- Apr 15, 2013
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- AFL Club
- Richmond
Umpires - Robert O’Gorman 10, Shaun Ryan 25, Craig Fleer 26.
I had a few cheap gags lined up but that all seems a bit over the top now in light of the death of Tucky so I'll keep it short and sweet.
In a tight season such as this and with reduced H&A games, most matches this year (excepting those involving Adelaide) are looking like true 8 point games. Friday night is no different when 13th placed GWS on 12 points take on 4th placed Richmond on 18 points for what will be the first rematch of the 2019 grand final.
Form
GWS - LWWLL
The giants are coming off the back of 2 straight losses against the top 2 teams and will be looking to make amends this week and to avenge their poor (non?) showing in the grand final. The giants were competitive against the Power a fortnight ago until Port kicked away in the last with a period of 4 successive goals. Against the lions they conceded the first 4 goals of the match and effectively the game.
Leon Cameron's described the team post-match
"We are a rung off the topliners at the moment,
We're in that (mid-table) logjam - win a couple and lose a couple.
The boys are down a bit on confidence."
While Brett Deledio described the team to be 'bunch of 22 individuals' versus a 'collective team'. Seems it might've taken Brett a whole career to work that one out.
Players to watch.
Stephen Coniglio looks to be returning to his best after a solid performance against the lions and Taranto will only improve after his first game back from injury. Toby Greene should also return and keep an eye on Mumford to see who can give away the most free kicks between him and Soldo
Richmond - LLWWW
Richmond on the other hand have won the last 3 games though only really look to have hit form on the weekend with a return to their customary, high-octane pressure game as they put away a lacklustre norf. Similarly to last year, the tiges, missing a host of best-22, seem to be re-invigorated by the injection of youth - this time including the likes of Shai Bolton, Derek Eggmolesse-Smith, Mabior Chol, Jake Aarts and Noah Balta. Against the kangaroos on the weekend the tigers lacked efficiency and polish entering the fwd 50 but this was made up for in pressure and persistence. However, the game at times looked like a training run with the kangaroos only scoring 2 goals for the match, coming in the 2nd qtr. How the tigers game holds up against an expected better outfit in GWS remains to be seen.
Players to watch
The youf. Will man back up his BOG performance? Bolton is in career best form with an abundance of slick moves covering the omission of Shane Edwards. Chol also seems to be building confidence in the senior team. Astbury will likely come in for Caddy after his hamstring injury.
Young players form can be fickle but hopefully the guys can keep it up.
Tip
I think the form is a lot closer than the recent win/losses suggest and of course the tigers haven't beaten anyone good yet (actually true this time) with the last 3 wins coming against bottom 5 sides (at the time of playing).
So I'll taper my prediction a little and say,
Tiges by 89 points.
Let's do this one for Tucky
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