Deep dive special: Inside look at Richmond for 2020
Winning back-to-back flags isn’t easy. Richmond found that out after its 2017 success. After bouncing back to the summit last year, how hungry are the Tigers to achieve that feat.
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Can you measure hunger?
It is the obvious question for a football club that finished last season on a 12-game winning streak culminating in an 89-point Grand Final triumph.
“I think you can,” Richmond assistant coach Craig McRae told the Herald Sun.
“Early in the pre-season you look at time trials and skinfolds. They’re all measurable things.
“We’ve got a lot of guys with premiership experience and that can create motivation to get back there again.
“Once we get the competitive juices running in the season, that’ll be the biggest test. Time will tell, but hopefully we’re as hungry as ever.”
McRae is well-qualified to answer.
Only two teams this century have won back-to-back flags – Brisbane from 2001-03 and Hawthorn from 2013-15 – and McRae was a star small forward in the Lions’ dynasty.
The feat even eluded Geelong during its 2007-2011 golden era.
Richmond appeared on track in 2018. The Tigers finished the home-and-away season two wins and 15 per cent clear on top of the ladder.
But inside the Punt Rd walls they knew they had peaked too soon, and Collingwood giant Mason Cox brought those fears to life in the preliminary final.
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“It’s a difficult one. At the same time (in 2018) the VFL sort of came to a grinding halt,” said McRae, who was Richmond’s VFL coach from 2016-19.
“Reflecting back on it I think it sort of helped last year having those injuries at the start, because then we had guys back that were a little bit fresher.
“We had our best team available when it mattered most. You need a lot of luck to win premierships and things can go wrong reasonably quickly, and you need your best team available when it counts.”
The Tigers fed games to Jack Ross, Sydney Stack, Liam Baker, Noah Balta and Shai Bolton ahead of time as the likes of Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt, David Astbury missed games through injury and Dylan Grimes and Dustin Martin through suspension.
Suddenly, the pressure for Round 1 spots at Tigerland is enormous – “we’ve got nearly every magnet available” – with Bachar Houli (calf) and Brandon Ellis (Gold Coast) the only Grand Final heroes unavailable.
Few know the next generation like McRae.
What about 2018 first-round pick Riley Collier-Dawkins, who is awaiting his AFL debut?
“He had a breakout game in the VFL Grand Final and looks like he’s matured over the pre-season. He may get opportunities that he didn’t get last year,” McRae said.
Collier-Dawkins had 15 disposals, two goals, six tackles, four clearances and 109 SuperCoach points in last year’s VFL flag.
Stack?
“We’ve trialled Stacky across all the lines. He’s a quality player that we want to get in our team in any role,” McRae said.
“We’re just trying to find what his best fit is at the minute. He played back against the Pies in Marsh 1. That’s where he may start the season but flexibility is one of his strengths.”
Balta?
“He’s capable of playing on a real, tall Mason Cox-type or that bigger key position player. But he’s also got the ability to go into the ruck,” McRae said.
“He got a taste of it last year and it looks like he’s continuing to grow. Shai Bolton had a terrific season last year, can he back that up?
“And I like the look of Callum Coleman-Jones, having coached him in the VFL, as a developing ruckman.”
And then there’s Gand Final debutant Marlion Pickett.
“He’s the obvious story. He’s only played one game to date, but the way he’s presented at pre-season he looks really hungry.”
McRae – in charge of the attack in 2020 – expects Dustin Martin to retain the 57-43 split between playing midfield and forward.
“Our gameplan does evolve around getting the best out of Dusty, and Dusty playing his role for the team,” McRae said.
In 2017 that premiership gameplan was also based around forward pressure. Last year it was more about slick ball movement.
What’s the plan for 2020?
“We’re searching for the best of both worlds. We want to be a high-pressure team across the whole ground, as well as inside 50m,” McRae said.
“It’s just getting harder and harder to be able to deliver on both (but) we want to really be a high transition ball moving team as well.”
THE LIST
Out: Brandon Ellis (Gold Coast), Dan Butler (St Kilda), Jacob Townsend (Essendon), Callum Moore (Carlton), Alex Rance, Shaun Grigg, Mav Weller (retired), Connor Menadue (delisted),
In: Thomson Dow, Noah Cumberland, William Martyn, Hugo Ralphsmith, Bigoa Nyuon (national draft)
OFF-CONTRACT
Marlion Pickett, Bachar Houli, Jack Graham, Nathan Broad, Toby Nankervis, Riley Collier-Dawkins, Oleg Markov, Ryan Garthwaite, Ben Miller, Derek Eggmolesse-Smith, Fraser Turner, Jake Aarts, Luke English
Chief executive Brendon Gale: “Most of our players are in-contract (for 2021). In terms of the profile I think it’s in the right set of age, experience and it’s well-balanced – elite top-end talent with elite kids coming through. What we learnt through 2019 is the importance of exposing your youth, because you never know where that can take you. We were pleasantly reminded of that in 2019, whereas the previous couple of years because we won so many games and we were so healthy we probably didn’t have the opportunity to expose the list.”
BURNING QUESTIONS
Are the Tigers looking to re-sign Hardwick beyond 2021?
Gale: “It’s not really (on the current agenda). One of the reasons you extend contracts is to give them the strength, confidence and security, but you can take a longer-term window on things. There’s no immediate need. These things evolve naturally. He’s managed by Paul Connors and we’ll touch base at an appropriate time.”
IT’S A BIG YEAR FOR
Toby Nankervis
The Tigers experimented with two rucks – Nankervis and Ivan Soldo – for the first time in September last year. It worked, but with Riewoldt and Tom Lynch up forward it also made the Tigers top-heavy. Nankervis was the slowest starter to pre-season after groin surgery. What structure will the Tigers use in Round 1?
“It’s an interesting debate we have at match committee. I know Nank wasn’t fully fit (in the 2019 finals), which forced our hand a little bit. I’m not too sure what the future holds for that, but early in the season transition is so high that running capabilities going to be needed,” McRae said.
PRE-SEASON HERO
Marlion Pickett
McRae:“He was in our system for 10-odd weeks and only played six VFL games and one AFL game – a pretty big one at that (Grand Final). But he’s had a pre-season of learning our systems and picking up the habits of his teammates, and his teammates understanding how he goes about things. He’s an impressive young man and he’s hungry to make up for lost ground, which is going to stand him in good stead.”
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BEST PLAYER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
Callum Coleman-Jones
McRae: “I like the look of Callum Coleman-Jones, having coached him in the VFL, as a developing ruckman. His last six to eight games last year were really above the level, and he’s one we’re hoping can take another step forward and play a key forward and ruck-type role. Contested marking is a real feature of his, and his ability in the ruck to get to multiple contests. He’s a high-possession ruckman – he could get 20 possessions playing as a genuine ruck. He’s got the ability to get around the ground as an extra midfielder … he’s got some real scope.”
