A bullish Damien Hardwick has declared Richmond ready to recapture the frenetic intensity that led them to AFL premiership glory last September.
The minor premiers’ last hit-out for the season was a dead rubber and it showed in their unusually flat performance, with the Tigers barely scraping through for a three-point victory over the bottom-six Western Bulldogs.
Hardwick was quick to concede such a performance would not suffice in the cauldron-like atmosphere of finals football.
But the Tigers coach is backing his players to find another gear when they face Hawthorn in next Thursday’s qualifying final at what’s certain to be a near-sellout MCG.
“Last week was probably the one where we felt we had that (top) position sewn up,” Hardwick said.
“As a coach you can sit there and try and read the tea leaves but the reality is as soon as that ball’s bounced, the players play. That’s what we’ve done all throughout the year and that’s’ what we’ll do again on Thursday night.
“I’m very confident our boys will hunt the opposition and get the game on our terms if we play our best footy.”
The Tigers only lost four games this year – all outside of Victoria – but in each of those losses, their opponents were able to retain possession and stave off the Tigers’ pressure.
Hawthorn will likely take a similar approach given their ability to control the ball has been a hallmark of their success under master-coach Alastair Clarkson.
“Our pressure numbers have been down but we’ve been winning the ball back anyway,” Hardwick said.
“We defend really hard when we need to but the opposition at stages can take that away from us in the way that they play.
“They’re challenges that present themselves to us as coaches and we’ve got to continue to challenge our players to get better at that area of the game.”
Star midfielder Kane Lambert and small forward Dan Butler will both train on Thursday and are expected to be available to return from ankle injuries.
Butler, who has been sidelined since round 16, is set to play in the VFL on Saturday night and Hardwick conceded the five-day break before Thursday’s qualifying final could hurt his chances of being selected at senior level.
“He’s an important player to the way we want to play the game so we’ll give him every chance to put his hand up to play,” Hardwick said.
“He’s missed seven weeks so there’s a little bit of a risk there but we completely back in our medical team.”
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