MOONEY: You have to be brave to beat Tigers
HOW do you beat Richmond?
I’ll give you the tip. It’s going to be pretty bloody hard.
It’s going to take a team that is extremely brave, extremely skilful and extremely quick to get through Richmond’s team defence.
And right now I don’t know who that team is.
The Tigers are going to head into this year’s finals series. They are a team that looks almost unbeatable.
That favouritism tag is a tough one to carry in September and has caught out plenty of teams over the years.
North Melbourne in 1998, Geelong in 2008, Sydney in 2016 and Adelaide last year have all been dominant teams that have fallen short in recent history.
It proves that you don’t necessarily have to be the best team for the year to win a flag. You just have to be the best team on the day.
But what I am seeing from the Tigers is different. They are having a pretty smooth and nice run into September.
A lot of the times when you go into finals as the overwhelming favourite, you’re winning matches by six to 10 goals each time and it can really cover the cracks.
You may not notice it, but you might be just moving a way a little bit from your game.
Take Geelong in 2008, for example. We were winning so comfortably that in hindsight there were a lot of things that were wiped over.
We didn’t go into the Grand Final in the best form.
Richmond has had some really good tests recently — I’m thinking of those two games against Geelong and Essendon.
While they did not lose, they got tested and I think that is the worst thing that could have possibly happened for the competition.
Even though they got the results, it gave them a scare.
Teams threw things at them on the eve of the finals that they can now talk about, work on, and understand.
They’ll be better prepared for the experience.
You also have to factor in Richmond’s record at the MCG. It just doesn’t lose there and you can’t underestimate the psychological impact that can have on a group.
We used to run out on to Kardinia Park full of confidence when we won all those games in a row there.
You walk out there and you know you own it. Mentally you know no one will beat you there.
At Kardinia Park we knew within five minutes of the first quarter that we probably had the game won.
That’s the kind of mentality Richmond would have right now at the MCG.
The Tigers’ dominance is built on their defence. I’m not just talking about their back six, but their team defence.
Watching them live last week, they are the best in the business at defending by a long way.
Their team defence may well be the best I’ve ever seen.
They slide so well from one side of the ground to the other when they don’t have the ball.
They roll off their opponents, they have Alex Rance and Dylan Grimes pointing, directing, screaming at their teammates to make sure they are in the right spot.
It’s why we saw so many intercept marks against Essendon. It is like a beautifully worked game of chess.
To get through that you have to be brave and take the ball through the middle, just like Gee- long did at times in Round 20.
The only problem is that when teams play like that the risk of turning the ball over goes through the roof.
When you get a couple that go back over your head and it costs you a goal, you tighten up a little bit. The next time you have the chance to make that kick you think twice.
To beat Richmond you’ve got to keep going, keep making those kicks, take the risks.
You’re better off trying to win it and lose by five goals than try to play it safe.
If you play it safe against the Tigers then they’ll beat you by 10 goals.
I’m looking forward to seeing who has the guts to take it up to Damien Hardwick and the rampaging Tigers. CHRIS Scott’s new contract continues that fantastic stability within the club. The club has shown a lot of faith in Scott as a coach and by extending his stay to 2022 they are saying that they believe he is the one to win the Cats their next premiership. Scott has a seriously talented group of young players that he can develop. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have wanted to leave the club either. I’M liking that the Dees are now starting to win the games they wouldn’t have normally won. For years they have lost the big games, the really important games for the club. On Sunday they went over to Perth and won the game that secures them their finals spot. Sometimes it only takes one of those wins to turn everything around. They’ve had so many close losses over their time that one big win can catapult an entire playing group. I’d be watching out for Melbourne come finals.