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Opinion
For the second consecutive year, the annual Dreamtime clash between Essendon and Richmond will be played away from Victoria, with Perth’s Optus Stadium to host one of the game’s biggest showpieces this Saturday night.
Another lockdown in Victoria, its fourth since the start of the pandemic and second this year, has temporarily forced the AFL out of the state once again, with the AFL desperately hoping that all Victorian teams will not have to hub elsewhere in the long term, as was the case last year.
The Dreamtime match is one of three matches to be moved out of Victoria, with the St Kilda versus Sydney Swans and Carlton versus West Coast Eagles matches both set to be shifted to the SCG.
Additionally, the Melbourne versus Brisbane Lions match, which was originally fixtured to be played in Alice Springs, has been moved to Giants Stadium in Sydney, turning what would’ve been an AFL-free weekend in the Harbour City into a three-match bonanza.
On topic now, and with Richmond and Essendon sitting in eighth and ninth place on the ladder respectively, Saturday night’s clash in Perth promises to be a beauty, as both sides continue to test each other’s finals credentials on neutral territory.
After a disappointing loss to the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba, the Tigers hit back last Sunday, defeating the Adelaide Crows by 28 points at Giants Stadium in Sydney, after it was transferred from the MCG in light of the ongoing COVID outbreak in Victoria.
A major highlight of the match was the running mark taken by Jack Riewoldt in the final quarter, nearly 17 years after his cousin Nick did likewise at the SCG.
Two incredible Riewoldt grabs, 17 years apart.
Which did you like more?
— AFL (@AFL) May 30, 2021
Another was the four-goal haul from second-gamer Callum Coleman-Jones. Coleman-Jones’ impressive performance led to Kane Cornes suggesting that the Tigers should trade out 294-gamer Riewoldt so as not to impede the former’s development.
Riewoldt is closing in on 300 games and when he retires, whether with the Tigers or at another club, he will go down as one of the great forwards of the 21st century, having won three Coleman Medals and three flags, neither of which his cousin Nick achieved.
The Tigers can make it back-to-back wins for the first time since Rounds 1 and 2 when they face an Essendon side that has won their last three matches on the bounce, the last of them an impressive come-from-behind win over the West Coast Eagles in Perth.
With Jake Stringer back in the side, the Bombers conjured a 45-point turnaround to win by 16 points, after they had trailed by as much as 29 points in the second quarter.
After the Eagles lost Tim Kelly and Oscar Allen to game-ending injuries before halftime, the Bombers ran riot in the final quarter, going forward 22 times for three goals, though they could’ve kicked more goals had they been more accurate.
But as good as they were against the Eagles in front of their fans at Optus Stadium, they’ll need to raise their game a notch when they face the Tigers, to whom they have lost their past ten matches, with their most recent win against them being in mid-2014.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
As mentioned at the top of this article, this will be the second consecutive year that the Dreamtime match has been played away from Victoria, after last year’s edition was played in Darwin.
In that match, Shai Bolton, who helped to design the guernseys his Richmond side wore in the match, won the Yiooken Medal as the best-on-ground.
It has been confirmed that the Long Walk will take place in the lead-up to the match, to be led by the Bombers’ Indigenous premiership stars Michael Long and Gavin Wanganeen.
With no restrictions on crowd capacities in any sporting venue in Western Australia, it is expected a large crowd will be out in force at Optus Stadium as both sides look to put on a show for their clubs’ large supporter bases.
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