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The Richmond Football Club is a mentally weak team. I am as passionate a Tigers supporter as they come and this may sound like an irrational rant, but give me a chance.
It may seem ironic that I am writing this after they did just enough to record a 12-point win over Carlton last night.
But to say the Tigers fought off the Blues is generous and is giving them too much credit.
They fell over the line and had plenty of luck on their side throughout the match.
In a time of crisis, such as when an important football game is on the line, people turn to their leaders for confidence and motivation.
The Tigers turned to skipper Trent Cotchin and vice-captain Brett Deledio and they were nowhere to be found.
Cotchin only had two disposals in the last quarter when they game was well and truly in the balance.
The 23-year-old is one of the game’s superstars but he needs to stand up more when it counts.
His midfield counterpart in Brett Deledio had a measly three disposals for the whole second half, which is far below what is expected of a player his calibre.
Mick Malthouse put Andrejs Everitt onto Deledio and he was able to tag him completely out of the game, something that Deledio has shown he is susceptible to.
Deledio has amazing attributes and is in the prime of his football career but he needs to be able to break a tag more often.
Is it his work rate? Does he go into his shell when he knows he will be heavily tagged?
Players like Gary Ablett, Joel Selwood, Jobe Watson and Chris Judd live for the close games and relish being tagged.
Until the Richmond midfielders can do this regularly, they do not deserved to be compared with the top echelon of players in the game.
But two players do not make a whole side and the entire Richmond team and coaching staff should be held accountable.
The Blues hold a mental advantage over the Tigers that rivals the infamous Geelong-Hawthorn match-ups since the “Kennett Curse”.
Carlton are just one of a couple of sides that have this advantage, Gold Coast being another.
The Tigers were lucky to hold on to the Round 1 clash last year, which played out in a similar fashion to last night’s game.
No one will forget the come-from-behind win in last season’s elimination final that broke the hearts and left a permanent scar on Richmond supporters.
In all of these games Richmond held match-winning leads but reverted to nervous football when the Blues got a run on.
Instead of playing to their strengths, the Tigers would continuously bomb long to contests and take no time to consider better options.
Richmond are a work in progress and will hopefully improve on this as their core group matures.
Will it be this year, next year or never? Who really knows?
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