Richmond opens its 2026 home account against the Gold Coast Suns this Saturday afternoon at the MCG.

After a heartbreaking four-point loss to Carlton last week, the Tigers will look to bounce back against the Suns, who have started their campaign in hot form with two wins. Here are some burning questions which could determine the result of the game.

How can Christian Petracca be contained?

Christian Petracca returns to the MCG for the first time since joining the Gold Coast this off-season, and he does so in arguably the best form of his career. 

Petracca has scored a perfect 20 coaches votes from his two games, recording 34 disposals, three goals and 12 score involvements against Geelong, and 23 disposals, four goals and 14 score involvements against West Coast. 

Richmond coach Adem Yze spoke about the Petracca challenge at his weekly press conference on Wednesday, joking “I'll flick him a message, we can't have him being best on ground against us”.

“He’s on 20 (coaches) votes, he's obviously in great form. I love Trac. It's great seeing him play good footy,” Yze continued.

“Obviously being through what he’s been through physically and mentally, for him to be enjoying his footy and playing well is one thing. I just don’t want him doing it against us.

“We understand what they're doing and the role that he's playing. We play a similar way, and we play similar roles. We've just got to do it better than them.

"We know what his strengths are around the contest and forward of the ball. It's just combating that, and trusting the player that's going to be running with him, or whether we do have a run-with or whether we trust our system.”

Who has the hot start?

A fast start is always important, but especially so this Saturday, when you compare the contrasting first quarters of Richmond and Gold Coast last week.

The Tigers had a slow start against the Blues, trailing by 19 points at the first break, while the Suns jumped out of the blocks against the Eagles, leading by 38 points after one quarter. Gold Coast did similar opening term damage the week prior, winning the quarter by 29 points against Geelong.

While Richmond’s fightback last week was well documented, Yze’s men will be determined to not fall into an early hole on Saturday. 

Who wins the territory battle? 

As discussed on this week’s episode of Talking Tigers, Gold Coast has dominated field position in its opening two matches.

Entering Round 2, the Suns have spent almost 15 minutes more in their forward half than their opposition this season, are ranked first in the league for possessions gained in the forward half, and are averaging 43 points from winning the ball back in their forward half.

Gold Coast has also kicked the most goals of any team this season with 39, and have the second-most inside 50s with 131.

Richmond had 60 inside 50s last week, up on last season’s average of 44.1, and a similar output this week will be important to not only add scoreboard pressure but keep the ball out of the Suns’ danger zone.