Beaten the best? Now beat the rest, Richmond Matt Murnane
The Age
July 3, 2015Richmond win games they should lose and lose games they should win. Fairly or unfairly, that is the outside perception of those inside Punt Road.
It seems that even when the Tigers earn the respect of the football world it comes - at least from some - with a rider.
The rider right now is this: yes, Richmond can get themselves up for massive challenges against premiership contenders like Fremantle and Sydney, but they can just as easily slip up like they did against Melbourne in round four.
Too harsh? Tigers coach Damien Hardwick thinks so.
"We've probably had some performances where we haven't played as well as we'd like," he said on Thursday. "If you look back at a season of 22 games, we've won probably 16 and lost six, so our performances have been relatively consistent.
"Sure, we've dropped some games, but all sides do."
The "22-game season" Hardwick refers to is the long stretch of games the Tigers have played since round 15 last year (including the elimination final) and the first 13 rounds of this one.
It is a line Hardwick has used before at media conferences, but it is fact that gains more relevance every time he does for one simple reason - the percentage of games his team has won since round 15 last year (the point at which they went on an incredible nine-game winning streak) continues to increase.
The Tigers head into Saturday's game against Greater Western Sydney at the MCG having won five out of their past six and sitting in sixth position.
They are a serious team, but that doesn't mean they will automatically beat every team below them.
The Giants - as Hardwick reminds those who are ready judge the Tigers this weekend – are a serious team, too.
They are one of those "should beat teams" that the Tigers have never lost to - ever - but that means little this weekend.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/beaten-the-best-now-beat-the-rest-richmond-20150702-gi3taw.html
