'Dumb' footy tamed Tigers: McGuane
Richmond's performance against North Melbourne was a big let-down after the form it has displayed recently, says Luke McGuane
The Tigers had won five of their previous six matches - with wins over top-eight and top-four sides in the last couple of weeks - but were comprehensively taken apart by the Kangaroos, who increased their lead at every change to keep their top-eight hopes alive.
McGuane said the side had taken too long to adapt to the conditions.
“It was really disappointing - we felt like we took a step backwards today in the way that we’d been playing, and one of the biggest reasons for that would be that we just didn’t adjust to the wet quick enough,” he told richmondfc.com.au after the game.
“We didn’t play wet-weather footy; in a way I suppose you could call it dumb football.
“We just took too long to figure out that it was going to be wet-weather footy, and contested ball was going to be the key."
Instead, McGuane believes the team over-used the handball and reverted to a simpler game-plan when it was too late.
"We tried to play clean football, which we have been for the last three or four weeks and has been getting us wins, but that’s not going to get you a win in the wet ... We didn’t change quick enough.”
Like his coach, McGuane said he was looking forward to Saturday’s blockbuster against Collingwood, which now sits top of the ladder after Saturday's thumping of St Kilda.
“They are playing great football - I went and watched them yesterday, and I think the boys will come with the right mindset next week.
“It’s a very disappointed bunch of boys with the way we performed today - disappointed at what we served up to the fans, and I’m sure we will bounce back really hard next week.
“We have come a long way, and we expect to win - that’s why we are so disappointed, because we expected to win that game.”