President Gary March calls for Richmond Tigers to step up
Jay Clark | April 12, 2009
RICHMOND president Gary March says the Tigers must improve their abysmal recent record against top-eight teams to have any hope of playing finals.
The Tigers boss said the club could not settle for wins against the bottom teams only ahead of a test of its finals credibility against Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
Richmond has been the whipping boy of quality opposition in recent seasons, winning only four of its past 36 assignments (including a draw) against top-eight teams.
That excludes the two losses to start this season against September-bound Carlton and Geelong, which have intensified the pressure.
But March said the only way Richmond could make that step up was by toppling teams above it.
"We always knew the importance of Round 1 because Carlton and Richmond were the two sides most people expected to challenge for a top-eight position," March said.
"But we didn't handle that and last week against Geelong we knew it would be tough because they are the benchmark of the competition but we had to be very, very competitive.
"The same with the Bulldogs this week, but at the end of the day, if we want to play finals we are going to have to start beating these teams in the top eight.
"You have to play them at some stage, and whether it is early in the season or later on, our focus is on beating those sides."
March said he saw improvement in the Tigers' 20-point loss to the Cats last weekend, although he took little solace.
The defeat has left the club 0-2, needing to bring a finals-like intensity to the Dogs clash tomorrow, with its poor record against top-eight teams coming firmly under question.
History will be against the Tigers making finals if they slump to a third-straight loss, as only five teams since 1994 have recovered from an 0-3 start to play finals.
None have made it from 0-4.
But March said the club would not panic in the event of a loss to the Bulldogs.
"History has shown over a number of years that teams who have made a poor start can still make the eight," he said.
"If you keep losing games, obviously it becomes a lot harder."
Vice-captain Nathan Foley denied there was extra pressure on the players to perform, despite the mounting pressure.
"It's an important game, but to say there's any extra significance - I don't think so," Foley said.
"It's just important to come in with the same attitude each week and play some good, solid football."
MARK Coughlan's return to senior football has been put back at least a week, with the Tigers leaving him out of the team to play the Western Bulldogs.
Richard Tambling has come in for Robin Nahas while the Bulldogs have an unchanged team.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25321361-19742,00.html
