Young Richmond Tigers will have 'no fear' against Adelaide Crows in grand finalJon Pierik
The Age
29 September 2017Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says his young side will have no fear when the Tigers attempt to break a 37-year premiership drought against the Adelaide Crows on Saturday.
The Tigers had a light run before about 5000 supporters at Punt Road Oval on Friday morning, and appear to have struck the right balance this week between enjoying the moment but also remaining focused on the task at hand.
Hardwick was quick to insist after the preliminary final against Greater Western Sydney that his men would be the "underdogs", and that's been reinforced on betting markets.
The Tigers have injected youth into their list in recent seasons but fresh faces such as Daniel Rioli, Dan Butler, Nick Vlastuin and Jason Castagna have proven themselves in big games.
Hardwick, who enjoyed premierships as a player with Essendon and Port Adelaide and as an assistant coach with Hawthorn, has backed his young side to complete a fairytale campaign.
"It's exciting. The one thing about youth is that they embrace whatever you throw at them. It's like a young child learning to ride a bike. They fall over, they get back up and they go again," he said on Friday.
"If you have been around for a long period of time, fear becomes a factor. Young kids don't have that. They just keep going. Those sort of players we have brought in have half-inspired Trent and myself to play the way we are. We believe they will stand up on the big stage."
Veterans Trent Cotchin, Alex Rance, Jack Riewoldt and Shane Edwards will help offset this inexperience.
Neither side boasts a player that has previously appeared on the final Saturday of September.
"You start to come up to the game, you feel a little bit nervous, I go and look at my team board, I immediately feel at ease," Hardwick said.
"They play a great brand of footy. We have to bring our best. We are playing the best side in the competition but if we play our best, we give ourselves a chance."
The Tigers will have more support at the MCG than the Crows, although the Tiger Army is unlikely to be as raucous as it was last weekend because of the high distribution of tickets to the corporate sector, many of whom are likely to be neutral supporters.
It's exciting. The one thing about youth is that they embrace whatever you throw at them. It's like a young child learning to ride a bike. They fall over, they get back up and they go again.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick on his team
"Our guys are just loving the environment ... the players are ready to go," Hardwick said.
The Tigers' surge has been built on defensive pressure, ranking No.1 for pressure applied in general play, according to Champion Data.
They have conceded an average of only 64 points in the past two months, and only twice this year have allowed an opponent to reach three figures – one being against the Crows (140) in their round-six defeat.
They will again look to Rioli, the match-winner against the Giants, Castagna and Butler to provide manic pressure and tackling, ensuring the ball is locked inside attacking 50.
The Tigers have averaged 100.4 points per game since round 17, meaning they have closed the gap with the Crows, who have led the league for points scored (110 points per game).
The reliance on Riewoldt for goals has dipped markedly. He has only two goals through the finals series but the Tigers may need more on Saturday if they are to prevail.
"I think they [Crows] are the best in the business going from defence to offence. The way they move that quickly, the moving parts are interchangeable in theory," Hardwick said.
"That's one of the areas we have concern over and will monitor and try and manage the best we can. They are going to get goals out the back at various stages. They are a great offensive side. Our challenge is to negate that the best we can. We are capable of scoring as well."
Hardwick said the Tigers had changed considerably from their 12-goal loss to the Crows in Adelaide in round six, describing their development since as "chalk and cheese".
"We probably took a little step back after that game trying to rectify a few things in our game that we felt weren't quite to the level," he said.
"They took 25 contested marks in that game which is an extraordinary amount. Contested ball as a result of that was quite high. We had to work on a number of areas to try and nullify those results. Ball movement wise, we probably went long down the line on that week, and that has been rectified as well."
the Tigers have men prepared to run and carry in Kane Lambert, Brandon Ellis, Bachar Houli and Shaun Grigg, who have averaged at least 13.6 kilometres per game.
They have retained an unchanged side, with Hardwick admitting there had been some hard-luck stories.
"We have probably gone in unchanged for the last three weeks. Our guys have been some good, consistent football. It really is a sum of our parts with our side and you will probably find most good sides are similar in nature," he said.
"We have been very fortunate that a lot of our players in our development squad [VFL] have been playing incredible football as well. They, obviously, nearly won the flag in that league. A lot of our players put up their hand to play. They will be disappointed but they are fully behind the 22 who will represent the club."
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