The Richmond Report from "eat em alive!"

Richmond's performance against Footscray last week signalled a very long, very cold winter ahead. I could not even write about it I was that hurt. We were abominable in every aspect of the game - disposal, ball handling, pace, desire for the footy, game plan, ... .

This week we showed that even though 14th looks the likely finishing position, we have some character, and a little ability (though well behind the other 13 teams).

We were outclassed by a St Kilda who remain under-done in fitness and preparation. At least we were competitive and attacked the footy and the opposition with gusto. Joel Bowden was magnificent in defense, and proves to be one of our few consistent quality performers. Even his brother, who I still find hard to accept in Richmond jumper was a contributor. Raines, Tuck, Hyde, Coghlan, and Pettifer were all battlers. Simmons was OK. Richmond came back admirably in the second half after being about 4 goals down in the second quarter, and hit the front for a short time. It was only a short time however, as St Kilda have much more class and depth.

The tragedy of the day was the loss of Thursfield for the season with a knee injury. He has shown promise as an improving young key defender. Following that we had no-one to curtail Riewoldt.

I unfortunately must continue to turn my mind back to 1967, 1969, 1974, and 1980 to find inspiring memories of Richmond as a force in competition. If only we could get Royce Hart, Kevin Bartlett, Francis Bourke, Kevin Sheedy, Ian Stewart, Geoff Raines, Mark Lee, Robert Wiley, David Cloke, and Jim Jess back on the ground ...

Eat 'em alive is the old Richmond catch cry.