Where are Richmond at really?

Now, that's the spirit, Milo! Shai bagged 5 of his own, so perhaps he can be given another run while another of our smalls is rested. Soldo with Toby at the weekend was a great success - hope to see more of it, and Toby will get better with more tries at CHF. As you say, lots of guys could step up from the seconds, though gutted to see Jack Graham injured, as He Is A Gun. If Benny Griffiths comes back in, and our smalls keep impacting, could be on to big things.

Cotchin has played his best footy since 2012, Grigg is playing his best season, Jack is playing his best season since his last Coleman, Rioli better than last year, new boys Butler Castagna and Short in the backline. Astbury by far his best year, Grimes injury free for a change is easily playing his best year. Nankervis playing his best in career given the chance at a new club... There's a few. What was the best result out of Round 17 for RFC fans: Tigers beating NM by 102 points. Now five in a row following wins over Geelong 49 pts, Carlton, 84 points, Esserdon 6 points and Melbourne 28 points. Finally there's some strength coming through in the twos that hasn't been there since we went alone. All the top Vic clubs over the past few years have had strong VFL sides that push the firsts. Good to see both Lennon and Ellis kicking bags and you can only hope Dimmer Hardwick resists the inclusion of that Geelong hack Hunt next week.

Wow, what an unpleasant personality. And saying that someone has no substance or integrity (i.e. 'straw man') is just really out of order.

Well, you should say, as irrelevant as it is possible for a team 5th on the ladder to be. As for North, well, never mind.

Here's a stat for you - 10 wins, 6 losses, 5th on the ladder. Sums up the situation succinctly, I would say.

Agree completely JT. We're performing well above expectations, we've got a load of kids playing, who are both really good and a bit inconsistent, and as I write, we are 5th on the ladder after 16 rounds. Oh, but rather than have a go at North (woeful), Bulldogs, Freo, Hawthorn or Collingwood, most of whom were tipped to make the 8, but won't, let's stick the boot into the Tigers. Laughable.

Don't believe the Richmond haters Graham - that's all they are here. There is always 'special' reporting around the Tigers, and by 'special' I mean slanted towards the negative. Case in point: our team is younger than North Melbourne's, but while all their losses and being 2nd last on the ladder is deemed totally acceptable as they are 'rebuilding', losses by our even younger team are labelled 'disgusting', even though we are in finals contention, and generally playing well above expectations - albeit, with some of the inconsistency you would expect from such a young playing group. I've done a more detailed post, below, but suffice to say people just love to stick the boot in to the Tigers at any given opportunity. As a true Tiger, don't fall for it - we're doing really well, and we've got a couple of first round draft picks come season's end. If we can land a really good CHF and another midfielder, we'll be fully in premiership contention in 2018. As for 2017, it seemed unlikely at the start of the year, but with things being so even, we're probably just below the very top chances (who are GWS, Adelaide, and Sydney). In other words, you never know, and incredible as it would be, I wouldn't dismiss it as a possibility.

Oh, please. After our loss to GWS, there were similar comments along the lines of 'they will struggle to win 5 more games for the year, etc etc. And here we are. After falling from 5-0 to 5-4, we've won 5 our our next 7 to be at 10-6 and 5th on the ladder. Those 'likely' losses you list aren't likely at all. We lead GWS by 5 goals before our inexperienced baby Tigers let them back in, but those young guys are both skilled and learning quickly. Good that we played Soldo today, as we desperately need back up for Nankervis (who played servicably at CHF today).

No, he didn't sum it up nicely at all. My summary below is far more balanced, factual, detailed and accurate. And that is only if I being modest about it!

And if Geelong didn't have Dangerfield, what could you say has improved about them in the last 2 years? Or put simply, I think we can all agree that without their very best players, every team in the competition wouldn't be quite as good as they are. But hey, thanks for the contribution!

Firstly, given where pretty much all pundits tipped Richmond to be at the start of the season, it's clear that they have exceeded everyone's expectations to this point. Second, I agree that we are a middle rung side, or perhaps a bit better. After all, we have a 9 - 6 record as of now, and that is with a couple of poor losses, alongside some very close losses against good teams. Yes, we did make some mistakes in the closing moments, but were also fully punished for those mistakes, which doesn't always happen. Take Geelong's close wins against Freo (Walter's misses) and Hawks (Smith misses), and you see what I mean. Third, yes, we are a young team. In fact, in some of our games we have been the 3rd youngest in the league (e.g. the GWS loss). While this seems to be a reason to cut other teams some slack, in Richmond's case it's invariably overlooked, and we were completely bagged for losing, even when the final 20 seconds went perfectly for GWS and Cameron slotted from 50 metres out (again, compare with Geelong's Freo and Hawks wins). Fourth, I agree with the writer that pundits totally overreact to both wins and losses, although this is not exclusive to Richmond. In the last 4 weeks, we've had several teams touted as premiership prospects on the back of a couple of wins: Port, then Demons, then Tigers, then St Kilda. Hilariously, each team has gone to lose its next match. The press may well start talking about the Bombers next. Typical overreaction. I've been reading the so-called 'power-rankings' this year, which only go to show how pundits overreact each week to wins and losses. The ladder is by far a better guide as after about round 6, it doesn't overreact to any team's latest win or loss - it simply reflects the season's body of work by any given team. Richmond's body of work for the season has it at 6th position with 9 wins and 6 losses, an excellent effort so far, given our injuries to talls, leaving us with only one ruckman and no centre half forward. Our young players have risen to provide some great performances, but have also been understandably inconsistent. With a bit of luck in close games, we could have been in an even better position, but if we can manage to win in the next few weeks, we'll be in a very solid position. Given that, it's hard to work out why pundits, who had thought Richmond would finish at an average ladder position of 12 or 13, seem incapable of praising Richmond, and that only gives fuel to those who believe there are quite a few Tigers 'haters' out there.

Another week and another team is copping it. Guess what guys, every team in the comp has copped a bagging in the media this year bar GWS. This is the result of a brilliantly even competition. Every team in the comp has had at least 2 shockers. GWS has been flogged only once but has put in a few subpar performances. Guess what folks, that was Richmonds 2nd bad game of the year last week. That doesn't seem too bad at all. It's just the luxury we are having with such a close season, that whichever team gets there confidence up, gets the chocolates. The article does make good points but every team has copped this at some point this season. I've never heard so many calls from fans, that there team isn't good enough or needs a rebuild. There are still 11 teams good enough to win this years premiership, how cool is that. We should be loving this, cause this is the tipping point before the GWS dominance

Yes, let's call people names rather than actually make a relevant case for the Tigers.

OK, let's apply the blow torch to a club who, despite their current ladder position, were widely predicted to finish bottom 4-6. While we're at it, why not throw in the usual wildly unfounded claims about their supporters' perceived perennial expectations? It only serves as an attractant to blowies like "Cat".

If he goes they may as well go full rebuild. Without Dusty's Brownlow runner up season this year the Tigers would be where they were last year. Who else has stepped up for the Tigers this year? No one.

As a loyal tiger supporter since 69 I am in a position to comment on the Tigers. This is a correct review of our team and agree with these comments. Unfortunately I cannot see us winning another 3 games this year,and we don't make finals. I hope I am wrong.i can't see us beating GWS, gold coast(away) Hawks, cats (away) freo (away) and saints. Our weakness is our midfield and lack of support in the air for Jack that all teams know about. Our young pacey forwards unfortunately need to put more scoreboard pressure on. We have done a good job so far this year but will fall short again because we need the big guys in the vfl to man up. Put Batchelor at full foraged or at least Nankervis and Soldo in the ruck. Tiger for life ........

And if Dusty goes elsewhere?

Time to give Richmond some credit. They are going to be a real force for the next 3-4 years with Rance and Dusty. Hardwick is becoming a good coach.

I think you summed it up nicely. Everyone wants Richmond to be something that they just don't seem to be at the moment. Good luck to them.