Defence key as Tigers look to make a mark
Richmond will employ a team-oriented defensive plan in a bid to curb Nat Fyfe when they undertake one of football’s toughest tasks on Friday night.
The Tigers will be full of confidence when they tackle Fremantle at Domain Stadium after reviving their season with three straight wins.
They boast a positive recent record in Perth, having beaten West Coast in their past two trips west. But ladder leaders Fremantle, led by the imposing Fyfe, present a bigger hurdle.
Fyfe took his stellar season to a new level last Saturday night, gathering a career-best 40 possessions in the Dockers’ gritty win over Adelaide. The 23-year-old is the raging Brownlow Medal favourite, but Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt said the key to victory wasn’t all about putting a stop to Fyfe’s scintillating run of form.
“Fyfe’s such a great player,” Riewoldt said.
“He’s so good at clearances, but he’s also nearly leading the AFL in contested marks, so he’s such a hard player to play on — for us it’s about team defence.
“We’re not going to focus on one individual. There’s another 21 guys out there that are playing some great footy for them as well, so we need to play a really good team-defence game and then try and hurt them on offence as well.”
Richmond have overcome a limp 2-4 start with wins over Collingwood, Port Adelaide and Essendon to sneak back into the top eight. They could be bolstered this week by the return of Ty Vickery (ankle/knee) and Chris Newman (groin), who both trained with the main group yesterday.
A win over Fremantle could be a season-defining moment and set the Tigers on track for a third successive finals appearance.
“It’s going to be a great test for us,” Riewoldt said.
“We’ve played some pretty good footy over there over the last three or four years, but we’re coming up against the best side in the AFL at the moment.
“They’re 9-0 and really playing some excellent footy with some individual brilliance and obviously some really good team structures. It’s a really good test and I know the boys are really excited about it and really looking forward to the challenge.”
