While you can understand Mike Sheahan’s argument that Richmond should be beating the likes of Port Adelaide and Gold Coast regardless of venue, it seems all too obvious that the Tigers’ decision to sell home games interstate this season has backfired spectacularly.
Earlier in the year a trip to Darwin ended in a 15-point loss to the Power. Over the weekend in Cairns they lost by 15 to the Suns.
For those playing at home, that’s two losses to the two lowest teams on the ladder, in games that could’ve been at the MCG but were instead played in the testing conditions of the Top End and Far North Queensland.
Financially speaking, the Tigers received a healthy boost to their bottom line by shifting these games away from their traditional home (to the tune of $1 million, apparently). That boost, however, came with a certain risk and for taking that risk, the club must now live with the consequences.
Now yes, you can’t absolutely guarantee the result would have been different had these two games been played in Victoria. But remember, Port’s only other win this year was at home. The Suns’ only win outside of Queensland was against Port.
We are talking about the two lowest teams on the ladder.
What makes this situation worse is that this isn’t one of the struggling Melbourne-based clubs. This is not North Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs or Melbourne. In fact, this is quite the opposite – a supposed “big four” club.
Richmond have one of the biggest supporter bases of the Victorian teams.
The club has its debts, that’s true, but there are other ways of removing debt that do not compromise the football department and the team’s chances of success. Indeed, the financially-motivated decision to sell two home games has very much compromised the Tigers’ ability to make the finals.
With their five wins and a draw, right now it’s pretty much impossible for Richmond to make the finals. But had they had seven wins to their name, the Tigers would be only one game out of the eight and deep in contention for September action.
Which is where irony enters the discussion. Making the finals after so many years in the wilderness would’ve surely been a good thing for the club’s bottom line – attendances would’ve lifted at the back end of the season, memberships for next year would’ve gone way up, merchandise sales would’ve seen a benefit.
They could’ve gotten the financial boost they were seeking and experienced on-field success, too.
Instead, though, Tiger fans are left to once again utter that all too familiar phrase – there’s always next year…