What does the rest of the AFL need to do to catch the Tigers?

Go back and look at Richmond's interstate wins from the 2017 season, onwards. The word 'dynasty' is getting thrown around way too loosely. Richmond's records just don't stand up against the actual dynasty's of Geelong and Hawthorn. But don't be too butthurt Realist, you have two flags.

With Edwards, Prestia and now Pickett effective in the midfield, Martin this season was able to spend more time forward. That is where he creates the biggest mismatches, and I think that is where Dimma wants him spending more time in future. That structure also makes Richmond less dependent on him, as there are plenty of other goal kickers in the team.

In the Chaos vs Control game plan, it's very hard to match it for an entire game. The extreme control game plan is very defensive and very ugly.

I think you'll find Sylvester that if you look at the facts instead of your emotive Richmond bashing scrawl that you'll find our interstate record over the last five years is on par with any of the other top Victorian clubs. There are variants from year to year for many reasons such as injuries or form at the time of playing.

maybe richmond arent too stressed about not dominating interstate. they know theyre good at the mcg & are gonna play there heaps (like all clubs play at their home ground) & luckily for us some of those opposition home games are also at the mcg , & most importantly the granny is also played there. just need to pick up some wins away to finish high enough to have a good shot at it.

"Perhaps although I heard the Collies didn’t have enough cash?" fair enough, cant say i follow all the off field stuff that close.... bloody glad he came to the tiges though, whatever we paid he's worth it

I can't disagree more with the 'experts' in the podcast. The reference to our losses mid season at the peak of our injury woes and our regular mid season load slump is irrelevant. I jumped on at the bye as I thought we would win 12 in a row and the flag, hello! I think West Coast, GWS and Brisbane are best equipped. You have to score 90 points to beat us, not many can do that and none against our defence especially with Rance back. In short, only sever bad luck or self implosion can stop us. Here's how season will pan out. We will start out a little rusty but chalk up our usual wins at Fortress Richmond for the first 7-8 games to be thereabouts. We will have our usual mid season slump unless the games around the bye rounds are at the G then we will scrape through a couple. This is the time to back them as I have the last three years. $51 in 2017, $8 in 2018 (failed due to injury and illness), $14 2019. This is how to gamble responsibly. By the last 4 rounds we will be starting to motor along. Once the Finals come, our game style is far better suited to September action than H & A and far better suited at Fortress Richmond. We will steamroll through September, Dusty will have his third Norm Smith, Tom Lynch will bring up his 100th goal of the season in the GF and Marlion Pickett will have already won the Brownlow. Come back next year and see how my predictions went, and Benny Gale's too for that matter.

What a dumb comment. You mention how we only had to 2 away games against top 8 teams, ignorance at its best to make your arguement sound better. Are the AFL supposed to predict how the ladder will finish in 2019 and do their fixtures accordingly? The team we played 2 twice in 2019 are Collingwood (runners up) Melbourne (top 4) GWS (top 8) Port (10th who many people predicted would make the 8 earlier in the season) & Carlton was the only team who we shouldnt have played twice but every team gets to play someone down hte bottom of the ladder twice, thats how the fixtures are designed. E.G. WCE get Fremantle twice, they also got to play Essendon & Adelaide twice in 2019. Why couldnt they finish top 2 with that kind of fixture? Secondly you mention we lost 5 out of 9 away games this season, you fail to mention that 7 of those 9 away games occured prior to our bye week when our team struggled to get any consistency through constant injuries. How about before whinging at how unfair the competition is you do a bit of research instead. The true of the matter is West Coast lost a home game against Hawthorn and Collingwood lost a home game against GWS both results had a massive impact on how the season ended and both games had nothing to do with Richmond's "home" ground advantage.

I agree Richmond should have had one of their interstate trips in the last 7 weeks, but I also don't think it would have made a difference. I also think if that last trip was in round 20, people would complain that Richmond finished with 3 games in a row at the MCG. I also know when Richmond start the season with a few games in a row at the MCG people complain about that because it gives them a perfect way to set up their season. It was the same with people saying Collingwood travel less than any other team, when usually they are the same as other big Melbourne clubs. It seems the complaining has moved to Richmond, perhaps because they are the best team. You can be guaranteed that when the AFL releases the fixture for next year the professional whingers will come out and complain about Richmond's draw however it looks, unless or is decidedly unfair, in which case they will move back to complaining about Collingwood's. The AFL can't win.

Can you point out which other MCG tenants got 7 games in a row at the MCG leading up to finals. Richmond was given a cushy ride into the finals - ahead of Collingwood and Melbourne (who at the start of the season were expected to play finals). Home and away games are not just about familiarisation of the ground or the crowd "factor" - in fact these are lesser issues than the travel. Richmond were the best team when it counted - no question about that. They did exceptionally well considering injuries to their key players. I am not critical of Richmond, merely the way they were given a leg up this season. For the competition to be genuinely credible, the fixturing needs to be made fairer which will mean the AFL would have to fore go some of it's revenue - I wont hold my breath.

Remind me again where Port, Freo and Sydney finished on the ladder? The fact that you mentioned injuries just screams you’re a Richmond supporter, or at the very least, a supporter of a Victorian team. Because injuries are ultimately their biggest challenge. They enter the bye 7-6, then play St.Kilda and Gold Coast finishing the season with their last 7 games at the MCG. But my absolute favourite part was when Hardwick said during the year, Chol has played the last 3 weeks and still hasn’t played at the MCG, like it was the biggest crime in football hahaha!

Perhaps although I heard the Collies didn't have enough cash?

Key word in all of that..........probably, easy to say, hard to prove. At the time those teams were travelling ok, and above Richmond on the ladder, they played Port, Freo away, Sydney at Marvel and had a 4 day turnaround to play ANZAC eve at the G and beat them all, no Rance, no Riewoldt. To say their ability to travel is terrible is just plain untrue, without checking, I think you’d find it would be on par with most teams.

By no means am I trying to make them out to be a joke, they’ve won 2 flags in 3 years. But their away record is terrible and there is no shying away from that. Last year they lost a total of 4 games, all were away, and their only interstate win came against Gold Coast. This year they won 3 interstate games, against Port, Gold Coast and Freo.. not exactly quality opposition, while losing convincingly to Adelaide and GWS. Having their last 7 games at the MCG is what gave them a top 4 spot this year, without that they travel and history tells us they probably lose.

They have won, in the three year stretch at Optus, Marvel, Adelaide Oval, The Gabba, Giant Stadium, Metricon and at the SCG. Not so good at GMHBA or down at the Tassie grounds. I’ll say it because it’s true and it would, from what I can tell, make you happy, they are not Hawthorn, Geelong or Brisbane they are Richmond. See if you can understand what I mean by, they aren’t the joke you want them to be!

lynch was also heavily courted by the pies (who finished higher than tiges in 2018) & also maybe hawthorn, he also barracks for the pies, in the end he chose richmond so i think there may have been more than dollars & ladder position in his decision

Isn't everyone calling Richmond a dynasty? Comparing them to Brisbane, Geelong, Hawthorn? Dimma is a great coach at the MCG in front of 80,000 Richmond fans, in fact he hardly loses in that scenario. But outside of Melbourne.. they are a better chance at losing. Look at the 3peat Hawthorn era, those teams won both home and away. Even now, with an average list Clarkson can still beat top 8 sides from the coaches box, anywhere in Australia. Thats the mark of a great coach.

But hang on, your talking about you looking back at a 10ish years of success vs 3 years of success, who knows what will happen in the next few years. Also there needs to be the landscape for those coaches to find roles. Currently the it thing is to promote from within. So many variables, but all you say is yeah......well there are no Dimma disciple coaches, so they/he can't be that good, is a very basic view, it sounds to me it's a question just to find something, anything to convince yourself that Richmond, the club, is still the joke you want to be.

Yet, no assistant coaches have been promoted to senior roles, other than Ben Rutten who is waiting in line. Which was my point. However, another Clarkson disciple has filled at least one of the five vacancies this year, with the possibility of another, in Scott Burns.

Kelly wan'ts to go home so his wife can be around family ( from all accounts) not all about $ maybe force him to the lowly rated Dockers. IMO he is the key to stop a slide for the Eagles likewise he will put the Dockers higher up the ladder a bit quicker. I am sure he will get a handy package if he stay's with the Cats.