AFL pre-season news: Richmond signs country footballer Kaelan Bradtke
Richmond has locked in its SSP signing one day before the deadline, deciding between former Cat Quinton Narkle and a country football star.
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Richmond has overlooked former Geelong midfielder Quinton Narkle for its final list spot, signing an untried key position prospect one day before Wednesday’s SSP selection deadline.
The 25-year-old Narkle, who was drafted in 2016 with pick 60 and played 41 games for the Cats over six seasons, looks consigned to a season at state level after missing out at Punt Road.
Richmond instead opted to recruit 195cm Corowa-Rutherglen player Kaelan Bradtke, who booted 39 goals in 17 games for the Ovens and Murray Football League club in 2022 and also featured in two games for Sydney’s VFL team.
Bradtke, 21, had been vying with Narkle and NAB AFL Academy prospect Luke Teal for the last spot on the Tigers’ list before he was told on Tuesday he had succeeded.
Like Bradtke, Narkle had trained with the Tigers since the first day of their pre-season, but the Western Australian was deemed surplus to Richmond’s midfield requirements, while Bradtke offered key forward depth.
Narkle is unlikely to spend 2023 on an AFL list, although Hawthorn, Essendon and Melbourne may still make selections before Wednesday’s deadline.
Each of the three clubs had their own trialists on the track over pre-season with the Bombers weighing throwing a lifeline to delisted Hawk Tom Phillips, former Bulldog Brad Lynch or WA teenager Jack Cleaver.
St Kilda signed Northern Knights product Anthony Caminiti with its SSP selection on Monday, while Collingwood confirmed on Friday it had selected Oleg Markov and Carlton recruited Oakleigh Chargers ruckman Hudson O’Keeffe.
Triple premiership Tiger’s round 1 hopes dashed
Jon Ralph
Richmond’s triple-premiership small forward Jason Castagna is almost certainly out of round 1 calculations after suffering what the Tigers labelled a “medium-term” hamstring injury.
Castagna tore his hamstring in the club’s Saturday intraclub match with the setback at the worst possible time given a trio of upcoming games to push for a round 1 berth.
Already facing competition for his spot after being dropped several times last year, the restricted free agent will miss this week’s second intraclub game then clashes against North Melbourne and Melbourne ahead of the March 16 clash against Carlton.
While a medium-term hamstring would normally have a three to four week return date it will rob Castagna of the chance to push past the club’s young small forwards.
Judson Clarke, Noah Cumberland and Maurice Rioli will all hope to play alongside Shai Bolton and Dustin Martin in the Richmond forward rotation.
Richmond is hoping Jack Graham (turf toe) and Tom Lynch (plantar fascia) respond positively when they are given their first match simulation minutes of the year in coming weeks.
Lynch is back running without any issues but many AFL players have battled to maintain a consistent training load with plantar fascia given it can flare up across a season.
Tigers intra club notes
Martin and Bolton were in sparkling form in Saturday’s clash in a intraclub in which Jack Riewoldt kicked four goals, Clark three and last year’s mid-season selection Jacob Bauer kicked two goals as a 192cm forward.
Triple premiership captain Trent Cotchin will also spend some time forward this year in a midfield that seems stacked for options.
It means Castagna will need to be at the top of his game to play the kind of onfield role that maximises his contract worth.
Richmond will conduct another more intense match simulation hitout next week ahead of an official match simulation against North Melbourne on February 24 and an official practice match against Melbourne on March 4.
Star pair Tom Lynch (plantar fascia) and Jack Graham (turf toe) are still on track to play some minutes in those clashes.
Fellow Richmond free agent Nathan Broad was rested for Saturday’s match simulation but will be fit for those clashes.
Tiger watch: Hopper, Taranto audition for midfield spots
Richmond’s match simulation included four 15-minute quarters of match practice, with some VFL-listed players also taking part.
Veteran forward Jack Riewoldt booted four goals as he gets set to launch into a 17th AFL season, while second-year player Judson Clarke got on the end of three goals.
After sitting out match simulation on Thursday, recruit Jacob Hopper played through the midfield alongside fellow former Greater Western Sydney onballer Tim Taranto and both impressed.
Wingman Marlion Pickett, midfielder-forward Shai Bolton and defender Noah Balta were among other standouts.
Dustin Martin kicked two goals, again playing predominantly forward.
Richmond will hold an open training session at Punt Rd next Saturday morning, ahead of its clash with the Kangaroos six days later.
The Tigers then face Melbourne in their one official pre-season match at Casey Fields on March 4, before kicking off the home-and-away season against arch rival Carlton on March 16.
Two of the AFL’s most watchable players will team up in the same forward line this year in what shapes as a mouth-watering attacking combination.
After managing just nine games last season due to injury and personal reasons, Dustin Martin is fit and firing in a new role as a more permanent forward.
There the Brownlow medallist will work alongside Shai Bolton, who had a breakout 2022 campaign which saw him kick 43 goals.
The Tigers believe Bolton could have an even greater goalkicking return this year if he can tidy up his accuracy, which came in at just 44.3 per cent last season.
Martin took Bolton “under his wing” when he first arrived at Punt Rd and the two clearly have a strong connection, which was on show during match simulation at training on Thursday.
The duo both had a hand in multiple scoring chains, including when Martin found Bolton lace-out with a lovely kick inside 50.
Bolton was also showing a hunger for pressure and tackling, which was one area of his game that was not a strong suit last year.
EASING BACK
A host of Tigers stars are looking to time their run to Round 1 as they remain on the outer when it comes to main training.
Key forward Tom Lynch (foot), defender Josh Gibcus (hamstring) and midfielder Jack Graham (toe) were all running laps and completing some interval training throughout Thursday’s session as they nurse their way back from off-season issues.
Gibcus will miss the opening rounds of the season, but Richmond is confident that Lynch and Graham will be at full fitness in time for the club’s season-opener against Carlton on March 16.
Other senior players who are on modified programs and sat out match simulation include co-captains Dylan Grimes and Toby Nankervis, Dion Prestia and Jacob Hopper.
FORWARD? COTCHA
Don’t get too sucked into the idea of former captain Trent Cotchin playing exclusively as a forward this season just yet.
While the 32-year-old has trained in attack at times over summer, Cotchin was back in the thick of it as a midfielder during match simulation on Thursday.
He started at the centre bounce against recruit Tim Taranto and didn’t venture forward too much.
Teammate Jack Riewoldt said this week that he has been calling his former skipper “Trent Coleman” – after AFL goalkicking legend John Coleman – following some of his recent performances training with the forwards.
But after finishing as Richmond’s second-highest clearance player last year, expect Cotchin to still be attending a fair chunk of centre bounces this year.
RAMP UP THE PRESSURE
There’s no doubt Richmond is on a mission to bring back the pressure after it dropped off last year.
The Tigers spent significant time doing drills where they were pressuring the ball carrier at training on Thursday, getting right up in the faces of opponents who were trying to dispose of the ball by hand.
While the club returned to finals last season, it ranked a lowly 15th for pressure applied.
Sydney and Collingwood were the two top-ranked teams for the statistic.
DEADLINE LOOMING
There has still been no decision made on filling Richmond’s final list spot as the closure of the Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period looms.
Former Geelong midfielder-forward Quinton Narkle and Corowa-Rutherglen forward Kaelan Bradtke were both on the training track again on Thursday.
Bradtke lined up at full-forward at one end during match simulation and competed well, while Narkle was running through the midfield and forward line at the other end.
Narkle nailed a nice goal from long range late in the hit out which wouldn’t have hurt his chances of winning a spot, while Bradtke is being called “KB” by teammates.
Richmond list manager Blair Hartley was keeping a close eye on proceedings from the grandstand, with just days remaining until the signing window closes on February 15.
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