Richmond Tigers v Sydney Swans
AFL Aussie Rules : Australia : AFL Premiership
Venue :Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne
Sunday, 4th July 2010, Start 14:10 AEST

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The Tigers have won 3 of their last 4 and will be buoyed be a great away win in Brisbane two weeks ago. The Swans travel to Melbourne after a disappointing home defeat to the Pies last weekend needing a victory to consolidate their spot in the top 8.

The bottom 4-5 spots of the top 8 are so congested that one bad week and a few other results going certain ways could see a team out of the 8, so the Swans will be pretty switched on for this one I’d say.

Richmond Tigers (16th, 3-10) Form : LWLWW

The Tigers need to steer away from their heavy reliance on young gun Jack Riewoldt. But i guess if he keeps delivering why wouldn’t you rely on him?

The Tigers were touted by many pundits earlier this year as not being able to win a game at all this year. Richmond now have 3 wins but more importantly the confidence a young team so desperately needs to continue winning. This will be tougher than the three they have won and it will be interesting to see how the confidence they have makes an impact on the Tigers’ game.

Will Thursfield and Luke McGuane along with Mitch Farmer are the three key defenders for the Tigers. They will face the likes of Adam Goodes and Daniel Bradshaw, and will need to be at their best going up against some very experienced opponents. The runners in the defensive zone include Shane Tuck and Brett Deledio. They will need to use the ball well coming out of their defensive 50 m area and will be expected to set the play up for Richmond side.

The centreline for the Tigers has two of the games most exciting midfield prospects. Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin are both players that will play 200 plus games in the league and their youthful exuberance must be seen to be believed. They contest hard and low in every situation and they run hard to help team-mates as well as using the ball exceptionally well.

These are the attributes superstars are made of and it would not surprise me to hear these two names in the superstar category in the coming years. Shane Edwards has shown some good signs this year for the Tigers and he will need to put in a decent effort this weekend to support Martin and Cotchin.

Only one name to mention for the Tigers in attack. Jack Riewoldt is leading the Coleman Medal for goal kicking and that is an amazing feat given he has played in an ordinary side all year that has only won 3 matches. I keep harping on his amazing ability to take contested marks, but that attribute is so unnatural in today’s style of footy that it needs to be emphasised repeatedly.

If Riewoldt can get involved and kick 4-5 goals it will stand the Tigers in good stead toward getting the right result on Sunday. But they will need to be aware that the Swans enjoy the shut-down style of football, so other players like Ben Nason and David Astbury will also need to contribute towards the scoring.

Sydney Swans (7th, 7-6) Form : LLWWL

The Swans were not flogged last week but never looked like winning from the first bounce. They will be disappointed in their effort last week and now travel to the MCG to get some redemption for them. The way the Swans play it is hard to see them kicking a huge score and that should ensure this game is pretty close from start to finish.

The defence is anchored by Lewis Roberts-Thompson and he is likely to get the unenviable task of defending against Jack Riewoldt. LRT is in decent form and will need to use his bigger body to his advantage against Riewoldt because Riewoldt appears to have the advantage in almost every department. Heath Grundy will also be an important figure in the Swans defence along with Rhyce Shaw and Martin Mattner who will need to clear the lines and try to set up attacking forays for the Swans.

In the middle Brett Kirk could find himself having a good game in this one. It appears as though it could be a tight tussle with perhaps a chance of rain. Kirk loves these encounters and has earnt a reputation on these types of matches. He will seek the support of Daniel Hannebery, Nick Malceski and Kieran Jack in order to combat the likes of Edwards, Martin and Cotchin in a midfield battle that will last all game.

The forward line of the Swans is awaiting tests to see of Bradshaw is fit to play. If he is OK that will add to Sydney’s options up forward as they have Goodes, Ryan O’Keefe and Jesse White. All of these players can stand up and have a good game but the problem for the Swans has been none of these blokes have found consistency at the same time for about 6 weeks now. If they do it could spell trouble for the Tigers but I can’t see all of them turning it on together.

The Betting Tip

I cannot split these teams and feel this will be a close encounter

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Richmond +13.5 points at 1.65 on the "Pick Your Own Line" Bet at Centrebet.
(Medium - High Stakes)