Finals might be out of the question, but Brisbane Lions and Richmond will both be eager to find some form after mid-season malaises that have ruled out finals action in 2012. We’ll have live scores from 7.40pm AEST.
It was an all-too-familiar story for Richmond’s long-suffering supporters who had become used to incompetence, inefficiency and a losing culture over a 30-year period of torment.
This season finally marked the turnaround, with solid performances finally giving fans hope that the Tiges would be returning to the top of the AFL’s tree.
But the past three weeks has put the pen firmly through their 2012 finals aspirations. Losses to the Suns (two points), the Kangaroos (four points) and Carlton (four points) has crippled Damien Hardwick’s side, particularly when all three games really should have been won.
Tonight they face a side whose slide might not have been so dramatic, but equally disappointing. After several years in which the credentials of Michael Voss were put firmly under the spotlight, the Lions look to have built foundations around a group of talented youngsters that should lead the club back toward the top eight.
At season’s end both sides will look back on performances that have indicated genuine progression of the list. But the ladder does not lie and ultimately, neither side have been consistent enough to play finals.
Brisbane come into tonight’s clash missing a host of key players, with injury-prone big man Matthew Leuenberger the most notable out, although Daniel Rich will come back into the engine room. Richmond’s long-term injury list is consistently shorter, though they will be without Nathan Foley and Tyrone Vickery among others.
Both sides will feel that this is more than a winnable game, and both Hardwick and Voss will be desperate to see their season not peter out over the last month of football for the year. A case can be made for both sides, but the Tigers are playing better footy and that might get them over the line.