Maric says toothless Tigers can beat Freo
Defiant Richmond ruckman Ivan Maric is adamant the Tigers can recover from their disastrous second half against North Melbourne on Sunday night and beat Fremantle at the MCG this Saturday.
The Tigers kicked just three goals after half-time, surrendering a 35-point advantage at the main break to lose by 28 points.
Richmond's latest disaster left them 13th on the ladder with only three wins, a far cry from 2013 when they stormed into the finals.
Their only victories this season have been against Carlton, Brisbane and Greater Western Sydney, but Maric denied the Tigers had bottomed out and said they could topple the Dockers.
"We can win, there's no doubt about it," Maric said. "It's all about four quarters, contested footy and defending honestly.
"I've been at a lower point than this. The other thing is, because I've been there before, I know how to get out of it."
Richmond beat Fremantle by 27 points when they played at the MCG last year and it will be the Dockers' second visit to the ground this season, having been smashed there by Hawthorn in round three.
But Fremantle have strangled the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide in successive weeks, conceding only 13 goals over the two games.
Maric said the Tigers had to stop allowing their opponents to dominate periods of games.
"We need to become a really good contested football team and really good at defending," Maric said. "It shouldn't matter what the scoreboard says or our position on the ladder.
"When we do that, when we become a good footy team and contested ball team, we'll be able to stop those runs against us."
Richmond have been outscored in the second half seven times this year, raising questions about their fitness.
But Maric, who was playing his second match of the year against the Kangaroos after recovering from injury, was confident fitness wasn't a factor.
"We're fit enough, there's no issue about that," he said.
"I can honestly say I was running hard the whole game. I can't comment on everyone else, we haven't had the review.
"Look, compared to last week when the effort wasn't there, I felt like there was a huge improvement in effort and running hard.
"For me it's so simple, it's the contested ball and we've got to win that."
