Its three wins on the trot now for our beloved Tigers, a statistic that hasn’t happened too often over the past five years or so.

While yes, the first two didn’t come against great opposition, to beat a genuine finals contender in Fremantle is a big step forward for this football club.

A lot has been made about Fremantle’s form in Victoria, but to beat them comfortably like we did gave the Richmond faithful a lot to cheer about.

The spread of goal kickers we had not only in last week’s game, but over most of the season has been fantastic to watch and is a major credit to Damien Hardwick and the rest of the coaching staff in maximising the scoring output from the team.
Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin and most improved player Robin Nahas all booted four each on the way to 49-point demolition of the Dockers.

Aside from that, there were also some other really pleasing signs to come from the match.

After a very suspect start to the year, Shane Edwards has found form over the last two weeks. He is now playing much like he did last year, breaking the lines and using his evasiveness to set up his teammates from half-back to the wing.

The much-maligned Brad Miller has also played his role to perfection since coming into the team. While he’s not taking ten marks a game and kicking five goals a week, that is not what we need from him. His strong leads and marking skills have been a great asset to the club thus far and his tackling and defensive pressure has been top notch for a key forward.

Perhaps the most pleasing aspect that I took out of the game however was the depth in the midfield that we now have. Before last week, Dustin Martin was the most talked about player in the league after two dominant performances against North Melbourne and Brisbane. Last week against Fremantle he was sat on and beaten by his tagging opponent, but this allowed Trent Cotchin the space to play the best game of his career, finishing with 25 disposals and four goals from the midfield.

Teams are going to struggle to tag both Cotchin and Martin out of the game, and when you add other pieces to the midfield like Nathan Foley, Shaun Grigg, Bachar Houli and now Robin Nahas, there is some genuine talent there.

This week against the Western Bulldogs is yet another opportunity for our boys to take on another finals contender.

While missing a couple of key players in Shaun Higgins and Barry Hall, the Bulldogs play Etihad Stadium very well and with a midfield group of Cooney, Cross, Boyd and Griffen they will be difficult to stop.

I think keeping those four players off the goal scoring sheet will inevitably lead us to our fourth straight win. That task will be easier said than done though.
Adam Cooney has kicked bags of goals plenty of times, while Ryan Griffen also knows how to find the big sticks.

However, if we can nullify their midfield scoring prowess and use the ball efficiently ourselves it should be a cracker of a match. Our forward line should also be able to stretch their defenders and I also believe our backline is well equipped to defeat a Hall-less Bulldogs forward line.

As mentioned it should be an enthralling game of football, so if you can, make sure you get down to Etihad Stadium this Sunday, as Richmond needs its 19th man, the fans.

Go Tiges!