Kevin Bartlett slams effort and attitude of Richmond playing group in 2016

RICHMOND legend Kevin Bartlett has savaged the attitude of the Tigers’ 2016 playing group, saying there were times this year when it played as if it didn’t care.

The Tigers have brought in Neil Balme as head of football. Picture: Michael Klein

RICHMOND legend Kevin Bartlett has savaged the attitude of the Tigers’ 2016 playing group, saying there were times this year when it played as if it didn’t care.

The AFL legend and five-time Tigers’ premiership player believes attitude more than talent was the reason why the club slumped to 13th on the ladder, winning only eight games.

“I thought the efforts towards the end of the year were very poor,” Bartlett said.

“They were insipid and played like they couldn’t care less.”

“You could say at times it looked like they didn’t even try, such was the poor performance.”

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After three consecutive finals appearances, albeit without a finals win in that time, Richmond endured a year from hell this season with pressure mounting on coach Damien Hardwick and bringing about an overhaul of the football department and the assistant coaching staff.

The Tigers lost five of their last six games this year, including deficits of 113, 88 and 70, and Bartlett puts much of the blame on the players’ mindset.

“Richmond has talent, but somewhere along the way they lost the thread and as a result in the end they became a rabble,” he said.

“When you kick three goals against the Giants (Round 19), the lowest score since 1961; when you kick four goals against St Kilda with 60 seconds to go (Round 22); and when you kick two goals to 22 at three-quarter-time against Sydney; you have got to say there is something intrinsicly wrong with the attitude of the players.”

Richmond lost five of its past six games this year. Picture: Getty Images

Bartlett is confident the arrival of Neil Balme as head of football will make a significant difference to the club next year.

“This is where Neil Balme has his biggest challenge, in getting people thinking vastly different to the way they were thinking in 2016,” he said.

“I’m not concerned about the talent — Richmond has got a lot of talent. It has got one of the best defenders in the competition (Alex Rance), it has got one of the best forwards in the competition (Jack Riewoldt), and it has got a few of the best midfielders in the competition (Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin).

“What you have to work on is the attitude of the players (as a whole). It is a matter of turning all that around and trying to find out why they didn’t have the enthusiasm to compete together, especially when you see a side like the Western Bulldogs winning the premiership by running in numbers and helping each other.”

Bartlett said the Bulldogs’ fairytale success — brought about by a team-first mantra — proved that clubs do not need long-term plans and long-range premiership models to guide their future.

Originally published as Kevin Bartlett slams effort and attitude of Richmond playing group in 2016