Richmond’s last win came in mid-July, Essendon’s in late May. There is every chance both clubs will still be winless when they meet next month for Dreamtime.
The Tigers slumped to their ninth loss in a row on Saturday when they were easily beaten by Port Adelaide in a ho-hum game befitting the off-Broadway timeslot of Saturday twilight and broadcast behind a paywall.
The fans were headed up the aisles early into the final quarter when Port’s lead ballooned out to 43 points, having seen enough of a performance that shows how long the road will be from the bottom reaches of the ladder.
The building blocks are in place for the Tigers after their bumper draft haul in 2024 but turning promise into results is a process that takes years – and Adem Yze’s young men have only just left ground zero.
Port were last week overrun by West Coast, yet they had panels on these Tiger cubs, though it can be argued Richmond are better-placed long term for the path they have chosen.
The Tigers’ 0-4 start is their worst beginning to a season since 2010, Damien Hardwick’s first season at the helm, and they have won just two of their past 18 games.
North Melbourne in a fortnight and West Coast away in round eight shape as their two most winnable games before their Dreamtime clash with Essendon in round 11. Excluding next week’s Gather Round against Melbourne, the Bombers will start rank outsiders in every match until that marquee fixture.
At a stage where they need full availability to be competitive, Richmond cannot absorb the absences of Toby Nankervis, Tom Lynch and Noah Balta. Their kids are not ready.
While there was no faulting the Tigers’ effort and spirit, they did not have the skill or knowhow to challenge Port for long enough to test expose any frailties.
Aliir Aliir formed a Power roadblock, dominating his match-up with Jonty Faull, who is being asked to do more than should be demanded of a second-year forward. All up, 18 of his 23 possessions were intercepts, including eight marks.
When coaches set their defensive plans, having their key defender mark long balls is plan A. Richmond fuelled Port’s game.
“If I could plan that perfectly, that we can shut them down and have them kick it straight to Aliir, that would be a perfect play,” Port coach Josh Carr said.
“We want to defend well, we want to defend the transition, and we want to send them long down the line, which is what I’d say every team wants to do. And Aliir in his one-on-ones was outstanding.”
The best parts of Richmond’s game came late in the second quarter when they booted three goals in red time and in the latter half of the third term when they controlled the play but could not convert.
Tigers fans needing a reason to keep turning up will have to make do with glimpses of the future, such as Liam Fawcett’s two-goal spurt just before half-time, Sam Lalor’s long-range bomb and the tenacity of the aptly named Steely Green, who lacks not for hardness but, as yet, does not have the poise to finish that comes with maturity.
Or perhaps they can find nourishment in Sam Grlj’s perseverance to worry Jason Horne-Francis into error, or how they won the counts for clearances and inside 50s.
What they do not want to see is mindless acts like Samson Ryan’s gut punch on Jordon Sweet, which gifted a goal to Corey Durdin and has placed him at risk of suspension. Ryan apologised to Yze after the game for an act the coach said can “crush your spirit”.
Yze said the morale in the dressing room remained high despite the lack of wins.
“I think if I felt there was an issue with that, I feel like we would have turned our toes up after quarter-time, and it would have been all too hard,” Yze said.
“I don’t sense that.
“We win a lot of the key indicators that you want to win in a game. We’ve just in the back half of last year, and start of this year, we’ve just battled with some experience that have gone out of our team, and our injury list is just way too big.
“Early in the season, in round one, when we had availability, we’re really competitive, and we should have won the game, and early last year was really similar.
“Right now, there’s a little bit of pain, but I feel like the silver lining for these young boys getting an opportunity while we’re going through what we’re going through, and the guys that are out, when they come back in, I feel like we will be really competitive against anyone.”
