How Richmond's proving a Tiger can change its stripes

Times are changing at Tigerland.

After such success, winning three premierships in four seasons, the Tigers faced their own footballing mortality after the 2021 season, finishing 12th.

Opinions are mixed on Richmond going forward – some think that the list is tired and will be petering out as a middling team for some time to come, while others expect a swift return to relevance in 2022.

The Round 1 loss to Carlton seemed like a reality check, having been blown out significantly in the last half hour of the game. Dion Prestia’s injury affected the midfield rotations and the defence felt exposed in an onslaught, without David Astbury or Noah Balta covering off a big, key forward.

Instead, the Tigers recruited Robbie Tarrant as a mentor/stopgap and decided to go all-in on Josh Gibcus from the start of the season.

Beaten comprehensively and a key player down, they fell away under Carlton’s immense numbers.

Without Prestia, Dustin Martin and Dylan Grimes in Round 2, the Tigers almost had an excuse to struggle against a strong GWS team.

Instead, coach Damien Hardwick leant further into the youth at his disposal and put them in meaningful positions with opportunities to succeed. The six-goal win felt pretty significant for the direction the Tigers are heading in going forward.

At a crossroads, clubs have a couple of options.

They can head down the Geelong route, which Hawthorn tried after their success. It involves constant recruiting of talent from other clubs and holding onto the experienced players in the playing group, which can result in consistent high placings but could potentially result in falling off the face of the earth, as the Hawks did for a while.

Alternatively, the way Sydney rejuvenated its list in just two seasons, involving the use of multiple picks in a draft and trusting the development internally to get young players up to speed, can take some time but is more palatable and potentially, more rewarding for fans if it can be done as quickly as John Longmire has recently.

While the recruitment of Tarrant, a 32-year-old in the final stages of his career, could be perceived as a desperate grab at reaching glory once again, it was combined with deliberate moves to maximise the departures of Mabior Chol and Callum Coleman-Jones, to end up with five picks in the 2021 draft.

In the space of two seasons, the Swans recruited Chad Warner, Logan McDonald, Braeden Campbell, Dylan Stephens and Errol Gulden. Warner and Gulden were picks in the 30s and represent some of the very best young players in the competition.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Sydney haven’t shunned their experienced players, but rather transitioned them into less demanding spots, where they attract all the attention.

Many perceive them to be a young group, but Dane Rampe, Josh P Kennedy, Lance Franklin and even Jake Lloyd are veterans who still play weekly, just in secondary roles to younger players.

Round 2 gave a significant glimpse into Richmond’s plans for the future, where a similar approach was seemingly adopted.

The next generation of Richmond success isn’t purely based on the youth, but rather the intelligent integration of young players, with existing members of the cohort that have 5-10 more years in them.

While Trent Cotchin played his best game in over a year and was critical with numbers, Thomson Dow, Shai Bolton, Jack Graham and Jack Ross were the other players rotating through the midfield.

Last season, it would’ve been Shane Edwards and Cotchin dominating centre bounce attendances but clearly, the Tigers are happy with their internal development.

To replace Bachar Houli out of defence, Jayden Short has continued his incredible form of the past few seasons, while Daniel Rioli’s ball use and Hugo Ralphsmith’s run and dash gave new energy and vigour to the playing group.

Gibcus had a great game in defence, with six rebound 50s and six spoils, while 22-year-old Noah Balta looked like a genuine centre half-forward, kicking four goals.

The Tigers were one of eight teams to feature ten players with less than 50 games of experience – the other teams on that list were Collingwood, Adelaide, North Melbourne, West Coast, Hawthorn, GWS and Fremantle, most of whom are expected to finish lower on the ladder.

Liam Baker has taken over from Shane Edwards as the incredibly skilled, smaller utility which ultimately, ties the bow on what appears to be a Richmond team trending in a similar list direction to the Swans.

Given previous success, the Tigers have generally been extremely patient with their youth. Ask any fan about Riley Collier-Dawkins, Sydney Stack or the aforementioned Dow and Ross and the desire to have seen more from significantly talented young players will likely come up as a response.

If we’re to believe that Richmond’s future is being setup in 2022, then we can trust the club to provide honest internal assessments of the youth and play the guys who are likely to “make it”.

Remember, it took Sydney six seasons to finally play Callum Mills in the midfield, while Isaac Heeney is being afforded more opportunities now.

When the competition is exposed to the players Richmond drafted in 2022, the haul could well be received as well as the Swans’ 2019/20 hauls, Essendon’s 2020 draft and Port Adelaide’s 2018 draft.

Gibcus is already a best 22 player at the club, Tom Brown and Sam Banks suit the desired efficient transition game of the Tigers, Judson Clarke is extremely talented in the forward half and Tyler Sonsie might be one of the best players to emerge from the entire draft.

(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

For those critical of Richmond’s list and the quality of the youth, it must also be accepted that the majority of the current top performers at the club are still in the first half of their careers.

Now that the pressure valve has been released slightly on the group as a premiership contender, we’ve been afforded an insight into the structural changes that will place more emphasis on the future and cover any absences of the legendary figures at the club, like Cotchin, Edwards, Martin or Jack Riewoldt.

Whether it results in a top-eight finish or otherwise in 2022 remains to be seen, but this is a rejuvenation on the run that has proven to be extremely effective in recent seasons for certain clubs.

Coaches who have been willing to head down this road have generally been rewarded with even longer tenures, while holding on too long to veterans has seen experienced coaches under severe pressure, or be sacked.

Damien Hardwick is making moves under our eyes and it will leave Richmond in a strong position with a list that can compete for at least half a decade to come.

The times are a-changing at Tigerland and the club is better for it.