Richmond list analysis: Tigers’ premiership window is open
THE TIME is now, Richmond. Your premiership window is open. Expert recruiter Gary Buckenara analyses Richmond’s list heading into season 2016.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE TIME is now, Richmond. Your premiership window is open.
The Tigers are an interesting case. The list isn’t short on star power or talent, yet the last three years has seen them lose three elimination finals in a row — two of which should have been victories.
Damien Hardwick and footy boss Dan Richardson are happy with the state of the list and rightly so but there’s no hiding the fact they have been disappointing in the finals. Key players and the club’s leaders must step up next year but I’ll get into that later in the column.
The fact is this list as it stands, with the addition of Chris Yarran during the trade period, can beat anyone on its day. They are a very dangerous side with a good spread of talent across all lines. It’s consistency and lack of confidence that holds the group back.
What I have learnt by analysing Richmond’s list at the conclusion of 2015 and heading into next year is that the Tigers are definitely in the window and must win a premiership in the next two to three years or they risk missing out and sliding back down the ladder … again.
What some might not realise about the Tigers is their list isn’t as young as some might have you believe.
Ivan Maric and Troy Chaplin will be 30 next year, Brett Deledio will be 29, Jack Riewoldt, Shaun Grigg, Shane Edwards, Bachar Houli and Steven Morris will be 28. Alex Rance has just turned 26, while Trent Cotchin will reach the same age during the season as will Ty Vickery, Nathan Gordon and Sam Lloyd. Yarran will start the season as a 25-year-old.
Then there’s Dustin Martin, Dylan Grimes and David Astbury who will also turn 25 during the season and Ben Griffiths just after it.
Anthony Miles, Jake Batchelor and Kane Lambert will also be 24 when the season starts and Reece Conca will turn the same age in August.
This is not a young team. This is a team in its prime.
But it is a team that hasn’t delivered. It hasn’t delivered on the plans the club has or on the expectations of its fans.
The core group has been together for at least four or five years now, so they should be doing a bit better than what they’ve shown in September.
The age demographic explains why Richmond decided to go to the draft last year and top up with young talent but are now focusing on bringing in experienced players to fill holes with the aim of winning that elusive premiership.
As young players I like Ben Lennon, Conor Menadue is a good runner, Jayden Short is a rookie who has a beautiful kick on him, so there is also some good youngsters coming through.
I’d also like to see Liam McBean get some more games. He still has a young body but he’s never going to be Hulk Hogan — he’s a lean build. He will get stronger but won’t put on massive amounts of muscle but he can be a key position player.
WHAT THEY NEED
The core group of players is there as I’ve written but the Tigers still need another ruckman. Maric will be 30 in January and he can’t do it all so that is a big focus area. They could also use another key position defender and forward — Chaplin only has a couple of years left and Astbury hasn’t been able to slot into that team because of injury and form. Up forward there’s Riewoldt, Vickery, Griffiths and McBean but outside that there isn’t much else so if those guys cop an injury or two they can get exposed. There’s a young guy named Reece McKenzie on the list who can be a key position player but he only had his first year last year.
A clever little small forward in the mould of Hawthorn’s Paul Puopolo or Cyril Rioli is also needed to complement the forward line because they do have a lot of similar types, the high half forwards.
They are a reasonable kicking side and they do most of their damage from the backline by setting up and using the skills of Rance, Houli and now Yarran, which will be an even bigger strength next season.
WHO’S UNDER THE PUMP
From a playing point of view the whole list is under the pump, they need to start delivering. That pressure falls mostly onto the shoulders of the leadership group — Cotchin, Deledio, Maric, Riewoldt, Chaplin — these are the guys who should be delivering in the big games and in the big moments in September. But at the end of the day, the majority of players who run out onto the field for Richmond week in, week out have been around for a number of years and should be stepping up when it matters. Martin is critical and 2015 was probably his best and most consistent year but he needs to keep getting better. Conca has had his injury problems so he needs to get himself right and start delivering on the talent that made the Tigers pick him at No. 6 in 2010.
WHO SHOULD GO
Chris Newman, Nathan Foley, Ricky Petterd and Chris Knights have retired and Matt McDonough and Matt Arnot have been delisted already and I’d say they won’t make any more changes, especially in this draft. A lot of the guys on the list are either critical to the premiership tilt or haven’t been exposed enough yet to make a call.
CRYSTAL BALL
Will they grab the opportunity? In 2016 the first goal for Richmond is making the top four. Then it’s about making the most of the opportunities that present from there. This is a season that is very important for them — they can gain a lot of confidence from season 2016 if they can chalk up wins from Round 1. If they can’t get victories on the board early, the group is one that could lose belief in itself.
Getting off to a good start is something they haven’t been able to do but next year being 3 and 5 after Round 8 or 4 and 4 or even 5 and 3 won’t cut it. A good start to the season creates that belief but a poor start generates pressure and that builds and builds heading into the finals. They can’t keep playing catch up.
September action is a non-negotiable for the next three years.
Gary Buckenara helped build Hawthorn’s three-peat premiership list and now he runs a rule over club lists in an exclusive column for the Herald Sun.
Buckenara was a major part of Hawthorn’s recruiting team between 2004-2015 and was responsible for bringing Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis to the Hawks in 2004 when he was the Hawks’ sole fulltime recruiter.
Originally published as Richmond list analysis: Tigers’ premiership window is open
Hall’s long-distance Gallen plan
Barry Hall has revealed how he plans to beat his shorter but more experienced opponent in their much-anticipated bout.
Hall gets kick from little masters
Andrew Moloney is the hot favourite to become Australia’s only current world boxing champion when he battles Brooklyn’s Elton Dharry on the same night that his mate Barry Hall fights Paul Gallen.