Richmond not fazed by break

RICHMOND says playing one game in 26 days holds few fears leading into a preliminary final clash certain be dominated by the Tiger Army.

Tigers football boss Neil Balme said yesterday the club would hold a captain’s run on Saturday that would include some match simulation work.

The club’s fitness staff will scrutinise the GPS data of players to ensure some will be eased through the fortnight and others pushed hard to compensate for the lack of a game.

Balme said Richmond’s frenzied tackling pressure against Geelong after the post Round 23 bye was a promising sign for that preliminary final.

The Tigers also started on fire against Sydney coming off this year’s mid-season bye before the Swans eventually overran them in the final minutes.

They will have played only one game — the crushing qualifying final win over Geelong — between August 27’s Round 23 win and the September 23 preliminary final. The AFL and MCG are yet to finalise the number of tickets available to supporters but as many as 80,000 Tiger fans could attend the clash.

The game will be a twilight clash starting between 4pm to 5.10pm to allow their opponent to fly home that night.

Richmond’s VFL side will play a preliminary final on Saturday but there is a prospect the Tigers will go into the clash unchanged.

Balme said there were no fresh injuries from the win and the club would sit down to plan out the next fortnight.