AFL 2023: What does Richmond’s best 23 look like in 2024
Richmond’s next coach will take over a team in transition. The big question out of Punt Road is, how many of the Tiger cubs will be part of the club’s next premiership tilt?
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Richmond’s main concern with its round 1 team next season is not that only 14 of the club’s 2020 premiership team are still at Punt Rd.
It is that Richmond has only one likely A-grader on its list who is aged 23 and under, that being Josh Gibcus.
While Essendon is safe in the knowledge it has drawn significant improvement out of most of its best 22, Richmond can’t make the same claim this season.
Tylar Young is a huge find, Jack Ross has had a good year on the wing, and Noah Balta mixes extraordinary moments with games where he switches off defensively.
It is why the Tigers list needs work, and why the new coach’s key priority next year will be finding out which of the 10 or so kids under 23 with real talent can become A-graders.
That list includes Noah Cumberland, Ben Miller, Tom Brown, Judson Clarke, Samson Ryan, Tyler Sonsie, Thomson Dow, Hugo Ralphsmith, Maurice Rioli and Sam Banks.
All have had moments – Ryan is a strong contested mark, Dow was excellent with 21 possessions against St Kilda on Sunday, Clarke has 11 goals from 13 games, Cumberland has huge talent but has been shown tough love to improve his attitude.
There is still a strong nucleus of young talent in the form of Liam Baker, Jack Graham and Tim Taranto (25), Young (24), Shai Bolton (24), Noah Balta (23) and Josh Gibcus.
But by round 1 next year Dustin Martin, Dylan Grimes and Marlion Pickett will be 32, Dion Prestia and Tom Lynch will be 31, and Nathan Broad will be 31 in April.
So much depends on Lynch, who might have helped the Tigers win two or three more games this year with a 50-goal haul.
But no one would consider Richmond a premiership contender with the current list, and few would even tip them for a top-eight finish.
It is the nature of winning three flags in four seasons from 2017-2020.
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Originally published as AFL 2023: What does Richmond’s best 23 look like in 2024
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