Ex-Hawks and Lions star Luke Hodge believes it was Richmond’s Round 20 comeback win over Brisbane which kickstarted their hot run of form, as the two sides prepare to face off in the finals series at the Gabba on Thursday Night.
Brisbane led by as much as 42 points during the game at the MCG on July 31st, before the Tigers stormed home with a 10 goal to three second half.
Hodge pointed squarely to the game as the instigator for the scintillating form of Damien Hardwick’s team across the last month of the season.
“It’s a big game tomorrow night, this is a side that has got a big history against Richmond, and Richmond are in form. Let’s be honest, when they played in Round 20 it was the Lions who kicked them into a little bit of form that day,” Hodge told SEN's Pat and Heals.
“If you look prior to that Round 20 game, they lost to the Suns by two points, they lost to North by four points and they drew with Freo. Then all of a sudden they’re down by 42 points during the third quarter against the Lions.
“Since then they’ve beaten Port, beaten Hawthorn, beaten Essendon, so if you’re looking at confidence going into tomorrow night’s game, Richmond are a team full of confidence and the Lions after their performance against Melbourne are just a little bit shy I think.”
In contrast, the Lions have stumbled down the stretch in season 2022, a disappointing second-half of their campaign culminating in an embarrassing 58-point loss to Melbourne in the final round which cost them a top-four spot.
With all the momentum seemingly on the visitors' side, Hodge believes his former team can pull off the upset, provided there is a unified sense of belief within the locker room.
“It does sound all doom and gloom, but the Lions have to sit back, it’s that notion of belief, that the Lions believe that even after (the Demons loss) that they can bounce back and beat the Richmond football club (on) their home deck tomorrow night,” he said.
“I believe they’ll take a lot of confidence out of what they did in the first half against Richmond to get that 40 points up. They looked at what they did wrong against Richmond in the second half and how they got their scores, Shai Bolton got a bit free from stoppages, they’ll be ready for that.”
The sixth-placed Lions host the seventh-placed in the second elimination final at the Gabba on Thursday night.