The Kangaroos were unfortunate enough to cop Essendon in Round 1 and they went on to lose four of their next five games. Only now are they starting to resemble the formidable outfit that dominated through the '90s. Sydney won its first three games of the year and approached the SCG game against the Bombers with great confidence and expectation. They were thumped by 47 points and have since lost their last five games. The Eagles copped an 88-point hiding at the hands of Essendon at Colonial three weeks ago, and in their most recent two outings, have lost by 71 and 80 points respectively.
Confidence is such a fragile intangible it can disappear virtually overnight.
Richmond received a reality check of the highest order two weeks ago, and we are now all sitting back to see how it reacts. There are a couple of areas that will need to be addressed if the Tigers are to arrest the ''post-Essendon'' slump that has claimed a number of teams before them. The mid-field mix would be one of them. Duncan Kellaway, Matthew Knights, Paul Broderick and Steven Sziller have many admirable qualities in common. THEY are super courageous, hard at it, disciplined, selfless performers who have given tremendous service to their team, or in Broderick and Sziller's case, teams, over a number of years.