Richmond is making their first trip to Geelong since 2017 with “nothing to lose” as the Tigers look to capitalise on the Cats’ four-game losing streak.
Richmond were competitive in a narrow Dreamtime defeat to high-flying Essendon last Saturday night, after being crunched by the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions in consecutive weeks in May.
Superstar Dustin Martin was back to his spectacular best against the Bombers, and he has previously enjoyed feeding on Geelong.
The Tigers will be missing fellow gun Shai Bolton (concussion) and veteran Dion Prestia (managed), but premiership midfielder Jack Graham will return from injury. When questioned about facing under-fire Geelong as big underdogs, coach Adem Yze indicated the Tigers (1-10) would “play on that”.
“We’re going down there with nothing to lose,” remarked Yze. “We haven’t played down there in a while, which is interesting in and of itself.
“We’re going to have to create our own intensity and an energy, so having nothing to lose can be a scary thing (for the opposition).”
Following a successful encounter on the sidelines against the Bombers, Yze will return to coaching from the bench. “I felt like I could help the players stay engaged … if we lose momentum, how we can step back in and stay in the moment,” he stated.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said the Cats were not panicking despite suffering their longest losing streak since joining the club in 2011.
The Cats have lost two straight games at GMHBA Stadium for the first time since 2015. “I’ve actually been really happy with the last couple of weeks in the way our players have approached it,” Scott stated.
“I didn’t think we were flying at the start of the year, even if the scoreboard read 7-0, and I don’t think the last month has been a disaster either.
“If we hit our stride, it will be a bad time to play against us. “It’s an uncomfortably tight season.”
