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It shapes as a potential grand final preview when Richmond and the Sydney Swans go head-to-head in a top-of-the-table clash tonight at Etihad Stadium.
Past the halfway mark of the season, both the Tigers and Swans occupy the top two places on the AFL ladder with identical 10-3 records, though it is the reigning premiers who hold top spot with a percentage of 135 to the Swans’ 125.7.
Given both clubs have large supporter bases, many are wondering why this match isn’t being played at the larger MCG, where the two clubs drew nearly 60,000 in the corresponding match last season.
The Swans won that match by nine points after trailing by as much as six goals during the second quarter. It remains the Tigers’ most recent defeat at the MCG, where they have since won 16 consecutive matches, including last year’s grand final triumph over the Adelaide Crows.
Instead, Etihad Stadium will play host to the first versus second clash since mid-2009, when St Kilda and the Geelong Cats fought out a titanic battle for the ages in front of 54,444 fans. To date, it remains the highest-attended AFL match at the venue since it opened in 2000.
The reigning premiers have carried their form from last year into the first half of this season, winning nine of their ten matches at the G, with their only win away from the home of football coming when they defeated North Melbourne by ten points at Etihad Stadium in Round 8.
In their last outing before their bye last weekend, Dustin Martin returned after a week out due to injury to marshal the side’s 18-point win over the Geelong Cats. The win lifted them back to the top of the ladder after they had been beaten by Port Adelaide by 14 points at the Adelaide Oval in Round 12.
As impressive as they have been so far this season, Damien Hardwick’s men will have their work cut out for them when they face the Sydney Swans, who are again emerging as genuine premiership contenders in 2018.
After a mixed start to the season, the Swans have won their last six matches, including defeating Hawthorn at the MCG and the West Coast Eagles for a second time this season, backing up their 29-point win at Optus Stadium in Round 1 with a 15-point win at the SCG in their last outing before the bye.
In addition to being the last team to beat the Tigers at the MCG, the Swans also have a superior recent record at Docklands, having won 13 of 14 matches at the ground since mid-2012.
It will be the third of five matches John Longmire’s men play at the ground this season. They’ve already beaten the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda, and have engagements with North Melbourne and Essendon in the next month.
The last time they faced Richmond at the ground, they won by 118 points in what was Paul Williams’ 300th AFL game and Ryan O’Keefe’s 100th. That was in Round 7, 2006, when the Swans were the reigning premiers, having won their first flag in 72 years under then-coach Paul Roos.
However, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then, and of the 44 players who took to the field on that Saturday afternoon in May 2006, only Jarrad McVeigh, who was in just his third season, remains active today.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Their first clash at Etihad Stadium since then will be a battle of two of the best defences in the competition, with only the Geelong Cats having scored fewer points than either side.
The Swans, who have boasted the best defence in the past two seasons, have conceded ten goals or fewer in each of their past eight matches, including blunting the Eagles’ attack to the point where they could only manage seven majors.
As has been the case in recent meetings, the biggest highlight fans can look forward to will be the match-up between the competition’s best fullback and full-forward, Alex Rance and Lance Franklin, respectively.
The last time the pair went head-to-head, Rance kept the eventual Coleman Medallist to just one goal, but the Swans still got the job done coming from 36 points down in the second quarter to win by nine points.
Buddy has so far kicked 891 career goals and is not too far away from the 900-goal mark, which he should crack within the next few weeks. If he can maintain his form and fitness over the next few seasons, there is the chance he may crack the 1000-goal mark either late next season or early in 2020.
Sadly, the 31-year-old, who will notch up his 100th club game for the Swans tonight, might become the last man for a very long time to crack the milestone, which was last achieved by Tony Lockett in the mid-1990s.
Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd could have cracked 1000 goals himself had he not suffered a serious hamstring injury in 2006, which (alongside the sacking of coach Kevin Sheedy in 2007) ultimately fast-tracked his retirement at the end of the 2009 season.
The area the match could also be decided is the engine room, where the Tigers’ midfield – led by captain Trent Cotchin and reigning Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin – will go up against their Swans counterparts led by Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker.
Both Cotchin and Kennedy have led their respective sides by example, while Martin is continuing to track well as he bids to become the first man since Robert Harvey in 1997-98 to win back-to-back Brownlow Medals.
Tonight’s clash at Etihad Stadium, which is expected to draw more than 40-45,000 fans, therefore shapes as a potential grand final preview and, with both sides in impressive form, it wouldn’t surprise me if they meet at some point this September, especially on the big day.
At stake is top spot on the ladder – and you get the feeling that whoever wins might assume premiership favouritism.
And now, all is set for what should be a cracker of a match to kick off Round 15 of the AFL.
Bring it on.
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