The prospect of facing an in-form Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, in the first week of the finals series, doesn’t faze Richmond, according to coach Damien Hardwick.
Although the Crows convincingly defeated the Tigers by 36 points in their Round 19 encounter at Adelaide Oval, Hardwick is confident they can turn the tables if they were to meet in an elimination final.
That would most likely occur if Richmond loses to North Melbourne in Friday night’s final home-and-away round match at Etihad Stadium and Adelaide beats Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“No side holds any fear for us,” Hardwick said.
“We know if we play our best footy we’re capable of beating anyone.
“Granted, we met Adelaide on a great day for them last time.
“We played poorly, they played an outstanding game.
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“They won the contested ball by 30, the clearances by 20.
“We were quite lucky in theory we didn’t end up getting belted by 70 or 80 points. But defensively we hung tough . . .
“So, if we do go back there, we look forward to it.
“We’re looking forward to a bit of redemption from that because we were really poor in that game.”
On the other side of the ledger, Hardwick admitted the Tigers hadn’t given up hope of sneaking into fourth place and claiming the double chance in the finals series, which would happen if they defeat North Melbourne and Sydney suffers an upset loss to Gold Coast at the SCG on Saturday night.
“We’re still aiming for it. Until that door closes, we’ll continue to play as good a football as we can,” he said.
“I know we’ve got to rely on some other results, but stranger things have happened in the game of AFL footy, there’s no doubt about that.
“So, as far as we’re concerned, that door is still open, and we’re still aiming to put our foot through it.”
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