Welcome to 2012 Yellow and Bloggers.

I was at the Port Fairy Folk Festival earlier this month and Mick Thomas (the bloke from the band Weddings, Parties, Anything) was singing Monday's Experts (used as the theme song for one of the Monday eve footy review shows many years ago).  That's a song about hindsight.  About how easy it is to say what should have and could have been, what was wrong and what was right AFTER the siren has sounded, the horse has bolted, and the Akermanis has spoken.  As I was listening to the song I was thinking about how we Richmond fans have long suffered huge falls from high expectations, expectations that with hindsight many would come out and say were unrealistic.  'Hindsighters' I call them - bringers of way too late wisdom. 

And so in recent seasons I have hesitated a little to get too far ahead of myself when it comes to the Tigers.  Not easy to do when one carries around a rabid, barely controllable passion for the club. This passion is out there, we know it. It's the thing that makes the blindly optimistic say we'll win the flag this year FOR SURE and the hopelessly pessimistic say we'll be sacking coaches and players left, right and centre by Round 2.  Then there are all the in-betweeners, those of us who kind of have a handle on our passion but we remain nervous, anxious for indications that we'll win more than we'll lose and that we wont suffer one of those massive blow outs that seem to come around for the Tigers as regularly as the August flu.

But this season, THIS season, things are very different and all indications are that our maddening passion is about to be repaid. There are many but I will give you just three reasons why:

1.  Brett Deledio is staying and he is peaking - it was only a practice match against GWS, but to take 33 possessions and kick 4 goals first game back from injury suggests a formidable problem for oppositions.  Lids has become the ultimate utility.  He can hold down the defence, dominate the mid-field and snare goals at will.  Sure, Richmond is not a one player side and we have great depth now, but Deledio's continuing rise under Hardwick is a symbol for how our game plan has finally evolved into one that can hold its own in modern footy: agile, responsive, less predictable, more reliable.

2.  Damien Hardwick is also staying and he is peaking too - unlike some other coaches I dare not mention (lest I get a tirade of abuse from certain fans who just can't let some things go), Hardwick has steadfastly stuck to the hard task of rewarding performance over personality or status.  He has done this in an even-handed, transparent fashion, which has built trust.  He gives players the opportunity to play to their strengths, but makes them accountable to the game day plan and the team ethic.  No good kicking a bag of goals if your defensive work was poor and you cost us goals too.  No good taking a swag of marks if your disposal efficiency was rubbish and you caused fatal turnovers.  No good playing defensive when the plan was to attack the opposition. You get my drift.  Nothing flashy about Dimma.  Work hard, think, perform well, and we shall see.

3. Ivan Maric is here - don't get on your high horses. I hold a lot of respect for all of Richmond's recent full time ruckmen, especially Troy Simmonds. Tough job during trying times.  But the arrival of Ivan Maric means we finally have a committed full time ruckman who can combine very accurate tap work with an aggressive presence.  For our maturing mid-field this is vital.  Mid-fields win more often when ruckmen provide reliable supply against tough opposition.  Our mid-field has been emerging as one of the league's best, but to get to and hold the elite level a controlling ruckman like Maric is needed.

So, I say that the Tigers are poised for a superb season.  I think we will win more games than we lose this year and we will play finals, finally. Speaking up too early, and out on a limb?  Perhaps. The Hindsighters are of course quiet for now, but they'll turn up.  Either I will have understated or overstated our 2012 prospects.  Hindsighters are always right.  No matter, I'm happy to be on the record as openly confident.  I have not felt like this in March for years.