After one month of football the Richmond Football Club stands at one draw and three losses, which isn’t an ideal start when going off face value.

However, after playing Carlton, St.Kilda, Hawthorn and Collingwood who are all top four competing teams, I think to be on two premiership points after playing those sides could be seen as a reasonable start all things considered.

But the time for honourable losses is over. There are many winnable games on the horizon for the football club, and anything short of victory in these games will be very disappointing for the club and its thousands of members and supporters.

Although the team itself is still learning and very young, poor performances and losses against other clubs in a similar position to us cannot be tolerated, as Richmond looks to build a winning culture that has been sorely lacking for so long now.

This week is a great chance to see how Richmond has progressed over the past 16 months. North Melbourne has had the better of the Tigers in the vast majority of contests between the two teams over the past five years, often winning by a large margin.

However, with the Kangaroos winless so far this season it gives Richmond their best opportunity yet to claim that first victory of the season, and jump a few teams on the ladder in the process.

Richmond regains key defenders Alex Rance and Luke McGuane from suspension, and both have a lot to prove after letting down their teammates by missing the last 2-3 weeks through poor on-field discipline.

I felt Will Thursfield was a little stiff to be dropped from the team in place of one of these two. Will competed very well against Chris Dawes, keeping him to just two goals for the game out of Collingwood’s 24.

If it were up to me I would have only brought back one of Rance and McGuane. With neither of them having played for at least two weeks in any form of competition, I think it leaves both players dangerously low on match practice, and to have both of them playing in the same backline leaves us a little vulnerable in my opinion.

One aspect of the team selection I am happy with though is leaving Dylan Grimes in the side. Even though he has only played just three AFL games, this season he has already had to line up on the likes of Lance Franklin and Travis Cloke. Given North Melbourne’s lack of dangerous key forwards it will be interesting to see whether Grimes can really dominate his opponent after two reasonable outings against superstars of the competition.

While I've taught myself to be somewhat reserved when it comes to expectation of Richmond from week to week, I’m certainly expecting a win this Sunday. Our midfield has performed better and better with each passing week, with Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin continuing to develop into stars of the competition. Just like Grimes in defence, these two guys will get the opportunity to really put their skills on show against the Kangaroos who have a weaker midfield than the teams Richmond has already played.

If Richmond can at least break even through the middle then I think we will walk away with our first four points of the season. Our defence has been very solid through the first four weeks, and with Jack Riewoldt and Tyrone Vickery up forward we should be able to stretch the young Kangaroos defensively.

All in all its set to be a tight contest, but one which I believe we will win.

Go Tiges!