Roar Guru
Round five continues at Etihad Stadium this afternoon as the unbeaten West Coast Eagles make the trip east to play Richmond. The game starts at 3.15pm AEST with live scores and updates coming up throughout the afternoon.
Tigers’ fans have been told all week their side isn’t much of a chance against West Coast.
“The Tigers will get smashed by Dean Cox and Nic Naitanui.”
“The Tigers will get carved up by Matt Priddis, Scott Selwood, Luke Shuey in the midfield.”
“Jack Riewoldt has gone missing and there’s no chance of the Tigers scoring enough to win.”
Okay, I admit a record of one win and three losses doesn’t look great.
But Ivan Maric has done well in the ruck and has been ably supported by Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin and Shane Tuck.
At some point Jack Riewoldt will fire, and it’s more than likely going to happen at the Dome where he has the best average of all venues.
Let’s just take a look at the season so far.
They stayed with Carlton for most of the journey, almost managed to topple Collingwood, did what they needed to against Melbourne and pushed Geelong in Geelong for the first time in six years.
Hey, you know what, things aren’t that bad, but today’s a day for the club to finally get a scalp though.
Here’s a fun stat for Richmond fans to keep under their hats today – Richmond is yet to be beaten by West Coast at Etihad Stadium.
West Coast, on the other hand are four wins from four matches, top the table and are coming off the back of a gutsy win against Hawthorn at Patersons Stadium last weekend.
They probably should have kicked ten or eleven goals last week, not the paltry five that read on the scoreboard.
It was an amazing intensity in that game – something the Eagles have prided themselves on so far in 2012.
It’s a far cry from the other three games they’ve played in the season – with very comfortable wins against the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney without having to raise much of a sweat. Many believe today will be the same.
The team is made up of some amazing runners – Scott Selwood, Chris Masten, Luke Shuey, Daniel Kerr and the emergence of Andrew Gaff as well.
Then you have the defensive talents of Adam Selwood, Beau Waters and Shannon Hurn, while the forward line, while a little off target thanks to last week’s performance, has been able to cover for the loss of Mark Nicoski through Josh Hill as well as more goals from the midfield.
Travelling has never been a massive strong point of the West Coast Eagles.
But for them to be seriously considered as a top four (and potentially a top two side), they must win these sort of games – against eastern states’ sides that could challenge for a top eight spot.
There’s a fair bit on the line today and should be a fantastic game. Join in the conversation from 3.15pm as Richmond host West Coast at Etihad Stadium.