DID DIMMA CURSE THE TIGERS?The Curse of the Bambino. The Madden Cover Curse.
Can we add The Dimma Dome Curse to those ranks?
Almost two years ago Richmond was not happy with playing a home game at Marvel Stadium instead of the MCG, forced to travel the... *checks map*... three kilometres to the other side of Melbourne’s CBD.
Tigers CEO Brendon Gale said the move made “no sense” while, after the game - which drew 18,798 fans to the domed venue - Hardwick went even further.
“Mate, I hate coming here. I probably shouldn’t say that. The MCG has got soul, it’s got Richmond people there. Our people don’t come here. Plain and simple,” Hardwick said.
“I’d love them to come, but the fact of the matter is I can’t drive them all here.”
By “I probably shouldn’t say that” he meant in terms of the optics and the AFL getting upset with him. But maybe he was right - because maybe he created a curse.
Richmond is winless at Marvel Stadium since those comments, losing five games with a draw (against Fremantle - the Noah Cumberland play-on on the siren game).
And they weren’t exactly losses you would’ve expected either. The Tigers lost to Gold Coast and GWS there in 2021; to St Kilda and North Melbourne there in 2022; and now to Gold Coast again in 2023.
Perhaps this is just about mentality. Hardwick said the Tigers hate going to Marvel, and so they’ve started playing terribly there because the players are conscious of it?
It’s not as if they had a bad record there before the comments; they had won eight of their previous 11 matches at the venue. This is a genuine form drop-off.
The good news for Hardwick is the Tigers play their next four games, and eight of their next 12, at the MCG.
The bad news is they’ve got two Marvel games in a row, against the Bulldogs and Saints, in the final month of the season when they may be playing for a finals spot - if the Tigers can recover and get back in the race, that is.
Whether they’re cursed or not, with one win from the opening seven rounds, the Tigers have plenty of problems.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2023-round-7-talking-points-analysis-reaction-results-wrap-highlights-20th-team-after-tasmania-expansion-richmond-marvel-stadium-curse-tom-de-koning-free-agent/news-story/fd0d59263e41a6e9f565ed5de63fff86