Not long ago, if you said that you were from “Tigerland”, you would have been laughed at. The “noughties” weren’t a fun time for the guys from Punt Rd.
They won just 37% of their games under Terry Wallace from 2005-2009, and it wasn’t much better after his departure.
“Ninthmond”, as the Tigers became known, was a phrase used amongst opposition supporters, coined just to annoy the Richmond faithful after consecutive years of finishing 9th on the ladder and the fact they haven’t played in the finals since 2001.
Fast forward to now and things are starting to change at Punt Rd., and for the better. It wasn’t that long ago that both Richmond and Melbourne were in the same position as each other.
Both clubs were “rebuilding” and both had a talent pool of youth at their disposal as high draft picks for poor performances were given to the struggling clubs.
However, one should not be so quick to applaud the recruiting of the Richmond football club. If anybody can remember, they picked Richard Tambling over Lance Franklin in the 2004 draft.
One issue that has been raised is the development of players once they arrive at a club. One can say that it has been poor at Melbourne; almost deplorable.
St. Kilda was great at it during the mid 2000s, with players like Riewoldt, Dal Santo and Luke Ball all being a product of the way St. Kilda was able to develop its young stars.
The Tigers have been good at developing these young players. One player in particular is Dustin Martin, whose four goal performance on the weekend showed how damaging he can be when he is switched on and wants to play football.
Jack Riewoldt, on his day, is the most damaging player in the competition who can kick goals at will. He is an important element to the Tigers success. When he is on song, the Tigers can match it with any other team. History shows that teams with great forwards will win the flag.
Their midfield now has so much depth players like Cotchin, Deledio, Houli, Foley, Jackson, Cotchin, Grigg, Conca. There is no reason not to be excited about this group of players. They have the perfect mix of ball winners and line breakers. Add a great ruckman to the mix in Ivan Maric and you almost have one of the best midfields in the competition.
The Tigers also have a good mix of small and tall defenders, and to add to this, they added an experienced defender in Troy Chaplin to their team, and a great first year player in Nick Vlastuin, who, if not for Jaeger O’Meara, would more than likely have taken home the Rising Star of the year.
Another thing the Tigers have worked on is their disposal efficiency. They are ranked second behind Hawthorn, but only by .6%. This shows how well the Tigers are using the ball.
If they want to have any realistic chance of winning the premiership, they need to beat three of their next four opponents. Their real test comes in round 17 against a red hot Fremantle, who have seemed to just grind their opponents into the ground.
Many have decided that this season is a four horse race, but AFL is a funny game. History shows it’s hard to win a premiership from outside the top four, but you can write off the Tigers at your own peril.
Les
Guest
Such an erudite way to express - almost Darryl Kerriganesque ... love it. :)
Ryan Ford
Guest
Most of you guys had been talking about us not being able to beat sides like Sydney, Hawthorn, Fremantle and even Gold Coast but if you look at the positioning and success rate that the Tigers now have you will see that most of your opinions are wrong because we are currently 12-6 on the Ladder and have managed to beat teams like Hawthorn, Fremantle and also Gold Coast and to whoever said we are not an 8 contender because we have not managed to beat Gold Coast your wrong and by the way we have our ass nailed into the 8 so to all the haters out there you can go and get stuffed. GO THE TIGERS 2013!!!!!!
Me too
Guest
Looks very likely they may play finals. That's enough to celebrate for now. Silly talk of being a flag chance downplays their achievement.
Robbo
Guest
Appears you have a limited knowledge of the club, particularly in regard to Richmond's recruiting. You appear to direct the reader not to applaud their recruiting based upon the Tambling pick in 2004. Nine years ago. In actual fact, the Tigers haven't missed a 1st round pick since 2006. Do some research and you might discover our recruiting deserves to be applauded. Furthermore, I can't conclusively say, after reading your article, whether or not you actually think we are a premiership threat.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Mastermind, again with the Ivanovic analogy! The Gold Coast reference is true though. Maybe not as damning as in last two seasons as they've improved a lot. GC that is. Time will tell.
Bayman
Guest
Brent, Not this year. West Coast and Adelaide are not top four and may struggle to make the eight although the Eagles are more likely than the Crows. Full marks to the Tigers but, in reality, they burn the footy far too much to threaten Sydney, Hawthorn, Geelong or Fremantle. Or Collingwood and Essendon, I suspect. On a good day, a very good day, they might fluke a win against one of those sides but to win a flag they have to beat half of them in consecutive weeks - and they are just not good enough to do that.
doubledutch
Roar Pro
no.
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Roar Guru
Richmond, like Ana Ivanovic in the tennis, are beating the teams that they are capable of beating, but they just can't beat the top teams. Their losses against Geelong (Round 6) and Essendon (Round 9) prove that. Richmond were never going to beat Geelong (they haven't done so since 2006) and Essendon were just on the top of them from the first bounce in Round 9. Both teams, not surprisingly, are in the top four and deservedly so. It could also come down to their Round 16 match against the Gold Coast Suns, a team that every club except Richmond have beaten at least once. If the Tigers cannot beat the Suns, then we cannot consider them to be "contenders". But for now the Tigers should be happy about their 7-4 record but they must not let it slip away..... otherwise they will finish NINTH again!
Jimbo
Guest
I will not divulge my sources, but from what i hear on the grapevine our journo of this article kicked a bag of 10 goals on the weekend out of a total of 14. If this is true Brent ... congrats, must be very good midfielders shoving it down your throat :)
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
2015 perhaps. Last 2 wins have been encouraging, but the Essendon match was feeble for 2 and a half quarters. Brought back bad memories. Still, the future looks brighter right now than it has since God knows when.
Australian Rules
Guest
Well, off the top of my head, I'd put Ablett, Pendlebury, Swan, Buddy, Rioli, Hodge, Goodes, Kennedy, Cox, Natinui, Dangerfield, Pavlich, Griffin, Waite & his cousin - at their best - all ahead of him. It's just semantics though. Jack's good on his day.
Slane
Guest
Oh yeah, and we still haven't beat the suns yet.
Slane
Guest
I'm a tigers supporter and even I don't agree with half the stuff in this article. We SHOULD make the 8 this year but we could still crumble. We won't be challenging for a flag but it would be lovely to be playing finals again :D We did flog Sydney and Hawthorn last year, let's see if we can do it this year before we start talking about a premiership.
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
I will go back into my hole now. If it happens then it happens, they are on a big up.
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
You don't reckon a dual Coleman medallist is up there?
Nick
Guest
Have you seen the players that are listed for Coburg? They are terrible. Other teams get great assistance from VFL players. Richmond does not. Having said that they won't challenge for a flag. Making the finals and being competitive week 1 will be a good start.
Australian Rules
Guest
"Jack Riewoldt, on his day, is the most damaging player in the competition who can kick goals at will." I doubt I'd put Jack in the top 10 most damaging players on his day. I don't think Richmond will make it, but they should next year.
Les
Guest
Agreed,,, and no Dan Connors to take on GWS?? We could be in serious strife. Yep Johno, a flag in 2013 is like asking $400 for a pair of jousting sticks.
Col
Guest
Can we at least get past the "Suns in Cairns" game first, before we start talking finals, let alone premierships?
johno
Guest
Yep - the Tiges have to beat real opponents .... preferably away. Their win against West Coast was good and a start. But West Coast are not the team they think they are. They pushed Freo but Freo also lost Keplar Bradley in the first term which impacted their game that night. The Tiges have a very good core group of young players now to take them forward. Their spine is looking settled and Maric has been of huge benefit to them in the ruck department. Expect finals this year and then expect more in the coming 2-5 years from this group. But a flag in 2013 ....... you're dreaming