Gary Buckenara analyses the Richmond list after the 2021 season

Richmond underachieved massively in 2021 but Gary Buckenara isn’t writing them off yet. See how he rates every player and how they should tackle the trade period.

It would be fair to say Richmond has definitely underachieved in 2021 given the strength of the Tigers’ list on paper.

Boasting 21 A and B-grade players – minus a couple of retirements – and seven future AB players, it shows why they have won three premierships in the past four years.

There have been a few hiccups and distractions off the field and I wonder if these have just upset the balance of the camaraderie of the group?

A bad run with injuries didn’t help their campaign this year.

Losing Dustin Martin, Toby Nankervis, Dion Prestia, Nick Vlastuin, Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards, Ivan Soldo, Kane Lambert, Kamdyn McIntosh, Bachar Houli, and David Astbury at different stages of the season was always going to be hard to cover, and makes it hard to get continuity of performance.

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I still think the list is well balanced and given some luck in 2022, they will be a contender when these players are fully fit again.

Sometimes this happens when a club like Richmond has set such high standards on and off the field for a long time, a year like this might just reignite the hunger.

The talent is there and Tigers fans should not feel too disappointed as this group has taken them on a wonderful journey recently – one which I don’t think has come to an end just yet.

LIST NEEDS

Injuries to Nankervis and Soldo exposed the Tigers’ midfield at times this season and they might need to look at bringing in another experienced ruckman, and hopefully some of their development talls can come on.

I think they will continue to look at a balance of attracting free agents and out of contract players as well as investing in younger players to keep the list in good shape.

Toby Nankervis battled with injuries for much of 2021. Picture: Michael Klein

TRADE TARGETS

I’m not sure the Tigers will be big players in the trade period, and they are likely to head to the draft with an excellent hand — picks 7, 16, 26 and 28.

But an experienced ruckman would be a good option and a player in the mould of Jon Ceglar would be the type of player needed.

He is contracted at the moment at Hawthorn but could be gettable with the club looking to young ruckman Ned Reeves.

UNTOUCHABLES

Ideally, the Tigers can keep their list together, retain their A and B ranked players and get them injury-free for 2022.

I like their future AB players and hopefully some of the developing players can progress next season as well.

TRADE BAIT

I don’t think players will want to move away and I doubt that Richmond will look to offload any players that would get early draft picks, especially in a draft that has been very hard to access watching players around the country live due to Covid.

I expect most of the clubs in the top eight will look to make minimal changes to their list and Richmond, I am sure, will have very few changes.

Josh Caddy is one who seems to have fallen out of favour and could look for opportunities elsewhere.

RATING THE LIST

WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN

List management is one of the most important jobs at an AFL club.

Poor decisions can be catastrophic — and Collingwood proved that last year.

Far too many clubs can often hold an overly-optimistic view when ranking their own lists and this can lead to years of mediocrity.

When clubs are rating their lists, they should rank players as: A+, A, B+, B, C+, C and Development.

In this list analysis, I have just done A, B, C and two tiers of development (“future AB players” and “need more time”) because with the younger players it is important to see who is coming through and those that need more time in the system.

The important area for clubs to look at is how many A and B ranked players they have as well as future consistent AB players.

These rankings are my opinions, but they should give supporters a reasonable snapshot as to where their playing list sits now — and how they might look in a few years’ time.

Players 22 and over

A-grade: Elite players on any AFL list

B: Top 10-18 player on most lists

C: An 19-30 player on a list

Developing: Aged 21 or under

Future AB players: These are players that will hopefully develop into an A or B ranked player once they turn 22. They might be playing to this level now, but it takes sustained years.

Need more time: These players would be a player recently drafted that is still developing and therefore will need more time to see if he is likely to develop into an A or B grade player.

Jack Riewoldt is still an A-grader according to Gary Buckenara.

RATING THE LIST

A-grade: Dylan Grimes, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards, Toby Nankervis.

B-grade: Nick Vlastuin, Dion Prestia, Liam Baker, Jason Castagna, David Astbury (retired), Bachar Houli (retired), Jayden Short, Tom Lynch, Kane Lambert, Shai Bolton, Kamdyn McIntosh, Jack Graham, Nathan Broad, Mabior Chol, Marlion Pickett.

C-grade: Patrick Naish (delisted), Jake Aarts, Daniel Rioli, Ivan Soldo, Josh Caddy, Ryan Garthwaite, Derek Eggmolesse-Smith, Matthew Parker.

DEVELOPING

Future AB players: Jack Ross, Noah Balta, Riley Collier-Dawkins, Thomson Dow, Sydney Stack, Hugo Ralphsmith, Maurice Rioli.

Need more time: Rhyan Mansell, Samson Ryan, Will Martyn, Noah Cumberland, Mate Colina, Callum Coleman-Jones, Ben Miller, Bigoa Nyuon.

MORE GARY BUCKENARA

CARLTON: The 19 C-graders who doomed the Blues

COLLINGWOOD: Why Pies should consider De Goey trade

ADELAIDE: The young talent Crows need to invest in

NORTH MELBOURNE: How Roos can become a destination club

Even the incredibly durable Dustin Martin missed six games through injury this year. Picture: Michael Klein

LIST BREAKDOWN

A Grade = 6

B Grade = 15

C Grade = 8

DEVELOPING

Future AB players = 7

Need more time = 8

CRYSTAL BALL

With a strong number of A and B-grade players and seven future AB players, the Richmond list is in very good shape – and should be for a few years yet.

It is a balancing act to keep a strong group together with the TPP and have good developing talent and the right amount of depth players (C-grade). Richmond has done this very well.

I think the Tigers will be back in 2022 and challenge for a top-four position – and another flag – as long as the hunger is there to fight for it again.

This is the unknown. It is hard to determine as a coach or fitness staff if the burning desire and the drive to make all the sacrifices required to win premierships is still there.

Let’s not forget the past two years have been extremely hard on all clubs, coaches, players and their families and this must have presented so many challenges that are hard for those not in the inner sanctum to understand.

But given the fortitude of this Richmond group write them off at your peril.

Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses the Richmond list after the 2021 season