Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is fully aware of the different playing style adopted by the Essendon side over the past few weeks, and the Tigers have planned accordingly in preparations for Saturday night’s blockbuster ‘Dreamtime at the ‘G’ clash.
“They’ve changed a number of things,” Hardwick said.
“The first four weeks, they probably tended to go backwards and sideways a little bit. But I think over the last four rounds, they’re AFL No. 1 for kicking forward.
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“Their mark-play-on rate is incredibly high now. They’re playing a faster brand of footy, which probably suits them more from my point of view.
“So, we’ve just got to slow them down and get the game on our terms, which is very similar to the Port Adelaide game last week.
“If we defensively come to play, we think we’ll get the result we’re after.”
Success on the big Dreamtime at the ‘G stage is something that has eluded Richmond in recent seasons – and something Hardwick is keen to see rectified on Saturday night.
“I think, the last three to four years, we’ve split games at both ends, but we probably haven’t won the first game at any stage,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to amending that and making sure we start off on the right foot . . .”
