Richmond assistant coach Justin Leppitsch has outlined the scale of the task confronting the Tigers when they take on GWS at Giants Stadium this Saturday without the services of injured brilliant ‘bookends’ Alex Rance and Jack Riewoldt.
But even though both Rance and Riewoldt will be missing from Richmond’s line-up for the first time in 10 years, Leppitsch is confident the Tigers can counteract their absence.
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“They bring the spunk and the spark to our team, they bring the voice and direction. So others have to stand up in their place,” Leppitsch said.
“It’s not easy to replace those guys . . . But it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
“It just means we all have to lift the load a little bit.
“This is what challenges coaches.
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“It challenges our imagination, our tactical brain and all those sorts of things to try and put something together that’s going to challenge an opposition any week.
“But I still maintain if we still come out and play to our strengths – our defensive part of our game – we’ll be okay.
“We’ve done that for a couple of years now and been okay. So we just have to bring that intent.”
