How weird is to not have a game to watch this week? As I write this, it’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting at home wishing I could be watching the boys play instead. However it’s our turn for the bye, a week off from football to rest and recuperate, especially after our fairly crushing loss to Port Adelaide in Darwin last week.

At the beginning of the year, many people were thinking that the bye was going to be quite beneficial, especially if you had it after the first five or so rounds. The players would have a chance to rest and any injured players would miss one less match. When I found out Richmond’s byes were Round 11 and Round 19, I considered these to be very well-timed byes. Round 11 is far enough into the season that the boys will need a rest, and Round 19 gives the boys a chance to recuperate before firing up for the last few rounds and perhaps even finals. Our draw in terms of byes seemed very good, unlike poor Gold Coast who have already had their two byes for the season and won’t get a rest for the remainder of the season.

However, 11 rounds in and the feeling around byes and how beneficial they are has changed. Essendon’s unexpected loss to Melbourne this week has highlighted how the bye can affect a team’s game. Out of all the teams which have had their bye, which only Port Adelaide hasn’t, only Geelong and Hawthorn have won the following week, unless they were playing another team which also had the bye the week before.

Some of these losses were quite unexpected. Sydney lost to Carlton at home. Essendon lost this week to Melbourne, in what should have been a winnable game for them. However there also have been some close calls. Carlton lost the game after their bye to Geelong by two points. Geelong are undefeated this season, but had the blues not had their bye the round before could they have beaten them?

Similarly Collingwood’s round 8 loss. The week after their bye, Collingwood (who were undefeated up until then) met Geelong, also undefeated. Collingwood lost by three points. Did the bye influence this loss? It’s hard to say.

Round 6 is the round which both Geelong and Hawthorn bucked the trend and won the round after their byes. Does this mean round 5 is the ideal round for a team’s first rest? Does a bye any further into the season affect match fitness? Again it is difficult to answer these questions.

Maybe its all coincidence, or maybe teams aren’t using the bye to train and are relaxing too much, or maybe players lose focus after a week off? I’d be interested to see any comments you guys have on this!

Richmond faces Sydney at the SCG next. This is no easy task at the best of times. This week we saw Sydney convincingly beat Brisbane at the Gabba, and they will come to the match with great confidence. In the Port Adelaide game, Richmond’s tackling differential was the worst for the year. Against a team like Sydney, who are all about contested possessions and stoppages, this will need to be rectified. The boys will need to go hard and put their bodies on the line, especially since they have had an extra week of recovery. Lets hope they bring their A game, and join the few teams who have won after a bye.

As always, Go Tiges! Meg.