3rd quarter, deep in our forward line.
Jack Henry chasing a loose ball looking absolutely petrified, just willing the ball to go over the line....Castagna is coming at him like the express train to Richmond and is going to absolutely bury him.
Ball goes over, Henry looks rattled and Castagna looks filthy. Cats didn't want it.
That's when I knew we'd eat em alive.
I noticed the same thing in the 2017 Grand Final, Richmond players madly trying to keep the ball in while Adelaide players were willing the ball out of bounds. This is a very good indication of how sides are travelling in the game.
Talk about bringing the mood down with bad memories.
. You could have also mentioned the Karmichael Hunt game
The fact is that most of us are still engrained with the old Richmond scars so we have a residual nervousness about feeling comfortable
Yes, it remains, but it is fading a little and I am getting a little more of that feeling I remember as a small kid in the 70s when you just thought, we'll be right, we'll just slam on a few goals and put them away. I always remember going to a game against Fitzroy in 1980, I went with a friend who was a Fitzroy member, at the Junction Oval. We were in the Fitzroy members stand and in those days clubs had memberships under 10,000 so only members and guests in the stand. We were getting done badly and all the Fitzroy supporters, and me, were just expecting Richmond to turn it on and blow Fitzroy away. We lost, but it was a bloody big surprise to everyone around me. Plus, no Richmond supporter was worried about the loss, we knew we were heading for finals. Before the 1980 Grand Final I knew we would win.
37 years causes a lot of pain, but I do remember back when we just expected to win, and worried less when we lost. The good old days!
Not quite the same now as the competition is more even but the confidence levels have certainly lifted over the last 2 years. We won't remain this dominant but I certainly am enjoying it and it is blowing away some of the pain of the lost years.
DS
