Richmond knows it will face a vastly different Collingwood outfit at the MCG on Friday night, to the one that suffered an 80-point loss to Sydney at the SCG in the opening round of the 2016 season.
“They’ve stated publicly during the week they were probably a little bit embarrassed at their contested ball (work) in particular. So, we expect them to come out firing, and we’ve got be able to match that and be better,” Smith said on this week’s edition of Roar Vision’s ‘Opposition Analysis’.
The Tigers also are particularly wary of the potential bounce-back factor with the Magpies’ star key forward Travis Cloke, who was well held by the Swans in Round 1.
“He’s done well against us in the past, and other times we’ve had good success against him,” Smith said.
“Dave Astbury’s played on him before, so has ‘Rancey’ (Alex Rance), so expect them to both play on him at times.
“He’s a really important link to them, so we need to keep him in check as best we can.”
Another Magpie that needs to be nullified is their star midfield recruit from GWS, Adam Treloar.
The 23-year-old was Collingwood’s best player in its 80-point loss to Sydney in Round 1, finishing with 34 disposals, including 14 contested possessions.
“He’s a great player. He’s certainly going to add to their midfield . . . We need to be mindful of that as well . . . try and curb his influence,” Smith said.
A dream match-up in the blockbuster clash under the Friday night lights at the MCG would be between rival captains Trent Cotchin (Richmond) and Scott Pendlebury (Collingwood).
“There’ll be certain stages in the game where they’re opposed to each other, but modern-day footy dictates that it happens very rarely these days. At times it will be on, and at times, not,” Smith said.
The Tigers will adopt a wait-and-see attitude with regards to applying a tight tag to the dangerous Pendlebury.
“If players really get away from us, it’s something we certainly need to look at, particularly at stoppages. But it does impact on our structure if we start tagging players too much,” Smith said.
“We want to maintain a good defensive structure, and we need 18 players to do that.”
