Cornes named a handful of reasons why the challenges for Damien Hardwick’s side could now be overwhelming.
“You couple that with significant injuries. This Prestia injury is going to be significant. How significant for their best player last year remains to be seen,” he added.
“Same with Nankervis and they’ve got some issues in the ruck regardless. Cotchin has done another hamstring, this is a pattern now for the captain.
“Players out of form, a couple of players not able to join the hub and we understand why. Not playing in front of crowds and away from the MCG.
“It just feels to me like the challenges are just building and they are now insurmountable for Richmond where I don’t think they can win the premiership this year.
“I can’t see them competing with the hungry teams. When it comes to the business end and you have to sacrifice everything you need to… And that’s not a criticism by any means. I understand that it’s tough to stay up for four years in a row. I just think there are going to be some teams go past them this year.
“It’s a massive challenge but maybe there’s that school of thought that, ‘Hang on, we’ll show you. We’ve done it before and we’ve still got some quality in there’. But for me, it’s more of a gut-feel just watching them that there’s not the hunger and there’s been warning signs from an effort level, a form level and the challenges that they’ve faced.
“They appear to be the team that’s been most affected by the uncertainty of this year.”
Source: SEN
