Tigers' MCG record cause for confidence
Sep 19, 2017 - 2:14 AM If 90,000 screaming fans aren't enough to give Richmond the mental edge, their formidable record at the MCG might just do it.The home of football looms as an X-factor for the Tigers when they face Greater Western Sydney in Saturday's AFL preliminary final.
For all their improvement this year, the Tigers have undoubtedly been a different beast at home.
Including their qualifying final victory over Geelong, Damien Hardwick's men have a 10-2 record at the MCG this season.
Away from the 'G, their record falls to 6-5.
The Giants have a 1-10 record at the MCG across six seasons, and like the Cats a fortnight ago, are bracing for a hostile, pro-Tigers crowd tipped to reach 90,000.
"I know that it was an away game last week but teams have to come to the MCG now to beat us," Richmond defender David Astbury said on Tuesday.
"Obviously it's a big crowd, and our record there ... we think that it sits above other teams in the AFL.
"We don't buy into it too much (but) it just gives us a little bit of confidence."
While spirits are high at Punt Road, there's also no shortage of respect for the Giants after their clinical semi-final demolition of West Coast.
The absence of spearhead Jeremy Cameron proved little impediment as mercurial veteran Steve Johnson (six goals), Toby Greene (three) and Jonathon Patton (two) ran rings around the Eagles' defenders.
"They're just stocked with talent," Astbury said.
"Once they get their game style, particularly offensively, up and going, they can be quite damaging.
"That'll be a focus for us. We've played them twice already this year and I think we've done a relatively good job with that.
"Nothing really changes. We've got to be on because when they get up and moving, they can be quite damaging."
With a healthy list to select from, Richmond may be tempted to line up unchanged as they look to extend their deepest finals run in 16 years.
The Tigers will head into Saturday's clash having played just one game in 27 days, but Astbury - who is likely to get the big job on 197cm Giants forward Patton - was confident in his side's preparation.
"We've designed the program over the last fortnight to make sure that we had a good hitout as if it was game-like intensity," Astbury said.
"We really enjoyed that on Saturday. We've had the weekend off and we think that we're in really good shape."
Source: AAP
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