Snippet from today's HS where every team is discussed.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/...m/news-story/132ecb7e7ba684c3d0153f320c7ab7d5
RICHMOND
ROBINSON: Can they make it four from five?
MONTAGNA: It’s as simple as how hungry are they? Are their bellies full or do they still have the desire to go again? That’s all it comes down to with Richmond. If they’re hungry to chase more success, they’ll be there when the whips are cracking. It’s probably a good question for Jordan. How hungry can you be when you’ve won three out of four?
LEWIS: You are in a sense relying on early season performance that can fuel that desire. Or if you see things slipping away and you’re not performing at your best, then you’re really relying on the individual to try and generate that some other way. They’ve still got the names on paper that perform on big occasions. The year they didn’t win it in 2018 I think was a valuable lesson in timing their run.
ROBINSON: Will Jack Riewoldt play 22 games this year, Kingy?
KING: Jack will play if he’s fit because Dimma is going to play him. He’s not going to take him out of the team for no reason and Jack will want to perform better than he was. But in the big games, in credit and fairness to him, he’s performed when they’ve needed it most. I think the biggest challenge for the competition is, like it or not, Damien Hardwick has designed a game plan that other coaches are either too stubborn to go away from theirs to counteract. At the moment, when they take control of a game and get momentum, the scoreboard flows. The challenge for other coaches now is to work out what to do with Dustin Martin. How do they play against him, particularly in big games? Because we’ve never seen a finals player like him.
RIEWOLDT: He’s the outlier though. How many times do you do a Richmond game and Dusty almost gets the three votes by default sometimes? Because you look through the Richmond players and wonder, ‘Who’s actually played well for them, yet they’ve still won?’ The prelim final was incredible. They have more off nights and end up winning the game of footy more than any other team I think in history. It’s the system that gets them through. I’m staggered so few teams have tried to adopt their system. So many teams want to control the ball, but Richmond has its own brand and it’s unique. I can’t believe the lack of copycats trying to do the same thing because it stands up.
ROBINSON: Opposition clubs are looking at Richmond and wondering, ‘How do we stop them?’ Is it about stopping Dusty? Would you be able to come up with a way?
LEWIS: I’d want my team to deny them the ball and to deny them chaos. That is easier said than done, but I think the difference between Richmond and Geelong is their belief and self-confidence is huge. When things aren’t going well they stick at it.
KING: Denis Pagan used to have a saying where he thought the hardest players to coach were those who have had success because they all know everything. As long as pawns are happy to play like pawns on the chess board for the Tigers, they’ll be fine. But as soon as a couple of them think, ‘I can do more than this’, that’s when the trouble will come. Outside of that, they’ve got a great club.
ROBINSON: Verdict?
LEWIS: I see them from fourth to sixth. You can’t measure the hunger for another tilt at it when sides are coming at you again. Every year becomes harder.
MONTAGNA: Yeah, I’ve got them fourth to sixth. I just think there are teams that should be hungrier and should play a style of footy that should be ahead of them in the home and away season.
RIEWOLDT: I still have them top four. They’ll be there and the same thing will happen again. It’ll be midway through the year and their odds will blow right out because they’ll be sitting fifth or sixth, and when the whips get cracking they’ll time their run again and have another shot at it.
KING: Until I can see a team take away the way Richmond plays, I’m going to stick with them.
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Weird discussion for mine. They are obviously dwelling on Riewoldt's form being off and looking to pounce on him. This is everything that's wrong with modern footy journalism.
N.Riewoldt's take staggers me. Even as an advocate for the club, he falls into the trap of "the system gets them the wins". He can't seriously believe we have no stars other than Martin. Does he really think we played poorly in the prelim?
Still a lack of respect, and more damning, comprehension.
