’G, Tigers home record hard to better
IF 90,000 screaming fans are not enough to give Richmond the mental edge, its formidable MCG record might do it.
The home of football looms as an X-factor for the Tigers when they face Greater Western Sydney in Saturday’s preliminary final.
For all their improvement, the Tigers have undoubtedly been a different beast at home.
Including their qualifying final victory over Geelong, Damien Hardwick’s men have a 10-2 record at the MCG this season. Away from the ’ G, their record falls to 6-5.
The Giants have a 1-10 record at the MCG across six seasons, and are bracing for a hostile, pro-Tigers crowd tipped to reach 90,000.
“I know that it was an away game last week, but teams have to come to the MCG now to beat us,” defender David Astbury said yesterday.
“Obviously it’s a big crowd, and our record there . . . we think that it sits above other teams in the AFL.
“We don’t buy into it too much (but) it just gives us a little bit of confidence.”
While spirits are high, there is no shortage of respect for the Giants after their clinical semifinal demolition of West Coast.
Mercurial veteran Steve Johnson (six goals), Toby Greene (three) and Jonathon Patton (two) ran rings around the Eagles’ defenders.
“They’re just stocked with talent,” Astbury said.
“Once they get their game style up and going, they can be quite damaging.
“That’ll be a focus for us. We’ve played them twice this year and I think we’ve done a relatively good job with that.
“Nothing really changes. We’ve got to be on because when they get up and moving, they can be quite damaging.”
With a healthy list to select from, Richmond may be tempted to line up unchanged as it looks to extend its deepest finals run in 16 years.