Richmond coach Damien Hardwick isn’t perturbed by the reigning premiers’ inability to win outside Melbourne this AFL season.
Round 17 featured the ladder-leading Tigers’ fourth loss of the year, with GWS prevailing by two points at Spotless Stadium.
The visitors kicked four of the final five goals on Saturday night, but couldn’t cap a remarkable final-quarter comeback with a match-winner.
Richmond have suffered two defeats at Adelaide Oval this year, while West Coast smacked them by 47 points in Perth.
“You guys make that a bigger deal than what we do, to be fair,” Hardwick said, when asked about the club’s 0-4 record outside Victoria in 2018.
“It’s always hard to win interstate, that’s life.
“We win a lot of games at the G’, that’s our home ground.
“We play some pretty good sides away, GWS are a good side.
“You can look at the current ladder, but that’s not a true reflection of where GWS are at.”
The good news for Hardwick is his side may only have to fly out of Melbourne airport once more this season, when they tackle Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium in round 21.
All of the Tigers’ finals will be at the MCG if they finish in the top two and keep winning.
Richmond boast a 17-match winning steak at the MCG, equalling the venue record at the home of football that was set by Melbourne in the 1950s.
“All I’m worried about is the Saints next week on a short break,” Hardwick said, when the subject of September was raised in his post-match press conference.
“We look forward to that opportunity and expect to play a bit better.”
Hardwick lamented his side’s inaccurate goal-kicking against the Giants, which hit a low point when they registered 0.5 in the third quarter.
It was the Tigers’ first goal-less quarter in over a year.
“We did some things really well … but we just couldn’t seem to capitalise on our dominant patches like they did,” Hardwick said.
RICHMOND’S MISERABLE RECORD OUTSIDE MELBOURNE R2: 36-point loss to Adelaide at Adelaide Oval R9: 37-point loss to West Coast at Optus Stadium R12: 14-point loss to Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval R17: 2-point loss to GWS at Spotless Stadium.