Tigers aren't out of AFL premiership contention, but they're making the task hard for themselvesBy Alister Nicholson
ABC
28 June 2021On Friday night we watched on patiently and expectantly, thinking surely something would happen. But it never did.
Richmond's uncharacteristic performance against St Kilda at the MCG left you questioning conventional football wisdom. The Tigers simply didn't look like the Tigers. As their coach Damien Hardwick put it, they didn't fire a shot.
Despite St Kilda establishing control midway through the opening quarter, previous experience pointed to an inevitable clawback from the Tigers. At some stage, the dominant team of the past few years would flick the switch and produce a run of goals that would first test the opposition's nerve and then ultimately overwhelm it.
Hardwick delivered an impassioned fire-up address at three-quarter time but even that failed to spark his side. There was no Richmond rally, no response, and, confounding matters further, there was an alarming lack of spirit.
I commentated Richmond's round-three loss to Sydney — a shock to the system, but one easily attributed to a short preseason and early lack of cohesion. After a 34-point loss to surging Melbourne in round six and a 63-point thrashing from Geelong in round eight, there was still a feeling of calm around the Tigers and their prospects.
They had rightly established a level of trust through a period of sustained excellence.
On Friday night as we watched and waited for the moment that never came and the siren sounded to end the humiliation, for the first time this season you could not help but wonder whether a mighty empire was crumbling.
Some will say I'm late to the party on this, others will suggest I'm having a Mark Twain moment and the two-time reigning champions are far from dead and buried. There's legitimacy to both opinions, as Richmond's position is clouded, almost incomprehensible.
In 1999, the big screen at the MCG famously caught fire during a Friday night clash also involving the Tigers. You'd have understood if history repeated as the scoreboard — like the Tigers faithful — tried to compute the club's 2.10 (22) performance against the Saints, a 60-year low score.
The abundance of skill errors and lack of usual swarm and pressure was startling.
On ABC Sport's AFL coverage, three-time premiership coach and Richmond premiership player Mick Malthouse spoke of the difficulty champion sides have in maintaining their desire.
The drop off in intensity may only be minor, but the ramifications are significant.
"The 50-50 balls are no longer 50-50 because they're now 51-49 and you're no longer getting it and my teammates aren't getting it and that little flip hand pass is no longer hitting the target," Malthouse said.
Malthouse still refuses to concede that Richmond cannot win the premiership again, despite its difficult position in eighth spot with seven wins and seven losses.
"No-one has stepped up and said categorically 'We can't be beaten,'" he said.
But the man who coached more AFL/VFL matches than anyone else believes the weight of relentless opposition pressure can be overbearing.
"Richmond have won three of four, so you hunt them," Malthouse said.
"Every time they go on the field, everyone goes, 'We are playing Richmond, how can we beat Richmond, how can we stop Dusty [Dustin Martin], how can we stop [Jack] Riewoldt kicking his 700th?'"
Top four out of reach for TigersIt would take a major implosion for the Tigers to miss the finals, with only two of their remaining eight home-and-away matches against teams in the top eight — Brisbane and Geelong at the MCG in rounds 18 and 19 respectively.
The top four, though, is now out of reach, meaning Richmond faces a far tougher path, without the benefit of home finals and the all-important double chance.
The Tigers have proven they can overcome poor starts during their superb run of three flags in four years.
But in all of those premiership-winning seasons, they still finished third on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away rounds.
Adding to the club's woes is the continual loss of key personnel to injury. Nick Vlastuin, Tom Lynch, Dion Prestia, Shane Edwards, Kane Lambert and Toby Nankervis are all important premiership players who have been sidelined this season.
The defence, in particular, has been decimated, with Noah Balta and Nathan Broad joining David Astbury on the sidelines after both suffered leg injuries during Friday night's defeat.
Injury, like the slow starts, is not a new challenge. But this year it seems to be taking a greater toll.
Hardwick referenced this after the match when he pointed to a lack of continuity.
"The significance of some of the injuries we have had have been more catastrophic," he said.
"Just the nature of the players, we just can't seem to get that connection coming into the side — we get players back, we lose players going out.
"Every side goes through its stages, some get hit harder than others. Unfortunately, it's our turn."
It may be the Tigers' turn for a run of poorly-timed injuries, but is the balance of power shifting? Is it someone else's turn to stand atop the premiership dais?
Like the old scoreboard at the MCG, these are burning football questions.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-28/afl-richmond-tigers-struggling-in-premiership-defence/100248220
