Axed Crow Richard Tambling still living in Buddy Franklin's shadow

FORMER Crow Richard Tambling never quite came to terms with being picked ahead of Buddy Franklin in the 2004 AFL draft.

Crows coach Brenton Sanderson has a word to Richard Tambling during the match against Geelong at AAMI Stadium.

RICHARD Tambling never quite came to terms with living in Buddy's shadow.

"It was tough,'' former Tiger and Crow Tambling said on Friday, two days after retiring from the AFL amid little fanfare.

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"Being drafted as an 18-year-old and moving from Darwin to Melbourne was tough enough in itself, it was a bit of a shock.

"Then there are instant expectations on you to perform, you struggle a bit early and then you find yourself being judged against Buddy.

"You hear and read stories questioning Richmond's decision to draft me ahead of him but that wasn't my fault.

"And it was unfair to have to listen to that because Buddy is a freak, he's one of the greatest AFL players of all-time.

"For a young boy like me to have to live up to that wasn't easy and it did have an effect on me.

"Nine years after I was drafted we're still talking about it.''

Tambling, 27, turned out to be the odd man out of one of the greatest top five draft groups in VFL-AFL history.

At the 2004 national draft, his former Richmond teammate Brett Deledio went at No. 1, dual Hawthorn premiership player Jarryd Roughead at two, Western Bulldogs star Ryan Griffen at three, Tambling at four and former Hawk-turned-Swan Franklin at five.

Tambling is the only one not to make an All-Australian team and to already be out of the AFL system.

He pulled the pin on his 124-game career, which included just 16 games in three seasons for the Crows, on Wednesday morning after being delisted by Adelaide and realising he wasn't going to be selected by another club at the pre-season draft.

Tambling had already rejected the Crows' offer of a rookie-list spot next year and didn't want to uproot his young family to move interstate for a rookie contract from a rival club.

Not for $54,000 and the outside chance of a a handful of AFL match payments.

"It's time for me to look after my family, they are my priority now,'' said Tambling, who has two children, Tyson, 8, and Leah, 4, and a partner, Amy.

"They've helped me chase my AFL dream and it's time for me to get a real job and put all my energies into looking after them.

"I couldn't justify taking up a rookie-list position because of all the uncertainty that comes with that.''

Tambling signed a one-year contract with his SANFL club Sturt on Friday before he flew home to Darwin to play a one-off game for the Southern Districts Crocodiles against arch-rival St Marys.

He hopes to find work in the football industry or in the aboriginal health and education system, where he has studied, in the next few months.

While the Franklin comparisons still hurt - "they were overwhelming and put unrealistic expectations on me,'' he says - Tambling says he is proud of his career, which included 108 games for the Tigers before he was traded to Adelaide.

"I would have liked to have played more AFL games but I'm certainly not ashamed of my career,'' the pacy indigenous midfielder/utility said.

"I might not have lived up to expectations in some peoples eyes but I am proud to have played 100 games of AFL.

"Not too many people can say they have done that.''

While he didn't live up to the potential he showed as a standout kid for Southern Districts, Tambling was no slouch at Richmond.

He averaged 18 games in his six years at Tigerland before he was traded to the Crows.

In his first year at Adelaide under Neil Craig in 2011, Tambling played 10 matches but he never seemed to be in the plans of Craig's successor, Brenton Sanderson.

Tambling managed just six games in two seasons under him, including five this year.

Tambling averaged 15 disposals, three tackles and 0.5 goals in a career dogged by comparisons with 580-goal superstar Franklin.

"I tried to put the Buddy talk behind me but it was always there and it did put greater pressure on me,'' he said.

"How much effect that on me, it's hard to know, but I've tried to move on from it.''

While Tambling admits to have struggled under the weight of the Franklin expectations and the gamebreaking exploits Tiger fans wanted to see more often from him, injuries did not help.

He battled a series of ankle, hamstring and back problems. He had compartment syndrome in his early years at Richmond and has been hindered by facet joint problems in his back for the past four years.

"It's going to be nice not waking up early every morning to have to go to training,'' Tambling said of the next chapter in his career.

"I've put my body through a lot of pain and it needs a bit of a rest.

"I've given football everything I've had and while I've had my ups and downs - some my doing, some not - I look back at my career with great fondness.

"It's just time for the next chapter.''

But Tambling has not slammed the door shut on the AFL.

"You never know,'' he said.

"At the moment I've got other priorities but if I was to have a good season for Sturt and an AFL club showed interest in re-drafting me I'd consider it.

"But right now it's time for the next phase of my life.''

IN TOUGH COMPANY

Richard Tambling was drafted among elite company in 2004, with those around him already boasting a long list of honours.

2004 NATIONAL DRAFT

1. Brett Deledio (Richmond) 195 games, 126 goals. Honours: AFL Rising Star 2005; best and fairest 2008, 2009; All-Australian 2012.

2. Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn) 184 games, 366 goals. Honours: Premiership player 2008, 2013; All-Australian 2013; Coleman Medallist 2013; leading club goalkicker 2013.

3. Ryan Griffen (Western Bulldogs) 183 games, 120 goals. Honours: Best and fairest 2010, 2013; All-Australian 2013.

4. Richard Tambling (Richmond/Adelaide) 124 games, 62 goals. Honours: None.

5. Lance Franklin (Hawthorn/Sydney) 182 games, 580 goals. Honours: Premiership player 2008, 2013; All-Australian 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012; Coleman Medallist 2008, 2011; leading club goalkicker 2007-2012; best and fairest 2008.