Adem Yze hopes things don’t get any worse than this after Richmond copped two more injuries in a historic 119-point loss to the Brisbane Lions.
There will be no hiding when the Tigers (1-9) hobble into Saturday’s Dreamtime at the ‘G clash with an in-form Essendon potentially nursing 17 men on their injury list.
Rhyan Mansell (concussion) will miss the game after a mid-air collision with captain Toby Nankervis while Mykelti Lefau (jaw) will have scans the club hopes will clear the forward of a fracture.
The Lions’ second-biggest win since the club’s merger followed a 91-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Yze was offered post-game sympathy from Lions coach Chris Fagan, who compared their situation to the battling Brisbane’s when he arrived in 2017.
But the coach politely refused to slot his team, still featuring a smattering of triple-premiership players, in that boat.
“I know a lot of teams do go through this, when they have had success … just starting out our rebuilding,” he said.
“We don’t feel like we’re at that point … when we’ve got everyone available we can be competitive.
“Some of our younger players are getting opportunities, so when we do get some troops back, that’ll be the silver lining.
“It wasn’t too long ago this footy club lost by 120 points in 2016 in the last game, then bounced back to win a flag in 2017.
“There are some hard times we’re going to have to deal with, and right now we’re going through them, but we’re going to work hard and try to bounce back as quick as we can and get back to where we know we should be.”
Fagan’s team (4-1-5) shot from wooden spooners to premiership contenders within two seasons and have steadied after a poor start this season to sit six points outside the top eight.
They amassed their biggest score under Fagan on Saturday, the 163-point haul with 12 different goal scorers just shy of the Lions’ club-high 189-point record set against Adelaide 20 years ago.
“We understand we’re playing a Richmond side, they’re going back to Ground Zero and building up again after a tremendously successful era,” Fagan said.
“There’ll be better days ahead for the Tigers, it’s just tonight we turned up and were pretty switched on.”
