Top 5 Most Important Players to Richmond (contestedfooty.com)

[one-eyed]

Top 5 Most Important Players to Richmond
contestedfooty.com
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

To do a top 5 of this nature is very difficult as you have to weigh up players respective talents but also aspects such as players importance to structure for the list. When looking over my top 5 for Richmond please keep in mind I’m not rating them in order of talent but rather their importance to Richmond’s chances of winning games in 2010.


1. Jack Riewoldt
It seems funny to have a player who has played only 46 games in his career as a club’s most important player but Riewoldt is vital to the Tigers structure. Playing center half forward it is Riewoldt’s role to straighten his team up and provide a target for their midfield.
Then beyond that Riewoldt hasn’t been successful in 2010 unless he averages at least 2 goals a game (probably should be 3) which is a big ask for a player that has averaged 1.2 goals a game in his career thus far.


2. Troy Simmonds
Simmonds needs to deliver in 2010, Vickery isn’t ready to be the number one ruckman yet and is needed down forward to take pressure off the other Tiger forwards. Personally I don’t think Simmonds will deliver some of his better form, but if he does it will go some way to helping the Tigers win games both because he has the potential to influence games and because it allows the Tigers to structure up better.


3. Ben Cousins
Makes the list for his leadership value. Cousins leads by example and will continually bust his gut for the Tigers, hopefully this rubs off on some of his younger team mates. Beyond that if Cousins can deliver even two thirds of his best form next year on a consistent basis the Tigers will win more games, you can lock that away.


4. Brett Deledio
I have so much time for the talent Deledio possesses, I truly believe he is capable of altering the course of play with 10 minutes of his best footy. That doesn’t happen often enough. Hopefully with Damien Hardwick at the helm he’ll start to deliver more consistent football going forward.


5. Mitch Morton
I love this guy; he senses the possibility to go in for the kill and backs himself, which is exactly what a forward should do. If he can kick 2-3 goals a game it will take pressure off the other forwards and allow them to concentrate on playing their role. I expect a few 5 goal plus bags in 2010 from Morton.

http://www.contestedfooty.com/2010/01/richmonds-most-important-players.html

[Stripes]

Interesting analysis. Here is my Top 5 -

1. Jack - as mentioned. Needs support, like Morton, but is crucial to straightening us up and allowing us to move the ball on quickly into the forwardline. He needs to be able to find space on his opponent more and lead at the right times. Polak assist in making the forwardline less predictable. Is an extremely important link player.

2. Lids - Without Lids in the middle we lack pace, class and skills required to win the ball. He just needs more support and some of the load taken off his shoulders to step up even further but he is by far the most important midfielder in our team and close to being the most important player in the team imho

3. Moore - I could probably share this position with McGuane but as our fullback he is needs to stop the big forwards or we are cooked particularly with quick turnovers. Moore appears to have bulked up further which should help but his lack of height remains a concern.

4. Bling - His run off the half back, particularly in the latter stages of quarters when most other players were spent, was severely under-rated last year. I can see Blinga stepping up again and giving us the run through the midfield we desperately need. His evasion and ability to step around players is becoming increasingly important with the additional use of the defensive zone now days.

5.Simmonds - I hate to say it but I have to agree with the choice of Simmonds. We have no other ruck that can stand up and we saw what happened when he went down in the past. While Graham has made some progress and Vickery is good around the ground, we need Simmonds to take the bulk of the ruck duels and keep away from the forward fifty.

Stripes

[Ramps]

Having a look at it future wise:

1)BEN GRIFFITHS- We need this guy to step up and be the full forward we have been lacking for a long time now.

2)DUSTIN MARTIN- We need Dustin to make the Centre his own. To become a key play maker for us going forward- in hardwick speak that is.

3)BRETT DELEDIO- We need Brett to continue to Improve and to become the star we are all hoping for. We also need him to develop into a real leader.

4).TRENT COTCHIN- We need Trent to get over his injuries and hopefully become another of our star midfielders.

5)TYRONE VICKERY- We need Tyrone to step up and become our dominant No 1 ruck who can also go forward and cause damage when resting.

This group of 5 can lead Richmond up the ladder IMHO. If these guys dont come through then we are well and truly up the creek without a paddle.

[Stripes]

I like your future list Ramps. I notice that you have pinpointed, rightly so too, our midfield as our greatest potential strength with Lids, Martin, Cotchin and Vickery. I think you need at least 3 quality players in each area of the ground to share the load and take the pressure and focus off any one individual. Richo was an out and out star but he was all alone which meant all the defensive pressure was focused on him every week. If he had someone of ability to take the complete focus off him by our mids and the oppositions defenders, our scoring power would have been far greater.

Using this 'theory' here is my future top 9 -

Midfield - Lids, Martin, Vickery

Lids is our star. He has silky skills, pace, marking ability and strength. With addition education how to shake a tag and work as part of a strong midfield unit he will only continue to improve and, hopefully one day, become our captain.

Martin has everything from the start - beautiful off both sides of his body, strong in and around packs, shakes tacklers and has a steely determination to succeed. He will become a tough insider for us in the future.

Vickery will become another midfielder for us who just happens to be 200cm+. Just needs size but is remarkably agile and skillful. With a mobile ruckman to feed our mids and then help them through traffic he is vital to our future.

Cotch is a great unknown for me at present....

Forwards - Griffiths, Riewoldt, Taylor

Griffiths seems to be the recruiting steal of the century but I'll wait until he consistently succeeds before giving him this label. His development is incredibly important to our structure and would straighten us up and give us a power forward with height and size.

Riewoldt needs to be the second target and lead up link man. He is important to terms of leadership also as a natural extrovert. Structurally we need him to perform and share the goal scoring pressure with the other forwards.

Imagine and goal sneak with pace, defensive pressure, magic and...height! Taylor would be a huge bonus to our forwardline if he could keep ont he straight and narrow and be deadly at the base of marking contests.

Backline - Post, Tambling, Rance

Post is already a big unit. He has height, size, smarts and skills which for mine would make him a great CHB. Our backmen are undersized at the moment and post would be a fantastic benefit to our structure going forward.

Tambling is class. He is a midfielder/Running Backmen that has beautiful disposal. His ability to weave through traffic and fitness levels is under-rated.

Rance could be a great stopper. He seems to have average foot skills but already has the athleticism, size and fearlessness to make a tremendous blanketing backman.

My take

Stripes

[mightytiges]

Having a look at it future wise:

1)BEN GRIFFITHS- We need this guy to step up and be the full forward we have been lacking for a long time now.

2)DUSTIN MARTIN- We need Dustin to make the Centre his own. To become a key play maker for us going forward- in hardwick speak that is.

3)BRETT DELEDIO- We need Brett to continue to Improve and to become the star we are all hoping for. We also need him to develop into a real leader.

4).TRENT COTCHIN- We need Trent to get over his injuries and hopefully become another of our star midfielders.

5)TYRONE VICKERY- We need Tyrone to step up and become our dominant No 1 ruck who can also go forward and cause damage when resting.

This group of 5 can lead Richmond up the ladder IMHO. If these guys dont come through then we are well and truly up the creek without a paddle.

This would be my most important 5 as well. Hard to see a top 5 without Cotch's name there. Vickery is more important to our future than Simmo who is near the end of his career. For us it's not about 2010 but where we are in 2-3-4 years time.

Interesting post Stripes. From what you've said we basically need to revamp our forward and back lines. The forward line is something we all expected with Richo gone but with Postie now being trialled at FB what does make of the futures of Moore, McGuane and Thursty down back?!

[jackstar is back again]

McMahon
King
Graham
White

Cant find a fifth whipping boy as they are all gone, eg Patto, Petts , Schulz, LOL

[Stripes]

This would be my most important 5 as well. Hard to see a top 5 without Cotch's name there. Vickery is more important to our future than Simmo who is near the end of his career. For us it's not about 2010 but where we are in 2-3-4 years time.

Interesting post Stripes. From what you've said we basically need to revamp our forward and back lines. The forward line is something we all expected with Richo gone but with Postie now being trialled at FB what does make of the futures of Moore, McGuane and Thursty down back?!

I don't think the team of Moore, Thursfield and McGuane are the answer for the future. Moore is at his peak age-wise and fulfills a much needed role at the moment but we need a taller, bigger full back for the future. McGuane is quick and a great spoiler but lack the consistent foot skills we need for a CHF and Thursfield has been in limbo for mine for quite some time. I could see us using McGuane/Moore as a third defender but McGuane may be Gold Coast bound and Moore may be nearing the end of his playing days by the time we are beginning to peak.

This is why I believe that we need to look at a new FB and CHB which perhaps Rance and Post could become. I certainly not saying throw the above three guys to the dogs but merely saying we need to look long term and ensure we have size, speed, smarts and skill down there which I feel Post definitely has, Rance may have and either McGuane(ideally) or Moore could support. With Newman (over the next 4/5 years) and Tambling providing run and exquisite ball delivery in the pockets this set up would be better for the future iMHO.

Stripes

[Ramps]

The Rance (FB) Post (CHB) option is probably our best bet in the future. Forward wise you can build something around Griffiths, Riewoldt, Morton and Taylor although Id like to see us target another KPF in the next national draft with our first pick, and then go for mids again.

[Hellenic Tiger]

McMahon
King
Graham
White

Cant find a fifth whipping boy as they are all gone, eg Patto, Petts , Schulz, LOL

How about Edwards.

For mine I will go the same as Ramps and MT.

It's all about the future and this list reflects this.

[the claw]

Having a look at it future wise:

1)BEN GRIFFITHS- We need this guy to step up and be the full forward we have been lacking for a long time now.

2)DUSTIN MARTIN- We need Dustin to make the Centre his own. To become a key play maker for us going forward- in hardwick speak that is.

3)BRETT DELEDIO- We need Brett to continue to Improve and to become the star we are all hoping for. We also need him to develop into a real leader.

4).TRENT COTCHIN- We need Trent to get over his injuries and hopefully become another of our star midfielders.

5)TYRONE VICKERY- We need Tyrone to step up and become our dominant No 1 ruck who can also go forward and cause damage when resting.

This group of 5 can lead Richmond up the ladder IMHO. If these guys dont come through then we are well and truly up the creek without a paddle.

i agree would have thrown post in there somewhere. so top 6 most important.
 we are screaming out for a big dominant kpd. if the mailman can become one he would be as important as anyone.

[Ramps]

Agree Claw, but just thought this group of 5 were most important. Post and Tambling were just on the rim of being selected. In the end, its all just a matter of opinion anyway. Looking at the lists however, what it shows in my view is the need for us to go for another big key forward in the next draft and a big key defender then go for mids that can kick properly.

[the claw]

Agree Claw, but just thought this group of 5 were most important. Post and Tambling were just on the rim of being selected. In the end, its all just a matter of opinion anyway. Looking at the lists however, what it shows in my view is the need for us to go for another big key forward in the next draft and a big key defender then go for mids that can kick properly.

i think it very important that we target kpps even though we have the numbers atm. my concerns are not numbers but quality and ultimately depth.
the 4 new talls aside  and lets face it we are being real optimistic that all 4 newbies  will make it, when its likely one or two wont.
i could write off 6 or so of the others on the list and not blink.thats not to say a few of them wont make it.
 so many of our talls are borderline and we clearly lack quality and we are almost devoid of quality established talls.

in saying all this we can sure as hell do with a couple more quality mids as well.i would give my right arm for a joel selwood type.
 if we finish up with pick 4 imo we have to go best available if thats a mid so be it. we can then go tall with 2nd and third rounders we may even be able to trade into an early pick with some luck.

anyway on topic to me the most important positions to fill rather than the 5 most important players goes as such.

a power forward = hopefully griffiths.
a quality mobile  ruckman = hopefully vickery.
a big dominating powerful defender = hopefully post.
3 elite mids = hopefully deledio martin cotchin.
around these you build your side always striving for as much quality as possible.

[Smokey]

anyway on topic to me the most important positions to fill rather than the 5 most important players goes as such.

a power forward =
a quality mobile  ruckman =
a big dominating powerful defender =
3 elite mids =
around these you build your side always striving for as much quality as possible.

Pretty sure you might find the exact same wish list at 16 other clubs.