Amazing stat sums up Tigers’ season
Al Paton, Herald Sun
RICHMOND has had a terrible year but it can claim to be No. 1 in the AFL in one category.
By naming promoted rookie Mabior Chol for his AFL debut against Sydney in Round 23, the Tigers are set to play 41 different players this season — the most in the AFL.
Richmond, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast have all used a league-high 40 players entering the final round, but neither of the Queensland clubs has selected a debutant this weekend.
It’s a remarkable figure for a team that was thought to be in top-four contention and 12 more than the Adelaide Crows.
The Tigers have played every player on their list apart from Chris Yarran (out indefinitely), Ivan Soldo (a category B rookie who played his first ever game of football in 2014) and young forward Dan Butler.
TEAM PLAYERS USEDRichmond 40
Brisbane 40
Gold Coast 40
Collingwood 39
Essendon 39
W.Bulldogs 39
Fremantle 38
Melbourne 37
West Coast 35
GWS Giants 35
Hawthorn 35
Carlton 35
Port Adelaide 35
St Kilda 34
Sydney 34
North Melb. 34
Geelong 33
Adelaide 29
* numbers before Round 23Butler, who was recruited with pick 67 in the 2014 draft but lost most of his first season to knee injuries, has been an emergency several times this season.
He is again this weekend, raising the prospect of a late change to add another number to the “players used” column. But that won’t happen barring extreme circumstances, with the Tigers flying only Connor Menadue to Sydney as a back-up.
Dan Butler (right) can consider himself unlucky not to play AFL footy this year. Picture: Carmelo Bazzano
The 41 players used is the most by Richmond since 2010, Damien Hardwick’s first year in charge, when Troy Taylor, David Gourdis and Relton Roberts all saw senior action.
From 2011-15 Hardwick used between 36-38 players as the Tigers reached three consecutive elimination finals.
This year he has heeded the call to “play the kids”, delivering numbers not previously seen since the early 1990s; the last time Richmond used more than 41 players before 2010 was 1986.
Four Tigers — Jack Riewoldt, Dustin Martin, Brandon Ellis and Sam Lloyd — have played every game.
Among the players tried at senior level are Liam McBean (three games), Andrew Moore (four), Callum Moore (one), Todd Elton (one) and Nathan Broad (two).
Chol is Richmond’s eighth debutant in 2016, the second-highest figure in the AFL behind Brisbane (nine).
Geelong, North Melbourne, St Kilda and West Coast have blooded just two first-gamers this year, the fewest in the comp.
The league-leading stat gives Hardwick some defence over the team’s performance this year, and some intel to make what are expected to be sweeping list changes at season’s end.
RICHMOND PLAYERS USED 2016 40
2015 38
2014 36
2013 36
2012 37
2011 37
2010 42
1986 43
— stats supplied by Champion Datahttp://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-has-used-more-players-this-season-than-any-other-club/news-story/809fe26fb7a41718a7f4431643a4fb28
