September comes early for top two
FORGET the rather incongruous Etihad Stadium setting, the Thursday-night timeslot and the mid-winter chill — Richmond’s top-two AFL showdown with Sydney has all the hallmarks of the last Saturday in September. Marquee match-ups? Alex Rance versus Lance Franklin is as good as it gets. And midfield bulls Dustin Martin and Josh Kennedy are certain to cross paths at some point. Manic pressure? That’s a given when it comes to these two sides, which are as good around the ball as any teams in the competition. High stakes? They certainly are for a home-and-away fixture. Depending on the result of Saturday’s West Coast-Adelaide game, either the Tigers or Swans could go a game clear on top of the ladder and a step closer to securing a coveted top-two finish.
In every sense, this is a big game — though the decision to schedule it on Thursday night and at Etihad Stadium rather than the MCG will put a dent in the attendance.
League rules dictate that even non-tenant clubs, such as the Tigers, play at least one home game at the Docklands ground.
Richmond would prefer to play at the MCG for both commercial and tactical reasons, having won its past 16 games at the home of football.
But Sydney is arguably worse off in the long run, given it has played just once this year at the venue that will host the Grand Final until at least 2057.
“You don’t have any say in it. We take what we can get, as far as MCG games,” Sydney coach John Longmire said this week.
“There’s been talk about consideration in regards to [interstate teams], and I think that needs to be discussed.
“If the Grand Final is played here [in Sydney], at Adelaide Oval or in Perth, I think that Melbourne people might have a bit of a different perspective on that.
“It just depends what lens you look through, doesn’t it. After all, it’s a home ground.”
The Tigers haven’t hosted the Swans at Etihad Stadium since 2006.
“We can’t change it, we accept it,” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said.
“We have to play anywhere, any time.”
Either way, the likely battle between Rance and Franklin looms as a winner. Richmond’s brilliant fullback kept Franklin to one goal when the two sides met last season but the fourtime Coleman medallist is a proven big-game performer.
“The old ‘Rance Franklin’ … we always get a laugh out of it at match committee,” Hardwick joked. “They’re two great players, aren’t they, so it’s worth the price of admission just to see those guys.”