Richmond gained’t have the ability to compete with the highest groups come September, Fox Footy’s Cameron Mooney has warned after the Tigers suffered a 14-point loss to Collingwood on Friday night time.
The Tigers kicked only one aim for the primary half because the match was primarily performed within the Magpies ahead half.
Mooney stated the Tigers “should have been absolutely belted” as a wayward Collingwood blew loads of possibilities to complete with 8.15.
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“23 shots to 14 … I think they got away with one not being absolutely smashed,” he stated on Fox Footy Live.
“I think when they are playing the absolutely best teams in the competition, that’s what you are going to see.
“I don’t think they’re going to match it with those top teams. I still think they’ll play finals but be in the bottom half of the top eight.”
The Tigers entered the match with out Nathan Broad (suspension) and injured trio Dustin Martin, Jacob Hopper and Jayden Short, however Mooney stated that mattered little.
“They weren’t missing anything else other than Dusty – Dusty’s your main man,” he stated.
“I think your Hopper and (Tim) Tarantos weren’t about this year.
“I just look at Richmond and think everyone thought this was going to be a premiership team or premiership chance and I just didn’t see it.
“I just think tonight showed me against the top teams, I don’t think they’re going to compete.”
Fellow Fox Footy Live panellists Nick Dal Sato and Brad Johnson agreed the Tigers have been their worst enemy on the MCG in a match that began in moist circumstances.
“They turned the ball over 28 times in defensive half,” Dal Santo lamented.
“They weren’t clean enough.
“Some of them are just blatant clangers – they probably didn’t get punished as they normally would.”
“They were terrible by foot. Their exit from D50 was no good at all,” Johnson added.
Despite profitable the clearance rely, the Tigers had a whopping 81 turnovers for the match and took simply 9 marks inside 50 – the vast majority of these coming within the last quarter.
Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon described the Tigers as “unrecognisable” from their days as three-time premiers.
“It could have been a lot worse,” he stated of the Collingwood loss.
“I don’t think they are the Richmond of (the past), they’re not going to maintain the standard of when they won three premierships in four (years).
“Some of their guns, their most influential players are getting older and that’s just life.
“It’s going to happen to Jack (Riewoldt), it’s happening to Trent (Cotchin), Dylan Grimes.
“They’re not the players they once were.”
The Tigers now face a tricky three weeks towards the Western Bulldogs, who all of the sudden discovered kind on Thursday night time, the Swans in Adelaide for Gather Round after which Melbourne again on the MCG.
Originally printed as AFL legends simply gave the ‘terrible’ Tigers a brutal finals actuality verify… and it’s set to worsen
Source: www.news.com.au
