Despite a disappointing loss to Essendon on the weekend, Richmond VFL coach Tim Clarke believes that the Tigers can topple second-placed Footscray and finish their first season as a standalone club with a win.
After defeating the Bombers earlier in the season, the Tigers started well but struggled in the pivotal third term.
“We came out after half time thinking that we’d controlled most of the game and then for them to go out and score like that, the way they did, was pretty disappointing,” Clarke told Roar Vision.
“We were still able to get our hands on the football but they just scored five or six goals in a row. It was credit to our guys in the last quarter to show a bit of fight and pull it back to within seven points at one stage.“
Daniel Jackson impressed with his contested work in his return from injury, and Sam Lloyd was performed well up forward, but Clarke expects more from the talented Tiger duo.
Defender Matt Dea, who was Richmond’s best defender in the loss, won praise from his coach for setting up play from the back half.
“Matty’s focus going into the game was to be a little bit more offensive, play a little bit higher up the ground. In the last couple of weeks at VFL [level] he’s been caught playing on deeper opponents so he had a focus to get up the ground and he did that. He helped set us up a lot,” Clarke said.
The Tigers face Footscray at the ME Bank Centre on Sunday and while Clarke is wary of the Bulldogs pace and contested ball abilities, he believes that his side can get a result.
“We got beaten very badly by them in Round 1 but we had a few players out and couldn’t match up on them,” he said.
“I think we’ll match up OK on their key forwards, we’ve got some good players to come back this week that can give us a bit of grunt inside so hopefully it’s a physical contest early and if we can do that – shut down some of their runners – it’ll go a way to winning the game.”
This weekend match also carries added sentiment, as it marks the 50 year anniversary since the last game for VFL premiership points was played on Punt Road Oval in 1964.
The game will be the eighth and final Richmond VFL home game at the ME Bank Centre, and the match will be another curtain-raiser to Richmond's AFL clash with St Kilda at the MCG at 4:40pm.
