Richmond star Brett Deledio has promised the club's fans a four-quarter effort against the Gold Coast in Cairns today after last week's final-term fadeout against Essendon. The Tigers trained in front of more than 1000 adoring fans at Cazalys yesterday as they prepared for one of their biggest matches of the season.
Despite promising signs early in the year, the Tigers have slumped to three losses in a row and dropped to 13th on the ladder – eight points out of the top eight.
After suffering a 103-point flogging at the hands of Carlton a fortnight ago, the Tigers were in a position to beat the Bombers last week before surrendering 10 unanswered goals in the final two quarters. Deledio said it was a game the Tigers let slip.
"We’ll definitely learn from our mistakes, but expect a good four-quarter performance from everyone this week," he said. "We did a lot right in those (first) three quarters. We just dropped away with our intensity."
Deledio said his side had to win today to stay in contention for the top eight.
"If we want to have a crack at finals we need to win and we expect to win, and that’s not to pay any disrespect to the Gold Coast," he said.
The Tigers are wary of the warmer conditions in Cairns, learning the lessons of their 15-point loss to Port Adelaide in the stifling Darwin humidity in May. On that occasion, the Tigers led by nine points at halftime, but faded in the final two quarters and were outscored six goals to 10 by the lowly Power.
Deledio said the preparations for Cairns had included using a heat chamber.
"We’ve spent probably three sessions this week in the heat chamber and last week as well, to try and get ready for the different climate," Deledio said yesterday. "It’s to get used to the humidity and we were on the (training) bikes. We had one 20-minute session and two 30-minute sessions (each week)."
But Suns defender Jarrod Harbrow, who joins fellow Far North players Charlie Dixon and Rex Liddy in the Suns line-up today, said his side sensed an opportunity against the Tigers.
"We think we can get them while they’re at a low, so we’re going to try and use that to our advantage," he said.
Read more at http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2011/07/16/174225_local-sport-news.html
Courtesy of The Cairns Post.
Last Modified on 22/07/2011 21:20