It’s a big round 11 for…By Ashley Browne
SEN
7 August 2020Less than 20 hours after round 10 finishes, round 11 begins. Ash Browne looks at who will be under the microscope.
Of all the great stories that are told in the aftermath of a premiership win, the tale Richmond people like to refer back to after last year’s triumph was the seven-point win over Port Adelaide on the road in round four.
It was supposedly the unwinnable game. No Trent Cotchin. No Jack Riewoldt. No Dustin Martin. Alex Rance was gone for the season and the Tigers were still trying to rejig their backline.
It was also their second straight game on the road. In the before-times of 2019, that was still a thing.
Yet the Tigers were magnificent that night, prevailing in an arm wrestle against the Power. Boom recruit Tom Lynch kicked six goals to help steer them home, and the four premiership points gained proved to be invaluable for Richmond, which finished the home and away season in fourth place. Without them, they would have needed to have win four finals on the trot to win the flag.
They were good in 2019, no question about it. But that good?
Which brings us to the opening game of round 11. In a normal season, this would be the start of the run home to the finals. It still seems a bit early for that, but there is no mistaking the importance of this game.
It has been hard to find too much fault with Port this year and every time the Power brings the effort, which as coach Ken Hinkley likes to say, they win the game.
But the path to the premiership runs through Richmond. The Tigers have won five of their last six games and their systems and structures just break teams down. Brisbane did a few things right last week against them, but still lost by 41 points.
This will be a great game and perhaps the first this year that generally shapes as a Grand Final preview. The self-belief and all-round excellence that Port has demonstrated all year will be severely tested against the side that knows it has the measure of every other team in the competition.
Richmond knows it can take below-strength teams on the road and beat anyone. Then again, how weakened are the Tigers these days? Shai Bolton, Jake Aarts and Noah Balta aren’t making the Tigers forget the likes of Dion Prestia, Shane Edwards and David Astbury, but they know they can win without them.
It is the competition for spots if anything, that has driven the Tigers through this frantic period of the season. It is a coach’s dream when the so-called ‘depth players’ are driving the improvement of the team.
There is no surprise that tickets for this game sold out as soon as they became available. It will be one of the defining games of the season.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/08/07/its-a-big-round-11-for/
