The fifth and last of Saturday’s AFL Round 6 matches will be played between Richmond Tigers and Geelong Cats. The opening bounce is set to commence at 7:40pm local time with the game to be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The away team Geelong Cats are the current favourites for the match and look very hard to beat. View our match preview and teams for the game between Richmond Tigers and Geelong Cats.

Round: Round 6 7:40 PM May 04, 2013
Stadium: MCG
Weather: 21° Partly cloudy.

Featured Bookmakers:

Richmond Tigers $3.05 vs Geelong Cats $1.38 at Sportsbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Richmond Tigers $3.00 vs Geelong Cats $1.41 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison:

Richmond Tigers	3.05	3.05	3.00	3.05	3.05	3.07
Geelong Cats	1.38	1.38	1.41	1.38	1.38	1.39

Preview:

A good start to the season in which the Tigers had won their first three games (Carlton, St. Kilda and Bulldogs) has been tempered in the past fortnight with losses to Collingwood and last week, a heartbreaking and controversial one point loss against Fremantle in WA.

That loss sees the Tigers on 16 competition points in sixth spot, just in advance of Fremantle, Collingwood and Carlton but with each of these teams clear favourites in their respective clashes this weekend, the Tigers could slip outside the eight at the end of the round.

They’ll be keen to keep their good start to the season going and are playing with great vigour but come up against the benchmark of the competition this week.

Geelong remains undefeated and earned it the hard way with wins over Sydney (in Sydney), Collingwood and Hawthorn in their first five weeks.

They did what they had to do last week when accounting for the Western Bulldogs and the 21 point win could very well have been a lot larger, had the Cats been able to convert a portion of their seventeen behinds.

You have to go back to Round 9, 2006 to find the last time the Tigers have had the better of the Cats and even though they appear to be in the best form they have been in recent years, Geelong are simply a champion side that know how to win.

Teams:

Richmond Tigers: 

B: Steven Morris, Alex Rance, Troy Chaplin
HB: Dylan Grimes, Ricky Petterd, Bachar Houli
C: Chris Newman, Trent Cotchin, Matt White
HF: Brett Deledio, Shane Edwards, Dan Jackson
F: Luke McGuane, Jack Riewoldt, Ty Vickery
Foll: Ivan Maric, Dustin Martin, Nick Vlastuin
Int: Brandon Ellis, Jake King, Shaun Grigg, Chris Knights
Emerg: Jake Batchelor, Shane Tuck, Robin Nahas

IN: Steven Morris, Troy Chaplin, Jake King
OUT: Brad Helbig (hamstring), Robin Nahas, Jake Batchelor

Geelong Cats:
B: Andrew Mackie, Tom Lonergan, Corey Enright
HB: Joel Corey, Harry Taylor, Taylor Hunt
C: Mitch Duncan, Jimmy Bartel, Steven Motlop
HF: Allen Christensen, Steve Johnson, Billie Smedts
F: Paul Chapman, Tom Hawkins, James Podsiadly
Foll: Mark Blicavs, Joel Selwood, James Kelly
Int: Cameron Guthrie, George Horlin-Smith, Trent West, Mathew Stokes
Emerg: Jackson Thurlow, Jordan Murdoch, Mitch Brown

IN: Paul Chapman, Tom Hawkins
OUT: Jared Rivers (knee), Josh Caddy

In The News:

Tigers aim to lift against Cats in AFL

The AFL team that keeps finding ways to blow close games comes up against the powerhouse that appears to have forgotten how to lose.

A controversial goal umpiring incident and Jack Riewoldt’s form aside, the simple fact is Richmond suffered a one-point loss to Fremantle last week.

Tight losses cruelled their finals chances last year and the Tigers had been confident they had fixed that problem.

Now they play Geelong, who have staged big comebacks against Hawthorn and North Melbourne in their unbeaten start to the season.

Richmond are 3-2 and certainly look capable of returning to the finals, but coach Damien Hardwick said they must play better.

“They’re a formidable outfit and we’re certainly looking forward to the opportunity to play them,” Hardwick said of Geelong.

“We think it will bring out our best footy and we think we’re capable of getting a result.”

The Cats have won their past eight games against Richmond, dating back to 2006.

But only one of those matches was at the MCG, Saturday night’s venue, and four were at Simonds Stadium, otherwise known as Fortress Geelong.

Richmond must lift their tackling, an area where they are ranked last in the AFL.

Hardwick noted their tackle count was up against Fremantle and said it was a question of the players’ defensive mindset.

“It will be something we’re looking forward to, especially against a rampant Geelong side,” he said.

“They play very fast footy. They’re upbeat – they play on very quickly.

“No doubt the tackle pressure will be a big one for us this week.”

The criticism of Riewoldt this week means there will be plenty of focus on the key forwards, with Cats star Tom Hawkins also returning from a tight back.

Jared Rivers’ knee injury means Cats utility Harry Taylor will likely have to stay in defence and support Tom Lonergan against Riewoldt, Luke McGuane and Ty Vickery.

But any advantage the Tigers might have with their key forwards is balanced by concerns about their defence.

A fortnight ago, Collingwood’s Travis Cloke monstered the Richmond backs with seven goals and, no doubt, the Cats have taken careful note.

“We’ve certainly been reasonably pleased with the way we’ve been playing,” Hardwick said.

“We haven’t played, apart from the Bulldogs game, to the standard we’d like offensively.

“Defensively, we think we’ve been pretty capable in all those games – the Collingwood game, the third quarter, the glaring exception.

“Overall, there are some things going okay, but we still have to make sure we tick a few boxes to get us back to playing the footy we know we can.”

Geelong also welcome back Paul Chapman, while the Tigers regain key defender Troy Chaplin, fellow backman Steve Morris and small forward Jake King.