PROOF REIGNING CHAMPS ARE STILL FLAG HUNGRY

CAN you measure hunger? It is the obvious question for a football club that finished last season on a 12-game winning streak culminating with an 89point grand final triumph.

“I think you can,” Richmond assistant coach Craig McRae said.

“Early in the pre-season you look at time trials and skinfolds. They’re all measurable things.

“We’ve got a lot of guys with premiership experience and that can create motivation to get back there again.

“Once we get the competitive juices running in the season, that’ll be the biggest test. Time will tell, but hopefully we’re as hungry as ever.”

McRae (pictured) is well qualified to answer.

Only two teams this century have won back-toback flags – Brisbane in 2001-03 and Hawthorn in 2013-15 – and McRae was a star small forward in the Lions’ dynasty.

The feat even eluded Geelong during their 20072011 golden era.

Richmond appeared on track in 2018. The Tigers finished the home-and-away season two wins and 15 per cent clear on top of the ladder. But inside the Punt Rd walls they knew they had peaked too soon, and Collingwood giant Mason Cox brought those fears to life in the preliminary final.

“Reflecting back on it I think it sort of helped last year having those injuries at the start, because then we had guys back that were a little bit fresher,” McRae said. “We had our best team available when it mattered most. You need a lot of luck to win premierships and things can go wrong reasonably quickly, and you need your best team available when it counts.”

The Tigers fed games to Jack Ross, Sydney Stack, Liam Baker, Noah Balta and Shai Bolton ahead of time as the likes of Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt, David

Astbury missed games through injury and Dylan Grimes and Dustin Martin through suspension.

Suddenly, the pressure for Round 1 spots at Tigerland is enormous – “we’ve got nearly every magnet available” – with Bachar Houli (calf) and Brandon Ellis (Gold Coast) the only grand final heroes unavailable.

Sam Landsberger

PREMIERSHIP ODDS

Richmond ................ $4.50 West Coast .................... $6 Collingwood ............. $7.50 GWS Giants .............. $7.50 Brisbane Lions ............. $10 Geelong Cats ................ $12 Western Bulldogs ........ $12 Hawthorn ..................... $19 Melbourne ................... $23 Essendon ..................... $26 Port Adelaide .............. $26 St Kilda ......................... $29 North Melb .................. $34 Adelaide ....................... $41 Carlton .......................... $41 Sydney Swans .............. $41 Fremantle ..................... $51 Gold Coast .................. $251