In round 7 of a 24 week season it's understandable that no-one wants to get too excited and dare speak the words. The game against Freo was certainly crucial in the development of our young club, and seeing the way the young brigade brushed aside the heftier opponent, it's hard not to be excited.
The most pleasing aspect is the spread of performers through the last three games. Last weekend Martin, Deledio and Foley had slow starts to the game and the slack was taken up by Cotchin, Nahas, White, Houli and Grigg and others too numerous to mention. Though the aforementioned players picked up in the last quarter, the depth of the current playing list has been a feature.
The evenness for three quarters was outstanding until, the final term when the boys kicked away to a 49 point victory. To those of you who read my last blog, you may remember I did my best to reason we could win (excellent reasoning in hindsight). Well this week is no different. After last week's performance I believe anything is possible.
The belief coming through the Richmond football club is showing on the field. There was a point in the 3rd quarter against Freo where you could actually see the team collectively sniff a win. That was when they piled on the misery for Fremantle, who looked as though they weren't even on the field in the last quarter.
Next week's opponent is another team that some people may have thought should be a top four side. The Bulldogs have hardly played to their potential this season and most are expecting a breakout game for the embattled team. So far the Bulldogs have mustered only two wins from six games.
In recent years clashes between the two sides haven't been great from a Richmond perspective, in fact out of the last eight the Bulldogs have won 7 and drawn 1. Round 3, 2005 was the last time Richmond defeated the Bulldogs. That's the bad news. The good news is that whilst the Bulldogs are down in form and confidence, the Tigers have sensational form and real poise, but it doesn't end there.
The Bulldogs have averaged more disposals 378.8 to 354 in 2011, and with that the average disposal per goal has been 17.06 for the bulldogs and 13.36 for the Tigers. We have had more scoring shots this season and more tackles. Stats don't exactly paint the full picture, but what it does tell us is that Richmond are playing much better by comparison.
We no longer rely on one person to score goals and just a couple in the midfield and maybe two or three in the backline. You would have to look this Richmond team over with a magnifying glass to find someone not performing if at all, with more young guns waiting in the wings, playing at Coburg.
The reality is that the belief is not just coming from the team or the supporters, it is coming from the football community at large. More and more people are jumping on the Tiger bandwagon and why not? The boys are playing exciting football and really starting to close the gap on the top sides. There is belief coming from non supporters and supporters alike. The only proof we need of this is to look at the membership count displayed on the Richmond website. There are still a lot of supporters out there that aren't members but now is the time to get on board and be a part of the excitement.
As for the game this weekend (I know I said this last week) expect a tight one that will go down to the wire but I'm tipping the Tigers by 8 points.
