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Richmond say they remain the hunters rather than hunted as they look to open their AFL premiership defence with a win over Carlton on Thursday night at the MCG.
While rivals will be after their mantle as the competition’s best, Tigers coach Damien Hardwick says his team will continue to play the game on their own terms.
“Defensively, we’re very strong, we hunt the opposition, we stalk the opposition and we hunt and that’s the way we play,” Hardwick said on Wednesday.
“Other clubs will come at us but the reality is we control how we want to be seen.”
Carlton young gun Patrick Cripps has a target on his back after his starring performance during the Blues’ pre-season.
The star onballer, having missed half of 2017 with a broken leg, has taken his game to a new level, rotating forward in the Blues’ attack which has the Tigers on high alert.
“They’ve got a real weapon with Patrick and his ability to push a little bit forward as well,” Hardwick said.
“We’ve got some great defenders, who will be able to manage him as best they can, but a player like Cripps, you always put some work into.”
“They’ve got a really solid midfield that is exciting and developing so it’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
Richmond will be without grand-final heroes Bachar Houli (calf) and Dion Prestia (hamstring), after running out of time to prove their fitness.
Hardwick said defender Houli was close but felt the frantic pace of a round-one match might cause further damage.
He expected both to be available for their grand-final rematch against Adelaide in round two.
“Bachar was close and we could have rolled the dice and played him but round-one games are so quick and fast and his recovery would then (have) been hindered and he wouldn’t have got enough training in,” Hardwick said on Wednesday.
“We thought we’d go the conservative approach and train him up for a couple of weeks.
“Round two, he’s an obvious inclusion from this point and Dion is probably the same for next week.
“They’re both really important players for us that we weren’t prepared to risk in a round-one encounter.”
Their omissions mean four changes to Richmond’s premiership-winning line-up with Daniel Rioli still battling a foot injury and Nathan Broad suspended.
Shai Bolton, Jayden Short, Corey Ellis and Reece Conca have been added in their place.
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