AFL News

Lions coach feels “sorry” for struggling Tigers after 119-point “walloping”

“And that’s where they’re at at the moment. There’ll be better days ahead for the Tigers.”

Published by
Aidan Cellini

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan can't help but feel for Adem Yze.

In his first season at the helm, the Richmond coach has been ravaged by injuries to key players throughout the opening 10 games, which has also yielded a solitary victory against premiership favourites Sydney.

But Saturday night's "walloping" from the Lions at the Gabba topped last week's disappointing efforts that saw a 91-point loss against the Bulldogs.

The Tigers were once again dismal in their performance as Yze's men conceded 26 goals and a defeat that surpassed the 100 mark.

In the post-match, Fagan was sympathetic to Richmond, who are currently experiencing rock bottom, something the Lions were familiar with not long ago.

"We understand we're playing a Richmond that is going back to ground zero and building up again after a tremendously successful era," Fagan said.

"I feel a little bit sorry for Yze... I've been in that place when I first came to Brisbane when we copped some wallopings from some very good footy teams as we learnt and grew as a team.

"And that's where they're at at the moment. There'll be better days ahead for the Tigers."

Richmond premiership defender Nathan Broad was also left disappointed following the massive defeat.

"We got to be better," Broad said post-game.

"I think the fundamentals of the game are letting us down... we're in a tough spot at the moment but that's where you can find yourself.

"I feel for our fans at the moment and Yze."

Yze defended his players during the week, hitting back at claims that the Tigers produced "poor effort" against the Bulldogs, attributing the performance to a lack of execution.

However, Saturday night's clash was a similar storyline, to which the former Demon lamented bad decision-making for the heavy defeat.

"We're going through a bit at the moment," Yze said.

"We're not happy where we sit.

"Our last two weeks are probably the lowest we're hopefully going to get, but as a footy club, we'll stick thick, train hard and ... hopefully bounce back quickly."

Heading into Round 10, the Tigers had 15 players on their injury list, with another pair (Mykelti Lefau and Rhyan Mansell) added recently.

"We're just struggling with personnel right now, with some talent out of the team, but that will hold us in good stead," Yze said.

"Some of our younger players are getting opportunities, so when we do get some troops back, that'll be the silver lining.

"It wasn't too long ago this footy club lost by 120 points in 2016 in the last game, then bounced back to win a flag in 2017."

2024-05-25T09:40:00Z

Richmond will now turn their attention to the annual Dreamtime at the G' clash against Essendon next Saturday.

Published by
Aidan Cellini