Amid the pain of a long injury list and inconsistent AFL form, Adam Yze is heartened that his Tiger cubs already hate losing.
Richmond fell apart in the third quarter on Sunday at the MCG as Adelaide took control and set up their 14.14 (98) to 9.7 (61) win.
After the game, the Tigers coach gauged the reaction of his least experienced players – it was the third game for Tom Burton, Sam Cumming and Oliver Hayes-Brown and the fourth for Patrick Retschko.
“They’re walking away from this game with a bad taste in their mouth, which is terrific,” Yze said.
“They’re made of the right stuff.
“It’s easy for a young guy to be happy playing AFL footy in his third game, in front of the home crowd, parents, it’s on Mother’s Day and family in the crowd.
“You could be happy with that, but we’re not.”
After their first win of the season last weekend, Richmond led Adelaide by 10 points at halftime.
But the Crows went up a gear and the Tigers could not go with them, with Adelaide kicking five goals to none in the third term.
Richmond rallied in the last quarter before Adelaide kicked away.
“Our attitude and intent havent’t changed and haven’t wavered,” Yze said.
“We could have turned our toes up in the last quarter, but the response … it hasn’t been an issue.
“That’s the basis of our club, really. We’ll keep fighting right to the end and we get everyone available we’ll be really hard to play against.
“There’s a lot of motivation and a lot of grit within our footy club. That’s all I can ask.”
The problem is, while the spirit is willing, the flesh at Punt Rd is being hammered.
Tom Brown was the latest casualty on Sunday, suffering a broken arm that will need surgery, while Kane McAuliffe is nursing an Achilles tendon problem.
Given they have so many injuries, Richmond’s rebuild is stalling.
“When you talk about the frustration, we need our players getting better on the AFL field, so we need them available,” Yze said.
“Sammy Lalor can’t get better sitting here watching.”
“When we have everyone available, we’re a really competitive team.”
It means Yze must strike a careful balance in his coaching.
“We’re impatient. My job is to get us back to playing finals footy as quick as we can,” he said.
“But the reality is, there’s going to be patience around when that is.
“I’m preaching patience right now because of what we’re going through.”
