Fremantle may be winless after eight rounds, but Richmond is under no illusions as to the tough contest it will encounter in Saturday night’s Round 9 match at Domain Stadium.
The Tigers are bracing themselves for a dour, contested-ball battle in the predicted wet conditions.
“They’re not in horrible form, that’s the thing. They’ve played some good footy against some good teams of late,” Richmond assistant coach Mark ‘Wilbur’ Williams said on this week’s edition of Roar Vision’s ‘Opposition Analysis.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re on our game, and we’re playing the game on our terms . . . the way we need to play it.”
With reigning Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe sidelined for the season because of a fractured leg, Lachie Neale has stepped up and become Fremantle’s premier midfielder.
Neale, who is ranked No. 1 in the competition for contested possessions, figures prominently in the Tigers’ plans for Saturday night’s clash.
“He’s their barometer at the moment in the midfield . . . their main target at stoppage. He wins the ball in close and works really hard into space,” Williams said.
“We need to stop his influence, so we might start someone on him at stoppages and then play off him from there. It just depends on what he’s doing at the time.
“We obviously need to play the game on our terms as well, so we can’t go sitting on every single bloke. But he’s the bloke we need to watch and make sure that he doesn’t have an influence on the game.”
Richmond also has put considerable time into working out how to nullify the influence of Dockers captain David Mundy, who has been excelling in his new role across the backline this season.
“He gives them a bit of experience back there. He’s a good ball user, solid in defence, and very good at starting their attack as well,” Williams said.
“We’ve got to keep the ball away from him and try to get round him.”
The duel between star Richmond key defender Alex Rance and veteran Fremantle champion forward Matthew Pavlich shapes as a major highlight of the encounter under the Domain Stadium Saturday night lights.
“He (Pavlich) hurt us a couple of years ago in a game at the ‘G’. ‘Rancey’ is in great form, played a great game last week,” Williams said.
“They always have a really good battle, these two . . . Pavlich smart, really good in the air. Rancey great at ground level, helps us out with our rebound and our offensive transition.
“So, it’s an exciting match-up.”
Jack Riewoldt tackles Lachie Neale at the MCG last season
