While the first two matches were massive in that they involved old rivals Carlton and Collingwood, this weekend’s game against Melbourne becomes important for the most primal reason there is in footy.
To win.
While there’s no doubt a win would have been firmly on the agenda for the club during the opening two rounds, playing against two, top four calibre sides in the Pies and Blues was always going to be a huge task given the stage in development our side is at in comparison.
However, this week anything apart from a win will be deemed unacceptable by many, including myself.
If we are to be taken seriously as a club and show that we are on the right track to where we eventually want to be, then it must start with beating teams who we SHOULD defeat.
Don’t get me wrong though, the four points won’t be just handed to us. In fact, a fired up Melbourne unit is definitely on the cards and we would be wise to show them respect otherwise an upset victory for the Demons could be on the cards.
Too many times we have seen the Tigers stumble badly against a side who is deemed to be a lesser opponent and the buck must stop with the players to show how much they actually want to nab that first victory for the year.
There are some key Tigers, namely Tyrone Vickery and Dustin Martin, who have played below par of their abilities on what they have shown us previously. Tyrone in particular must take some pressure off fellow forwards Jack Riewoldt and Brad Miller, especially with one of the best young key defender’s in the league, James Frawley, set to cause get the big job on Riewoldt in particular.
Martin, while he hasn’t had any games that I would deem to be poor, just doesn’t seem to be playing as his usual damaging self in the opening two rounds. It may be due to a heightened deal of attention being placed on him by the opposition (which as a result has allowed Trent Cotchin to have a great start to the year), so it’s something he’ll certainly have to learn to deal with as his AFL career develops.
With a difficult start to the year in terms of the opposition we face, this game takes on even more importance. While one obviously aims to win every game they play in, if we beat Melbourne we can sit back and say that we put up a good fight against two top sides, and beat a team that is deemed to be below us.
However, walk away with another defeat on the weekend and all of a sudden we are 0-3, the media will no doubt be on our backs and we will be staring down the barrel at Geelong and West Coast for the two weeks following that.
Either way, we will learn a lot about this football club by the end of Saturday’s match and whether or not many of the inconsistencies that have plagued us in recent times have been ironed out of our performance.
Before I go I’d just like to give a shout out to two ex-Melbourne players who will be lining up for us on Saturday. Firstly to Brad Miller who will play his 150th AFL match against his old club, I wish you the best of luck and hope you kick a bag.
The other player is Addam Maric. Melbourne deemed that he wasn’t good enough at AFL level and as a result was delisted until we threw him a lifeline to resurrect his football career. He is back in the line-up after a stunning display for Coburg last weekend, so hopefully he makes the most of his opportunity to show Melbourne that they were wrong to cut him.
Go Tiges!
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