Has there been a more disappointing team than the Richmond Tigers up to the midpoint of season 2014? It is certainly difficult to make that argument.
You could try and argue that the Eagles were supposed to take flight this season under the guidance of Adam Simpson and their potentially dominant forward line. And the Dogs were expected to take another step forward after their promising finish to 2013.
However, this year was seen as Richmond’s time to challenge for not just a finals berth, but a lofty position in the top eight.
Not even the biggest Richmond sceptic could have predicted that the Tigers would have lost more games in the first half of 2014 than they did during the whole 2013 home-and-away season. With the Swans awaiting them on Friday night, it will get worse before it gets better.
So what’s the problem at Punt Road?
Put simply, the players do not appear to play with the same desire that they displayed last year, and it is evident that an air of complacency has swept through the playing group.
One could forgive the perpetually suffering Tiger Army for getting ahead of themselves after a stellar 2013 season. The club featured in September for the first time since 2001, but it appears that the players have bought into the hype, and this is simply unforgivable.
Allowing such a sense of entitlement to permeate throughout the playing group signals a lack of leadership at the club. It is no coincidence that perennial finals contenders such as the Swans and the Hawks are home to some of the most highly regarded leaders in the game, and the Tigers seem to lack this presence.
By all accounts, Trent Cotchin understands what it takes to be a professional at the highest level, and we all know that he is a top notch player, but questions have to be asked about the leadership at Richmond.
It is extremely rare for a team to lose a game after being in front by 35 points at halftime, so rare in fact, that it has only happened once this season. This happened a couple of Sunday nights ago, when the Tigers allowed North to pile on eight goals to one in the third quarter, undoing all their good work from the first half of that game.
The Roos deserve much credit for their comeback, but there is just no excuse for the capitulation that allowed it to happen in the first place.
Some will point to a 20-point loss against the Dockers as a sign that things are not as bad as they seem for the Tigers. However, anybody who watched that game would know that Freo were never really challenged, and some late goals made the game appear much more of a contest than it actually was.
The real Richmond is indeed the uninspired outfit that we witnessed against North.
For a club that has traditionally thrived under inspirational leaders such as Francis Bourke and the late Tom Hafey, Cotchin just does not seem to fit the mould of a successful Richmond leader.
Hafey or Bourke would never have allowed their Tigers to play with the lack of intensity exhibited in the second half against North.
It is not all on Cotchin, however. Senior players and leadership group members such as Brett Deledio, Troy Chaplin, Ivan Maric and Daniel Jackson should also shoulder much of the blame.
It wouldn’t hurt Jack Riewoldt to show some semblance of leadership either. Despite the fact that he is not in the official leadership group, he is still a senior player at Richmond and it is imperative that he does more to prevent embarrassments.
More must be expected from Jack, and climbing fences and leading members of the media on a wild goose chase from Punt Road to Richmond Station just isn’t going to cut it. That might get you a gig as the newest myki ambassador, but it won’t help your club win games.
The sad thing is, that debacle may have been the Tigers’ most exciting moment for this season.
That in itself must be a sobering reality for Richmond fans, who must now sit back and face the all too familiar feeling of knowing that their season is over in June.
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