Richmond football boss Neil Balme has full faith that the Tigers will employ straight-forward approach to avoiding the premiership hangover in 2018, which he considers will steer the side towards a successful season as reigning premiers.
The successful football administrator says that an attitude similar to how Richmond approached their first Grand Final week in 35 years this year should guide them away from emulating the disappointing premiership defence 2016 premiers the Western Bulldogs had this season.
“You just have to approach the game as it is and whatever it throws up, we just have to deal with it,” Balme told SEN Breakfast.
“It’s a bit like Dimma’s attitude to the players during Grand Final week. He said, look, there’s a lot of things in Grand Final week that are different to what happens in a normal week, but don’t worry about it, just deal with it. It’s going to happen, you can’t defeat it, just work through it and know that your role is still your role.
“That’s kind of the same in your second year as well. If you go in expecting anything to be easier, you’ve got the wrong attitude. The talk is to just approach it how it is, the game is the game.
“We’ll train the way we should train, you prepare the way you should prepare and the results will take care of themselves.”
The Bulldogs’ 11-11 2017 season saw them finish in 10th place on the ladder, becoming the first team since Hawthorn in 2009 to miss the finals the year after winning a flag.
Balme’s time as Geelong football manager saw the Cats win three premierships between 2007 and 2011 alongside a losing Grand Final appearance in 2008.
Listen to Neil Balme chatting to the boys on SEN Breakfast in the player below: