at Punt Road.
After three successive wins in rounds six, seven and eight this season, the Tigers were back on track with four wins and four losses and well in contention for a finals berth.
But since then, including Sunday's heart-breaking 10-point loss to the Dockers, the Tigers have now lost four in a row and at 4-8 and with the worst percentage in the AFL they are stuck in 14th place and look set to miss the finals again - as they have done every year since 1982 with the exceptions of 1995 and 2001.
And their slide since round eight this season mirrors exactly what they have done in each of the past two years under the embattled Frawley, whose contract runs out at the end of this season.
In 2002, the Tigers were also four wins and four losses after eight rounds and as winter began seemingly in contention for a finals berth.
They then proceeded to lose the next nine games in succession to eventually finish in 14th place.
Last year after round eight they were even better placed, having just beaten Melbourne to be sitting third with six wins and two losses.
They then lost their next eight games in a row and managed only one more win for the season to finish in 13th place.
And this year, well, it's already four losses in a row since round eight and with a revitalised Carlton plus Brisbane, Essendon and St Kilda to come in the next month - is it any wonder Richmond fans are already beginning to believe their team's season will fade into oblivion during the winter months, just as it has in the past two years?
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