Will anyone stop Richmond from winning back-to-back flags in 2020?
The Tigers are gunning for consecutive premierships for the first time since 1974 as their rivals attempt to close the gap on Damien Hardwick’s well-oiled machine.
North Melbourne great David King has challenged the rest of the competition to formulate a game plan that can knock Richmond off their perch.
“What are you doing that’s going to catch up to Richmond? What are you doing that’s going to bridge the gap?” King told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“You can’t just copy what they are doing, you’ve got to do something slightly different – what’s that going to be?"
King explained why Hardwick has “changed the game” from a tactical perspective.
“Do you know who the poorest clearance team was last year? The Tigers,” King said.
“It’s not about clearances, it’s about ball movement and the most effective teams last year were Richmond and Geelong at not turning the ball over in their back half. Taking it wide, taking slow and minimising risk so the opposition don’t get any easy scores.
“Most games are decided on who wins the turnover battle, so where that turnover happens is everything.
“If you look at the great teams, the really good teams at the moment set up the ground, it’s where they want to win the ball back.
“They move it wide to minimise risk off turnover, get it in their forward half, everyone rolls up, one or two defenders hold and you basically win the game on turnover.”
Richmond’s opening Marsh Community Series match is against Collingwood at Wangaratta's Norm Minns Oval on March 1.