Richmond defender Bachar Houli looms as recruiting steal of century after another starring role in preliminary final
Nine seasons after Bachar Houli arrived at Punt Road for nothing via the pre-season draft, Richmond’s decision to recruit the out-of-favour Essendon defender looks to be one of the great recruiting heists.
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A disgruntled Bachar Houli couldn’t get a game at Essendon in 2010.
The Bombers couldn’t agree on a trade with Richmond at the end of a five-game season and let the 22-year-old walk into the pre-season draft where the Tigers subsequently snapped him up for free.
It is a recruiting decision that now looks like being one of the steals of the century.
In nine years at Punt Rd since, Houli has played 179 games — featuring in 20 or more matches in all but two seasons.
He was robbed of the Norm Smith Medal in 2017, after starring with 25 disposals and a goal.
That went to Dustin Martin, despite both Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and Adelaide counterpart Don Pyke agreeing Houli was the best player on the ground.
At age 31, Houli this year became an All-Australian for the first time.
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And next week, he could well have a second premiership medal placed around his neck.
Houli finished as the third-ranked player on the ground by Champion Data in Friday night’s preliminary final against Geelong, behind only teammates Dion Prestia and Tom Lynch.
He gathered a game-high 32 disposals, a game-high 11 marks, had the most rebound-50s of any player on the ground with nine and the fourth-most metres gained with 585m.
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The performance came just eight days after Houli inked a new one-year contract with the Tigers for 2020.
It has been a case of one year at a time for the defender for the past three years now, who is proving the doubters wrong and ageing like a fine wine.
“In our three elimination finals that we lost those years (2013-15), he was by far out best-performed player,” Hardwick reflected on Friday night.
“He just is a remarkable player.
“We keep giving him one-year contracts he’s not too happy about. But he’s just become an incredible Richmond player. We’re very proud to have him. He’s a fantastic man and just gets better with age, which is great.”
CAN KELLY-LESS CATS COMPETE AGAIN?
Best player in a preliminary final one day, the reason you can’t win the flag the next.
That’s the Tim Kelly scenario for Geelong in the wake of yet another finals failure.
While privately the Cats hierarchy have been making contingency plans around Kelly not being at GMHBA Stadium in 2020, the reality will hit in the coming days when he again requests a trade back to Western Australia.
This time it will be accepted and the enormity of that decision is that Geelong will struggle to repeat this year’s brilliant output.
Kelly was easily the Cats best in last night’s preliminary final loss to Richmond, finishing with 31 possessions and three goals.
Take him out of that side and you no longer have a top-four outfit, let alone a legitimate premiership challenger.
Cats coach Chris Scott was full of praise for the mature-age recruit and how he’s handled the constant speculation about his future.
“Two special seasons,” Scott said. “He’s just an outstanding player for us. On the big stage, really good opposition, he was fantastic tonight.
“I suspect if we had of won the game we’d be talking about him in even more glowing terms. But just because we couldn’t get the result I don’t think that should take the gloss off his performance and the year he’s had.
“It’s a credit to him and it’s a credit to our club that gave him that opportunity.
“I’m not letting him go. It’s a half-serious response as I’ve got absolutely no control over what’s going to go on.
“All I can say is he’s been a credit to himself all the way through and he should be proud of himself and we’re really proud of him.
“But if your question is, ‘Would you like to keep him?’, I’ll fight tooth and nail to do that.”
The Cats blew a golden opportunity in 2019 because the stars won’t align again for them like this for a number of years.
If it wasn’t for that shocking opening quarter of the qualifying final against Collingwood and Tom Hawkins’ swinging forearm in the semi-final then Cats fans might be contemplating a different storyline today.
Now they have to think about next year without Kelly and possibly a couple of other key players.
Gary Ablett didn’t have the best September and needs to think long and hard about his next move with defender Harry Taylor in the same boat.
Superstars Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield finished another gruelling campaign banged up.
Geelong aren’t about to fall off the cliff, that’s something this club never does, but can they be a legitimate premiership contender without Tim Kelly?
Friday night’s evidence would suggest not.
GUTSY GRAHAM IN DOUBT FOR DECIDER
Jack Graham held it together until the conversation turned to the support he was getting from teammates.
“The boys have had their words which is nice to hear, you know? Yeah (I’m a) bit emotional, but I just love playing my role for the team and doing whatever I can,” he said.
Graham can never be accused of not doing whatever he can again.
When his right shoulder dislocated in the first quarter of Friday night’s preliminary final against Geelong, Graham left the field in agony.
Yet despite a fitness test that saw his shoulder pop out another three times in the changerooms, he returned to play the next three quarters with one arm, laying tackles like a possessed crash test dummy even when the joint popped out a fourth time.
Richmond's Jack Graham has headed to the bench for treatment after this passage in the first quarter.#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/c4zQNwFUz6
— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) September 20, 2019
“It was tough. ‘Dimma’ (coach Damien Hardwick) just wanted me to go on and play a role, put on some forward pressure,” he said.
“I was happy to do anything for the boys and the team.”
Hardwick was stunned.
“Where it ends up with Jack I’m not too sure, but what I know is that there will be a chapter in our history that has a massive positive thing for Jack Graham,” he said after his side’s gritty 19-point win secured another Grand Final berth.
“That effort was simply incredible.”
Graham has lived a footy fairytale. A first-year player in 2017, he didn’t debut until Round 22, but went on to kick three goals and blanket Rory Sloane in the second half of that year’s Grand Final in a season where he played more finals than home-and-away games.
Now, he’s refusing to surrender to a footy nightmare.
“I’m not ruling myself out, that’s definite. I’ll put my hand up to play if I am fit and ready,” Graham said.
“It’s still hanging on, which is the main thing. There’s a week before the game so I’ll do everything I can to get it right.
“I’ll ice it up all week, see what I can do, see how it is and just go from there.”
Yet for a bloke familiar with shoulder dislocations — and as teammates offered their sympathies — he knows the odds are stacked firmly against him.
This was the ‘good’ shoulder.
“I knew straight away. I was like ‘That doesn’t feel right’,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate, but that’s part of footy. I’ve been bloody lucky so far since joining Richmond, but obviously it’s a bit sad.
“There’s a chance I’m not going to be playing, but I’m rapt for the boys and this club to be in this position again because we deserve it.
“We were a bit sour after last year, but we’re on the hunt again and we’re one win away.
“It’s a long season and everyone has their say. Everyone wants to write us off, but this group is pretty special. Our VFL side play in a Grand Final on Sunday we will get along and support the guys.
“It’s a good place to be at Richmond. There’s an awesome vibe and everyone is up and about.”
Originally published as Richmond defender Bachar Houli looms as recruiting steal of century after another starring role in preliminary final