Mark Robinson on the list calls Richmond will face to remain a contender

Brisbane, Geelong and Hawthorn had to rebuild after its dynasty years and Richmond soon enough will have to do the same. What will that mean for its ageing stars?

Hawthorn v Richmond Robbo list calls 2021

Could you ever imagine Trent Cotchin finishing his career at Port Adelaide?

Or Jack Riewoldt playing his last game with Collingwood? Or Shane Edwards wearing a St Kilda jumper?

For Richmond fans, it’s unfathomable to even consider these premiership legends could end their careers at another club.

Just as it was for Hawks fans before four-timers Luke Hodge was hustled away to Brisbane, Sam Mitchell traded out to West Coast and Jordan Lewis sent to Melbourne,

And even recent decisions which saw Grant Birchall switch to Brisbane and Isaac Smith to Geelong.

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Jack Riewoldt in a Port Adelaide guernsey — could it happen? Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos/Getty Images

And Cats fans, can you recall the thunderbolt emotion when Steve Johnson departed for the Giants? Or when fellow premiership players Paul Chapman, Mathew Stokes and James Kelly joined Essendon?

Richmond will soon be confronted with list-management decisions and/or discussions with several of its veteran champs about how their careers will end.

Will they finish at Richmond or at another club?

After Thursday’s destructive performance against St Kilda, and after what looms as another strong September campaign, the eventual dismantling of one of the greatest teams of all time is probably a public topic before its time.

Rest assured, though, the list management group at Richmond has already started planning. It has to. It’s their job.

They have three recent “dynasty’’ case studies to consider:

1. Brisbane. At the end of the three-peat, the Lions went into free fall and from 2005-2018 played in only one finals series (2008). Only Jason Akermanis (Western Bulldogs) and Daniel Bradshaw (Sydney) left the Lions for another club.

2. Hawthorn. Post-dynasty, Lewis and Mitchell departed at the end of 2016, Hodge at the end of 2017, Jarryd Roughead rejected encouragement to join either St Kilda or Gold Coast at the end of 2018 and then Birchall (2019) and Isaac Smith (2020) walked out the door. The Hawks played finals in 2018, and it would appear they are set to miss three consecutive finals series.

Fourt-time premiership Hawks Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis and Sam Mitchell joined other clubs. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

3. Geelong. They have been contender every season since 2011 barring 2015. They managed out Johnson, Chapman, Stokes and Kelly and retired Jimmy Bartel when Bartel believed he had another season in him. Their list strategy has worked, albeit they haven’t won another premiership.

Richmond will study and learn from those three teams — about jettisoning/retiring players — while still trying to lay claim to being a premiership contender, if that’s possible.

It would appear the Tigers know they need first-round picks to refresh their list.

Last year, they traded their 2020 first-round selection for Geelong’s 2021 first-round pick. So it’s possible they could win the flag this year and enter the draft with two first-rounders.

That’s shrewd planning.

Still, Hawthorn and Geelong made hard calls on list management because: A) It freed up the salary cap; and, B) It gave opportunities to younger players.

So, will Richmond do the same? Will they let Cotchin, Riewoldt and Edwards, and perhaps even Bachar Houli, who are aged 31 or more, play out their careers until retirement or not?

Each individual is different. It can get messy if, for example, Riewoldt believes he has more footy in him than what the club might think he has. He may choose to go elsewhere for $450,000 a year rather than retire.

Shane Edwards (left) is among a group of ageing Tigers. Picture: Michael Klein

At the end of Lewis’ time at Hawthorn, he had one year of senior footy remaining and no promise of a follow-up deal. He then signed a three-year contract at Melbourne.

Lewis was shocked when coach Alastair Clarkson first revealed his plan. The extra two years on a contract made it a soft landing.

Still, Lewis has only once been back to Hawthorn since leaving. That was for best mate Roughie’s final game.

Hodge and Clarkson are cool with what played out. Those two and their families caught up over summer for dinner and drinks. So there’s no ill-feeling there.

Hodge’s departure was different to the Lewis situation. Hodge told Clarkson and the team he was retiring and then Lions coach Chris Fagan swayed him north.

Clarkson offered Hodge a one-year to stay, but Hodge had already committed to Fagan.

It was a family decision, with his wife Lauren and their four boys, hell bent on moving north.

The Hawks got pick 45 for Hodge and used it to select James Worpel.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick is not foreign to switching clubs to extend a career.

He was offered a one-year deal at Essendon at the end of 2001, but signed a three-year deal to play with Port Adelaide.

Luke Hodge after his final game as a Lion in 2019. Picture: Jono Searle/AFL Photos/Getty Images

Damien Hardwick was traded to Port Adelaide, where he secured a second flag as a player in 2004.

It delivered Dimma a second premiership (2004).

Hawks fans didn’t like the jettisoning of their premiership heroes, but after Clarkson explained why he had to be so ruthless, there was a level of understanding.

Among all the emotion, business decisions have to be made, and those decisions are favourable for the player.

You’d have to argue the jury is out on Hawthorn’s list management moves - clearing cap space to bring in Tom Mitchell, Jaeger O’Meara, Chad Wingard, Jonathan Patton, Tom Scully and Tom Phillips, and for a lesser cost Jarman Impey and Sam Frost.

The Hawks brought in first-round selection Denver Grainger-Barras at the end of last year and will keep this year’s first rounder.

If you asked Geelong, they’d surely say they have the Hawks covered.

A possible complex situation at Richmond at the end of next season — especially if the Tigers fall off their perch — could be avoided if the planets align.

If Cotchin, Riewoldt, Edwards and Houli are happy to retire when discussions eventually hit the pointy end, the Tigers will have steered clear of choppy waters.

They already have a promising group of under-23s, but at the same time, they had to let go the likes of Brandon Ellis, Oleg Markov, Dan Butler and Jack Higgins to manage their salary cap.

So, it hasn’t always been calm waters. But whether there’s choppy waters ahead is a wait and see.