Richmond have been criticised for years for their moneyball approach to their list.
Lead by Damien Hardwick and his recruiting team, the Tigers have patched up cracks with secondhand players from clubs that no longer see their worth.
Occasionally it has worked .Shaun Grigg’s 2016 has been one of the few moneyballers to be a shining light on an otherwise dismal season. However for the most part it has been a failed experiment.
Richmond find themselves in an interesting situation now, with the finals well and truly out of reach. Therefore, all eyes are focused on the upcoming trade period and national draft.
Richmond have already been linked by reputable journalists to Dion Prestia. Emma Quayle has gone as far as to say that the deal is practically signed, sealed and delivered.
Richmond have been endlessly criticised for never chasing big name stars in trade periods and further failing to utilise free agency, so you’d think that this would be a big tick for the list management staff at Richmond.
However a logical and honest discussion needs to be had about where Richmond Football Club is as a team and an overall list. Having played finals for three consecutive years, missing the finals in 2016 is a massive blow for the organisation and holes in the list have been put on display for all to see.
Many are of the belief that it is time for a list overhaul, a ‘nobody is untradeable’ attitude. However club president Peggy O’Neil believes that this is an overreaction and a few minor tweaks should get the job done.
I don’t subscribe to that. Below I will give you my thoughts and theories about the direction of the list and the club over the next five years.
As a long-suffering Richmond Supporter, let me put this on the table now. I have faith in Damien Hardwick.
I don’t subscribe to a ‘shoot the coach’ mantra, especially one who has lead this team to three of the total five finals series the club has made in the last 35 years.
But let’s address the media discussions and speculations first.
Is Brett Deledio tradeable?
Absolutely he is. A thirty-something player whose body seems to be against him of late needs to be considered as a player Richmond can afford to lose. The football romantic in a lot of us doesn’t like the idea but that is modern football, it’s a cut-throat industry.
What is Dion Prestia worth?
Gold Coast’s list and recruiting managers, Domenic Ambrogio and Scott Clayton, wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t automatically demand a first round pick and a player. And if I’m not mistaken, they will be asking for a Brett Deledio-like player.
Let’s for arguments sake say that this trade is facilitated. Richmond’s first round pick and Brett Deledio for Dion Prestia and a late pick, most likely in the third round.
This would have Richmond receiving a player that would only win them one or two extra games next season and be entering the draft in the third round, due to sacrificing their 2016 second round pick to Gold Coast in 2015 for pick 19 (later used on Chris Yarran). For a team that seems to be quite desperate to pump some new young talent into the list, this isn’t an ideal place to be entering the draft.
What do Richmond actually need?
It’s so painfully obvious yet so elusive. Richmond need a ruckman desperately. The Ivan Maric era has come tumbling to an unceremonious end and despite Shaun Hampson putting together a respectable season, it just isn’t enough.
In the VFL, Ivan Soldo is shouldering a lot of the ruckwork and isn’t putting pressure on Hampson for a position, so that should suggest where he is. A fit Chris Yarran should provide the leg speed off of half back that has been missing and the rise of Oleg Markov should keep the battle for the 21st and 22nd position competitive.
Who is tradeable and who isn’t?
It’s a difficult question to ask if the direction of the team isn’t clear but for the sake of this discussion I’m going to follow what I believe Richmond need to do – turn over the list.
Deledio, as mentioned previously is a tradeable player; put aside the romantic notion and look at him purely as an asset to a company and the decision shouldn’t be too difficult. With whispers of Devon Smith coming home to Victoria, GWS and Richmond should start opening discussions very soon.
Dustin Martin is one of the very few that can’t be traded, with a 2016 that has him in Brownlow medal contention. While we’re on the subject Jack Reiwoldt, Alex Rance, Bachar Houli and one of my stranger ones is Sam Lloyd are also untouchables in my eyes.
These players are extremely valuable to the skeleton of the team and without them the structure will be absolutely horrific. Sam Lloyd stays on this list simply for x-factor, which is something Richmond have desperately needed for years and letting this man go could easily backfire in a big final one day.
And as for Rance – well, you just don’t trade the best defender in the league on a whim.
So that leaves a few talented (and not so) players on the outer. The ones that stand out are Brandon Ellis, Anthony Miles, Trent Cotchin, David Astbury, Ty Vickery and Shane Edwards.
Firstly, the only way Trent Cotchin gets traded is if his captaincy is moved on in the next year or so because trading a captain is an awful look for any club and speaks volumes about culture inside the four walls. However, as good as his season has been, he isn’t a Dustin Martin and his market value is already through the roof.
The other big name that was difficult to put on that list was Shane Edwards. If Richmond are genuinely serious about the rebuild then a man of his talent and again, market value, isn’t put on the table the club just isn’t doing it due diligence to the process. An incredible play maker he may be, but the names that Richmond so desperately look to attract might only be able to get here with the loss such players.
This isn’t to say that all of these players will be moved on and around the AFL world, this is simply suggesting that when other comes club knocking about certain players, the word un-touchable needs to become very scarce.
Big decisions need to be made at Richmond and with the club already showing there is some very talented young players coming through, they just need to take the next step.
Most importantly the club needs to let the fans know which direction they are going in, because disillusioned fans make for large public outcries and more external pressure on a club that seriously needs to stay entirely focused on what happens on the ground is not an ideal scenario.
Richmond may need to take a few steps backwards to go forwards, but teams like Carlton, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs have trusted the process and are now reaping the rewards of a meticulously constructed list.
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