How a chance meeting in the September Club at the 2016 Grand Final helped Richmond secure Josh Caddy
IT WAS the sliding doors moment that helped Richmond secure Josh Caddy, and it came in the most unlikely of circumstances and locations.
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IT WAS the sliding doors moment that helped Richmond secure Josh Caddy, and it came in the most unlikely of circumstances and locations.
Just hours after the Western Bulldogs pulled off a fairytale 2016 Grand Final triumph, Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale was networking in the AFL’s exclusive September Club, perhaps even dreaming his Tigers could achieve the same result one day.
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Amid the raucous revelry coming from the corporate who’s who surrounding him, Gale was approached by a face he recognised as a one-time teammate who had been on Richmond’s supplementary list in the late 1990s.
His name was Saul Caddy; he wanted to introduce his brother Josh to Gale.
“It was just a chance meeting,” Gale revealed this week, eager to play down the importance of this never-before revealed conversation.
But what happened that night undoubtedly played a part in the Tigers securing Josh Caddy from Geelong in a surprise trade only weeks later — a player who would become a part of Richmond’s own fairytale success on the same day a year later, and a footballer rated as the AFL’s most improved this year according to Champion Data’s Official AFL Player Ratings.
“Saul just came up to and said ‘G’day’,” Gale told the Herald Sun. “I hadn’t seen him in years, I think he was still a bit dirty on not getting an opportunity all those years ago.
“Saul said that he would love to see Josh at Richmond. He didn’t bag Geelong or anything like that. He just indicated that Josh was a little bit restless.
“I hadn’t made the connection that Josh was his brother. I said just hello to Josh and we made some small talk.”
Gale didn’t think any more about the conversation until the following week when he was in a list management meeting at Punt Rd, just a few hundred metres from where the September Club function was held. The discussion centred on Geelong’s interest in Tigers’ veteran Brett Deledio, which Richmond was sure the Cats couldn’t get done in terms of draft picks or players.
But as the talk narrowed, Gale raised his casual chat with Saul Caddy, and the unlikely opportunity it had presented for a club eager for a hard-bodied midfielder who was capable of going forward and kicking multiple goals.
“I just said to ‘Balmey’ (Neil Balme), (list manager) Blair (Hartley) and ‘Richo’ (then Tigers general manager of football talent Dan Richardson) that I had bumped into Saul, and that it might be worth following up,” Gale said.
“They went to work on it, and it had nothing to do with me. He was just the sort of player who made sense for us.”
As it turned out, Deledio chose the Giants, and Caddy — receptive to a move to Punt Rd and eager for more game time in the midfield — ended up being a shock trade to Richmond for picks 26 (Brandon Parfitt) and 60 (Quinton Narkle).
Gale gives all the credit for securing Caddy to Richmond’s list management team, who took his initial tip-off, and made it happen.
Fast-forward a season-and-a-half and Richmond’s effort to prise Caddy out of Geelong has proven just another of their list management masterstrokes.
Caddy, 25, has played 31 games for his third club — he was originally pick seven for Gold Coast in the 2010 draft — and has kicked 48 goals.
He played a key role in the Tigers’ 2017 flag success, and has taken his game to a higher plane this season.
Playing predominantly in attack — it’s been a 61 per cent, 39 per cent split, according to Champion Data — Caddy has kicked 27.6 from nine games this year, which puts him equal-fourth in the Coleman Medal.
When Caddy spoke to the Herald Sun following Richmond’s Dreamtime win against Essendon last Saturday night, teammate Jack Riewoldt — who has twice won the AFL leading goalkicker award — walked past and yelled: “Caddy for the Coleman”.
As strange as it might have seemed at the start of the season, Caddy is not without a fluker’s chance, only eight behind tearaway leader Ben Brown.
Of the top 10 leading goalkickers this season, only two — Brown and Lance Franklin — have a better goals per game average in 2018 than Caddy’s 3.0.
* table based on Champion Data’s Official AFL Player Ratings
Caddy insists he doesn’t care where he plays, saying he is now enjoying his football more than at any other stage of his 126-game career.
“I honestly don’t care,” he stressed. “I am just loving playing footy. I’ve had a taste of success last year, and that’s what it is all about.”
“We were fortunate enough to do what we did last year. If anything, that motivates us more to get back there again, because you know how good it feels.”
Gale remembers Caddy playing some big TAC Cup games in key forward posts, saying the midfielder-cum-forward has an uncanny knack for kicking goals.
“You have either got that goalkicking chip, or you don’t,” Gale said. “And Josh has got it.”
Caddy can’t put his finger on any specific reason for his growth this year, other than natural maturity and help from those around him.
“You always want to improve as a player,” he said. “As long as you are on the right trajectory, that’s the most important thing.”
“I haven’t done anything differently. It is working for me, and hopefully it keeps rolling. But footy’s the great leveller, it will bring you back to earth if you get ahead of yourself.
“We’ve got such an even contribution. Cotch and Dusty are spending more time down there, and it is a good sign big Jack (Riewoldt) doesn’t have to kick a big bag each week.”
Coach Damien Hardwick said Caddy’s elevation into All-Australian contention — he is ranked No. 1 for a mid-forward in goals and No. 2 for scoring involvements — comes from hard work.
“We tried to figure out where his best fit was, and his back end of last year was very, very important,” Hardwick said. “Now we are seeing his progression … his ability to play inside (mid) and to play forward is incredible.
“He has worked incredibly hard on improving his game on and off the field and he is starting to reap the rewards.
“He still has a long way to go, which is exciting for us.”
That hunger to achieve more and his inherent competitive streak continues to drive him, with the next challenge coming against Port Adelaide at the hostile Adelaide Oval.
“We’ve probably been a little flat for the past month, but (the Dreamtime) win was good,” he said of Richmond. “We were back to close to our best.”
If the Tigers keep that momentum up, neither Caddy — or Gale, for that matter — will have any need for corporate hospitality tickets into the September Club again this year.
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