As brilliant as Richmond star midfielder Dustin Martin was throughout last Thursday night’s opening round match against Carlton at the MCG, Tigers coach Damien Hardwick insists there will not be an over-reliance on him in the team’s ‘engine room’.
“If Dusty has a down day, we’ve got guys like (Josh) Caddy, (Dion) Prestia, (Trent) Cotchin, (Nick) Vlastuin . . . Those guys can step up and fill the void,” Hardwick said.
“The one thing we’re really happy with at the moment is our midfield spread – the ability and depth of players to go through that part of the ground.
“So, while the focus might be very much on Dusty this week, we’ve got a lot of capable players that can go through there as well.”
Hardwick is expecting a “great contest” when Richmond takes on Collingwood at the MCG this Thursday night in a blockbuster Round 2 encounter.
The Magpies pushed reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs all the way in their opening round clash, winning several key statistical categories, before eventually going down by 14 points.
“Collingwood were incredibly unlucky (against the Bulldogs). I thought they played pretty well on the night,” Hardwick said.
“The thing that Collingwood do very well is they control the ball very well through the back half through uncontested marks.
“And their other ability is they really get high possession numbers . . .
“We played them in our last JLT game, which gives us a fair template to work off.”
