Hey fellow Richmond fans!

I’m really excited to be a part of the Richmond blogging team for season 2012!

I’m a 20 year old journalism student who is now up to my 14th consecutive season as a Richmond member.

What I plan to bring to this conversation is more about game day. Personally, I enjoy analysing the opposition, so during the home and away season I’ll be posting round by round previews, taking a look at potential match ups and where I think the Tigers can exploit their opponent.

This week I’m looking at the club’s first hit out last Friday night against North Melbourne and Hawthorn.

It’s been a long summer, and even though the season is still a month away, it was refreshing to be able to get that Tigers jersey on and head down to Etihad on a Friday night after work.

To be honest, I really wasn’t expecting a great deal from the Tigers on Friday night; not because I was sceptical, but just the fact we haven’t won a pre-season competition game since 2004.

For the first time in a long while though, we sent out a really strong side, with only Brett Deledio, Kelvin Moore, Ben Griffiths and David Astbury missing through injury and Daniel Connors missing out on selection.

What I like to take out of these sorts of games is of course how fit the players are looking, how the new guys go, and the positioning of some players which all give a slight indication of the season ahead.

It’s been fair to say in the past, as fans, we haven’t really walked away feeling chuffed at all in the pre-season games, but this time I can honestly say I was mighty impressed.

By no means am I going to get carried away, because there is only so much a player or team can achieve in 2x20 minute half matches, but it’s the small things you look for.

You see a young player like Matthew Arnot who was the sub in Richmond’s first game, get activated with roughly around two minutes to go, and he registers four tackles (absolute bone crunchers might I add).

It wasn’t just Arnot. The one noticeable trait I noticed from the Tigers on Friday was the pressure; defence, midfield and in the forward line. It is really heartening to see key position players like Brad Miller lead the way and chase and tackle like he did; it’s contagious. Jack Riewoldt mustn’t be forgotten here too. Whilst he struggled finding the ball, his pressure acts would’ve been right up there, and it was the major reason why the Kangaroos struggled to get it outside our forward 50.

I think if we’re going to make the finals this season, this is one vital area that we need to maintain. We kept it up for about 90% of the game and in that 10% is where we lost the match with North Melbourne cutting through our zone and getting very easy goals on the rebound (annoyingly Aaron Edwards being the beneficiary).

That is one area that potentially cost us a finals spot last season; those momentary lapses in concentration. With such a young team, it is expected though, and they can only learn from their mistakes.

For a round one pre-season hit out though, our structures looked much more ‘mature’. It’s probably not the best word to explain it, but that’s how I felt. You could just see the amount of work that has gone into the defensive positioning and how it’s evolved over a matter of two seasons.

Individually, I was really impressed with most of the list.

Ivan Maric was my stand out. He had a brilliant first up test against Todd Goldstein and Hamish McIntosh, and I thought he came out as a ‘hands down’ winner. In basically a half of football, he accumulated 12 hit outs and 5 disposals. The North Melbourne pair combined for 7 hit outs and 7 disposals. What I like about Ivan is the fact he throws his weight around. He may not be the most athletically gifted ruckman, but gone are the days where the opposition ruckmen are going to monster us and carry their team to victory alone. Ivan is intimidating, oh and that mullet…….

Ivan’s name sake Addam was my second best recruit on the night. I always rated him as a junior, and was really disappointed he wasn’t able to carve out a career at Melbourne, not that I’m complaining now. I just don’t think they used him right to be honest. Quite often he was stuck in the forward pocket, and as well all know, the traditional one dimensional crumbing forward is a dying art form these days, with Stephen Milne possibly being the only exception. Small forwards need to be able to push up the ground, help the ball get out of the zone, and then push back hard. Addam can do this, as he showed on Friday night and in one match for Melbourne where he collected 32 disposals. Maric is an outstanding kick of the football, one the best you’ll see, so all he needs to do is find it. He can do that too, given opportunity. I think he’s a real smoky to be in our round one side without Jake King.

Brandon Ellis and Steve Morris were the other much talked about rookies to debut for the Tigers on Friday night. Ellis was one of my very favourites from the draft last season, and he doesn’t look out of place at all. The good thing about him is the fact he already has a very mature physique, so there is no question he’ll be able to match it with the big boys. He didn’t find a lot of the ball, but he did play very deep. It’ll be great to see him play up the ground a bit more as the season goes on hopefully.

Morris just oozes qualities that Damien Hardwick would love. His chase down tackle on the Kangaroos half forward line sums up what Steve is all about. He’s the type of defender we’ve been screaming out to recruit for a long time; the classic stopper. Steve will stop his opponent first before worrying about getting the footy. He will be a great asset.

Tom Derickx is the one player I’m really looking forward to see more of. I think he is a very good chance to be a regular member of the team if he can be a strong marking target up forward. The good thing is, I think we saw the absolute best of Brad Miller on Friday night. The competition for spots is heating up, but I like Derickx because he is a genuine ruck option as well, which means Ty Vickery can play permanently up forward, leaving Jack to run a muck wherever he likes!

The last big positive for me is the move into the midfield for Reece Conca and Jake Batchelor. Reece especially looked so impressive in his new role and he showed why he was so highly rated as a midfielder in the 2010 draft. In the future, I liken Reece to our Joel Corey. I think he’ll be an uncompromising, elite ball winner at AFL level that will go under the radar because everyone’s focusing on the big three in Deledio, Cotchin and Martin. It will be an imposing midfield.

On a side note, I think Jake Batchelor is one of the best tacklers in the side. They stick!

In my opinion, the key to us being a success this season are exactly what I’ve written above. They consist of team acts on the field; structures, pressure etc, and the players I’ve also spoken about.

Of course, you have Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Brett Deledio, Jack Riewoldt, Alex Rance and Tyrone Vickery that will all inevitably improve through natural progression, but it’s what happens around them that matters most. I think for the first time in a long time there is a genuine competition for spots in this side. This will only increase player performance.

If we close the gap between our best and our worst, keep healthy, and maintain strong structures, good things will happen!

I hope you enjoyed my first instalment.

You can catch me on Twitter @KristianPisano for further Tiger discussion!

Go Tiges!