With the countdown to bouncedown season 2012 on in earnest, Tony Greenberg continues his look at the burning questions on the lips of Yellow and Black barrackers. Today he ponders . . .
How important is the first month of the season to the Tigers’ hopes of significant improvement in 2012?
View the 2012 fixture here
The general consensus outside Tigerland is that the team will find the going particularly tough in the opening five rounds, with matches scheduled against last year’s premier Geelong, runner-up Collingwood, fourth-placed West Coast, fifth-placed Carlton, and Melbourne.
It is, however, a similar scenario to the start of the 2011 season, where Richmond faced reigning premier Collingwood, runner-up St Kilda, seventh-placed Hawthorn, eighth-placed Carlton, and North Melbourne.
That didn’t turn out to be the predicted “nightmare on Punt Road”, with the Tigers leading Carlton by 14 points in the season-opener, before going down by 20 points, drawing with St Kilda in a Round 2 thriller, being well beaten by Hawthorn in Round 3 and Collingwood in Round 4, but then bouncing back to defeat North by nine points in Round 5.
Admittedly, Richmond hasn’t beaten the Blues since the opening round of the 2008 season, but a strong showing against them would instil a fair bit of confidence into the Tiger troops for the battles ahead. With some self-belief and momentum built up in the first few weeks of the season, who knows what the Tigers are capable of achieving . . .
On the other hand, a slowish start against the competition’s elite performers of 2011, would hardly have anyone searching for the panic button.
Remember, this is a marathon event, and wins mid-season or late-season are worth just as many points as those at the start.
The next Burning Question will appear tomorrow.
