Bakes on SEN:Richmond's 2021 Dreamtime match will be one like no other, and Liam Baker is relishing the opportunity to play the significant game in his home state.
Speaking to SEN on Friday morning, the 23-year-old from Pingaring said he was "pretty excited" when he first heard the annual blockbuster against Essendon was being moved to Western Australia.
"All my immediate family are coming up, and aunties, uncles and cousins too...it’s exciting for them," the Tiger utility said.
"We might not ever get another Dreamtime game at Optus Stadium so we’re going to be living it up."
Baker joins fellow West Australian Tigers Shai Bolton, Marlion Pickett, Kamdyn McIntosh and Nathan Broad in Richmond's line-up for Saturday night's clash, which is set to be played in front of a full house of 60,000 spectators.
The Dreamtime game will be crucial for both sides, with the winner to take its place inside the competition’s top eight ahead of the mid-season bye.
"(Essendon’s) going really well, they had a great win last week," Baker said.
"It'll be a tough challenge but (on) mutual ground. Hopefully it’s a good game for the fans and for WA footy."
Baker was optimistic about how the Tigers were building towards the business end of the season, as they have done the previous few years.
"There’s been a lot of commentary about what we’ve done over the last few years...we’ll certainly have a crack at (the second half of the season)," Baker said.
"We believe we can, all we need to do is get on a good run over the last eight to 10 weeks of the season and hopefully it can turn our way again."
As a fellow West Australia rookie success story, Baker was thrilled with Richmond’s Mid-Season Draft selection, 25-year-old Matthew Parker from South Fremantle.
"Everyone’s seen his highlights reel, it’s one of the best ones going around, so hopefully we can get him out there for us taking a few hangers and kicking a few goals," Baker said.
"It’s good what our recruiters do, it doesn’t no matter how old (players) are or where they’ve been previously, they’re willing to pick them based on if they think they can play the game.
"It’s exciting for us, exciting for the club and I’m sure he’s wrapt."
https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/951752/dreamtime-game-a-huge-occasion-for-wa-says-baker
