One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on October 26, 2025, 07:52:16 PM
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Early 2026 verdict on every club
Will Faulkner
Fox Sports
October 24th, 2025
RICHMOND — BOTTOM SIX
Almost no one predicted Richmond would finish 2025 with just five wins, and even with another year of development, a finals tilt still feels unlikely in 2026. If Adem Yze’s side can again separate themselves from West Coast and remain on pace with North Melbourne, the season will be viewed as a success — unless the Kangaroos unexpectedly fall apart. Delisted Cat Patrick Retschko arrived via an unprecedented trade as their sole off-season addition, but with picks 3 and 4 in this year’s draft, the Tigers are well placed to inject more elite youth and set their sights on a more serious surge in 2027.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2025-early-verdict-on-every-afl-clubs-2026-chances-premiership-contenders-finals-hopefuls-bottom-six-predictions-who-will-rise-and-fall-analysis-latest-news/news-story/eda69f438cc60cab3f047afd49151396
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Another 4-6 wins as long as we are getting plenty of experience into the cubs would be a good result.
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Bottom 6 for sure.
Wouldn't be surprised if we finish bottom 2-4 really.
Goal needs to be sorting out the S&C of our players, getting games into those kids. You want to see guys like Faull, Armstrong, Lalor, Hotton, Alger playing 15+ games. Smillie debut and play half the year or more etc. Sims get a big stronger and more games.
Time to transition away from some of the older guys.
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We cannot afford to be winning less than 5 games next year, 5 is bare minimum and 7-8 should be the mid point.
We are going to shed significant experience from end of 2026 and 2027, we will need to start replacing it this time next year.
Getting up and over 6 wins will seperate us as a potential destination from Roos, Weagles, Demons, Bombers and perhaps even Carlton to go after prospects that might not be stars but can backfill Lynch, Meatie, Broad and then build for a near future without Vlas, Nank and Shorty.
A version of what the Saints have done without the recklessness of spending.
If we could jag 8 wins - doable but a stretch - then I could see us making a real play for Butters, particularly if the Pies fall off a cliff and the Dogs continue to stagnant.
A bottom 3 for a 3rd year in a row and we have no hope resigning us to the loserville status occupied by Roos and Eagles who are stuck in shitsville.
We will only get worse if that happens until these kids get over 60-80 games.
No thanks.
Next year is critical.
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Winning games is part of building confidence and self belief in a young side so I always hope we win.
We could win more this year but injuries to senior players and we could win less.
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I'm not expecting us to have much of a year in '26. While the Punt Rd Oval is being upgraded we face the prospect of training in temporary arrangements, possibly at the old VFL park site. The fact that we still haven't secured some solid arrangements for training & our administration centre for '26 paints a picture of disruption & dissatisfaction. For the whole year we are basically 'homeless' & faced with selling off a home game or two during the season. I think the disruption of our whole operation will be huge & it will be seen in our win/loss record.
It's for this reason that I don't think we should rate our season on the number of wins, but rather on some more ephemeral metrics. How we handle our stocks of young talent is more important than how many wins we get. We could finish stone cold motherless last but still have a fantastic season in so many ways. Player development & getting plenty of games into our youth makes '26 an important & exciting year for the club, let's just ignore the win/loss column for the year.
I'm not disheartened by the disruptions to our operation, but rather looking forward to the new base we are going to build. There will be chaos, but from chaos comes opportunity! :gotigers
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Could be a bad year but then I don't expect 0 games like inside last year. If we get 4+ and very few injuries to kids who get games experience I'm happy. Avoiding injuries is the key to young kids.
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I'm not expecting us to have much of a year in '26. While the Punt Rd Oval is being upgraded we face the prospect of training in temporary arrangements, possibly at the old VFL park site. The fact that we still haven't secured some solid arrangements for training & our administration centre for '26 paints a picture of disruption & dissatisfaction. For the whole year we are basically 'homeless' & faced with selling off a home game or two during the season. I think the disruption of our whole operation will be huge & it will be seen in our win/loss record.
It's for this reason that I don't think we should rate our season on the number of wins, but rather on some more ephemeral metrics. How we handle our stocks of young talent is more important than how many wins we get. We could finish stone cold motherless last but still have a fantastic season in so many ways. Player development & getting plenty of games into our youth makes '26 an important & exciting year for the club, let's just ignore the win/loss column for the year.
I'm not disheartened by the disruptions to our operation, but rather looking forward to the new base we are going to build. There will be chaos, but from chaos comes opportunity! :gotigers
I'm confused by your comment around "our administrative centre for 2026". All office staff are in offices in Wellington Parade
All staff get together once a week in the MR centre for lunch.
Footy dept will remain in their current offices as we will be training at PRO for most of 2026.
Reconfiguration of the oval is not due to start until after the 2026 season. It will impact the women's program more than the men's
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Not even gunna mention wins it has nothing to do with improvement next year. We could actually play better footy show a real system and kids will develop nicely and only win a game or two.
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Not even gunna mention wins it has nothing to do with improvement next year. We could actually play better footy show a real system and kids will develop nicely and only win a game or two.
There will be a lot of rubbish teams next year
1-2 wins would be a fail
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Not even gunna mention wins it has nothing to do with improvement next year. We could actually play better footy show a real system and kids will develop nicely and only win a game or two.
There will be a lot of rubbish teams next year
1-2 wins would be a fail
Na.
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3-4 minimum for me
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We will get another soft draw
Expecting 5- 8 wins :laugh: ;D
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Not even gunna mention wins it has nothing to do with improvement next year. We could actually play better footy show a real system and kids will develop nicely and only win a game or two.
If you want to attract mature talent it is very important.
Saints picked up 4 and should have 5 on the back of 9 wins with 4 very narrow and unconvincing wins over bottom 4 teams.
I agree the game plan should be key but why couldn’t we do both :huh
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What part of of being in the very early stages of rebuild do people not understand.
We are not in the game of attracting big name players for three or more years yet.
What we are about or should be about is still getting our hands on as many good kids as we can while the expectations are rightly very low. When we get enough of those kids to 80 odd games which won't happen overnight as some seem to think, we can then start filling the gaps like we did with Presia Nankervis Caddy Lynch.
People won't have to worry about players wanting to come to us if we have recruited well. They will fall over themselves to come to a a big club with a huge fan base that can fill the mcg most weeks. We are not North Melbourne.
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Not even gunna mention wins it has nothing to do with improvement next year. We could actually play better footy show a real system and kids will develop nicely and only win a game or two.
If you want to attract mature talent it is very important.
Saints picked up 4 and should have 5 on the back of 9 wins with 4 very narrow and unconvincing wins over bottom 4 teams.
I agree the game plan should be key but why couldn’t we do both :huh
Think it was less so about the number of games they won and moreso about the ludicrous contracts they were handing out. Other than avoiding the spoon, I’m not fussed on the amount of games we win. Next year is the last draft before Tassie come in, so a handy draft hand certainly wont hurt in what will be the third draft in our rebuild.
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Time and again, the Roos failed to attract talent with ludicrous contracts because noone wants to play for a bunch of losers. The same would have happened to the Saints had they lost all 4 of those close games.
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Time and again, the Roos failed to attract talent with ludicrous contracts because noone wants to play for a bunch of losers. The same would have happened to the Saints had they lost all 4 of those close games.
Disagree. There are ludicrous contracts north were offering around the late 2010’s and then there’s the next level ludicrous contracts that the saints handed out this off-season the likes of which the game has never seen. Think you should go back and check norths number of wins around that time too, had seasons around the same or better than what the saints did this year.
Let’s not pretend like the saints picked up elite level talent either. TDK is prob the highest profile and they had to give him 1.7mil over 7 years to land him.
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Your AFL club's worst nightmare ahead of 2026
Andrew Slevison
SEN
31 Oct 2025
(https://webassets.sen.com.au/articles/ce754ad1a4f6d2026ada38d9bcdcd22f-regular.jpg)
None of the kids come on
The Tigers are in a good position from a rebuild standpoint with plenty of emerging youngsters.
But if the likes of Sam Lalor, Luke Trainor, Harry Armstrong, Taj Hotton and Jonty Faull don’t come on, and the yet-to-debut Josh Smillie battles with injury again, it won’t end up being a fruitful 2026.
When wins are not as important as the development of the future, Adem Yze is going to need all his inexperienced jets to keep taking significant leaps.
A stagnant 2026 would be ghoulish for the Tigs who seem to be heading in the right direction but must get at least the same level of improvement as this year to keep the rebuild on track.
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2025/10/30/afl-every-clubs-worst-nightmare-for-next-season
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Time and again, the Roos failed to attract talent with ludicrous contracts because noone wants to play for a bunch of losers. The same would have happened to the Saints had they lost all 4 of those close games.
Disagree. There are ludicrous contracts north were offering around the late 2010’s and then there’s the next level ludicrous contracts that the saints handed out this off-season the likes of which the game has never seen. Think you should go back and check norths number of wins around that time too, had seasons around the same or better than what the saints did this year.
Let’s not pretend like the saints picked up elite level talent either. TDK is prob the highest profile and they had to give him 1.7mil over 7 years to land him.
Maybe but whichever way you look at it, there’s no reason for us to go backwards in wins from this year to next. The concept of it defies logic
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Who are we going to finish above based on last year ?
North Melbourne well they made us look silly second time around and actually have done a lot of hard yards that we haven't. Not sure where they will finish but i expect them to finish above us.
We beat the Bombers once but they were injury ravaged think most would concede that.
We beat wce twice they are in a similar situation to us won't be pencilling in certain wins against them.
Carlton round 1 was a good win they finished 11th. Who knows
The other win and only win against a top 8 team was against GCS a game they kicked away.
Lets just say we lost the wce game that we won by 2 points and the essendon game we won by 9 points i bet the attitude of most would be less about wins and more about actual improvement thru kids development.
PA 72, StK 82, NM 48, Syd 44, WB 79 these were some of the beltings we copped from teams that failed to make the 8.
People are being blinkered if they think improvement only means more wins. We can and likely will have good improvement across the board and win less games. We are nowhere near using games won as a measuring stick for improvement.
Like this year it will be nice to win a few but it definately is not the main metric for measuring improvement.
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North Melbourne well they made us look silly second time around and actually have done a lot of hard yards that we haven't. Not sure where they will finish but i expect them to finish above us.
Done the hard yards that we haven’t?
Been stuck in a rebuild for an eternity, while we have been at that for 3 mins
While we were winning flags, they were winning spoons
And their grand plan was the gift us an early draft pick while they brought in fossils like Darling and Parker because they thought they were close to push for finals.
Give me a spell.
It’s an absolute disgrace they have been at it as long as they have.
There is zero excuse for them not to rise the ladder for goodness sakes.
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I like your point , that bringing in experienced players at the end of their careers to a struggling club doesn’t work.
From my observation , It only seems to work if you bring in good players who are experienced leaders when your club has a good foundation of youth and are ready to take the next step.
We are probably a couple of years away from that level inho.
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We'll get wins against WCE and Dons for sure. We'll play at least one of them twice IMO so there's 3.
Couple of upsets here and there, I can see us easily getting 4-6 wins.
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After this year’s draft, we will have had 22 players drafted since 2021.
14 in top 30, 8 first rounders and 5 top 10.
All while still having a senior core of 8 senior players who are doing exactly what Parker, Darling et al are doing at Norf.
We have a gap between 23-27 due to making the hard decision to let go of the 4 last year.
Sure we had some close wins but we equally had close losses to Norf,
Saints and GWS so on balance 5 wins is about right.
I think we have every right to compete and beat all and any of Saints, Demons, Roos, Essendon, West Coast and Carlton.
We will play most or all of them twice so a strike rate of 50% is perfectly reasonable.
I’d back us in to deliver the odd upset.
Our draft class of last year look incredible. I think we will see this unfold over the next few years
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North Melbourne well they made us look silly second time around and actually have done a lot of hard yards that we haven't. Not sure where they will finish but i expect them to finish above us.
Done the hard yards that we haven’t?
Been stuck in a rebuild for an eternity, while we have been at that for 3 mins
While we were winning flags, they were winning spoons
And their grand plan was the gift us an early draft pick while they brought in fossils like Darling and Parker because they thought they were close to push for finals.
Give me a spell.
It’s an absolute disgrace they have been at it as long as they have.
There is zero excuse for them not to rise the ladder for goodness sakes.
Yeah they have done the hard yards the last 6 years they have not risen above 16th. yep 6 whole years and its that time they have got good draft picks to a decent number of games to enable them to start rising up the ladder.
The truth is they made us look second rate this year and if playing even more kids is the go they will and should do some real jobs on us for a few years.
Staying down and just putting games into as many of the kids as possible is doing the hard yards.
Us we have just begun this year. you keep kidding yourself 2021 was the start ffs we sold our souls at the end of 2022 to get a crack at it again with Taranto and Hopper and how has that affected our draft hand?
how long will it take for us to get 10 or 12 to 100 games and add another 5 - 8 to 50 plus games or so all in the right age bracket.. its exactly that that will enable us to properly challenge.
Yep NM unlike us have got a sizable amount of their youth to the point where they could start filling gaps with mature players.And yeah to continue to fill in while some of the more recent picks mature.
Do they have all the pieces of course not. But they are way in front of us if we are talking time frames and games played yes the expectation should be they start winning more than they lose.
Do you really believe they are going to be poo forever even we turned it around after how many seasons again.
Its laughable that people think after just one good draft and all the retirements and delistings that are still to come that we won't be like NM in any way shape or form.
Like them We will be bereft of experienced players at the end of next year or the one after or close to it. The middle tier is lousy and needs mostly replacing its why we needed to rebuild in the first place not that they realised it.
its going to take us at least 5 years to get enough kids the experience they need to succeed. Yet the expectation of some is we will climb rapidly.
5 wins last year was not the norm But with us being 17th in so many areas last year id say there is every chance of us winning less games.
Are we in a better position than most clubs in key metrics no we are probably 17th.
Winning games for us over the next few years is not a key measuring stick. It has little to do with improvement and more to do with impatient supporters being unrealistic.
We are in for hard times i suggest people get used to it but enjoy the growth of our kids over the next 4 or 5 seasons.
We are no different to any other club who actually embraces a full on rebuild it takes time. Its the clubs who don't embrace proper rebuilds see us 1980 - 2016 or Carlton - 1995 - 2025 Essendon 2000 - 2025
It was not that long ago Hardwick took 7 seasons to break a 37 yr drought and he had Riewoldt, Martin, Cotchin Edwards, Rance and a few others to start with and still be young enough to be there when we challenged. We don't have that luxury last years crop is hopefully the riewoldts etc. Our age demographic covered 12 seasons yet here we are in year 1 and people think winning games is more important than anything.
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Imagine praising a club for finishing below 16th for over a half a decade.
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Imagine praising a club for finishing below 16th for over a half a decade.
whos praising them for anything.
Fact is after 20 years of mostly middling finishes 2000 - 2019 they were getting nowhere.
iN 2020 they clearly made the choice to totally bottom out and they have been near the bottom for 6 years.
What was the choice that was forced upon us last year oh thats right bottom out and do the hard yards how stupid are some its not rocket science.
We can be nm of the 2000 - 2019 period or we can do the hard yards and actually fully embrace bottom finishes for three or four seasons and give ourselves a chance to climb out of the mire and actually be challengers again.
Like north we will have to keep on bringing in top talent and then get the games into them. Anyone who thinks just one draft or even two or three will be enough really are delusional.
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How many years at the bottom of the ladder resulted in our flags?
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How many years at the bottom of the ladder resulted in our flags?
That depends on where you think the rebuild started. Our oldest premiership player in 2017 was 28yo Riewoldt drafted 2006 #13.
For me that was the start. We got Edwards that year as well with pick 26.
2017 flag Every player was aged between 23 - 28 apart from 4.
11 had played at least 100 games. Another 5 minimum 40 games we had a few 23 and 24 year olds with a few games less like Nankervis 36gms and Townsend 37gms.
Our best players were nearly all early picks and they were taken prior to Hardwick in the main. Our best recruits in Prestia and Lynch were early picks themselves.
The hardest part for any club who embraces a full on rebuild is knowing how long near the bottom to stay to access enough quality kids.
Just look at nm as an example. In this age of heavily compromised drafts i reckon its even more paramount to finish bottom 3 or 4 to get access to the cream of each crop. this millenium NM 2000 - 2019 were mostly middling with limited access to the cream 7 thru 13 in a 18 team comp is nowhere land. At least from 2020 onwards they have cut hard and played mostly kids kids that were taken early.
There is a difference the last 6 yrs to their previous 20.
They now have 12 players with 100 plus games with another 6 or 7 with 50 plus games 4 of whom are getting close to 100 games.
Importantly their youth are getting into that 50 - 100 game 23- 28 yo bracket. If anything they are still a bit light on for experience and they still lack in areas but if its not this year it won't be too far away before they at worst start winning more than they lose.
6 Years and counting for North Melbourne after taking the bottom out approach and counting. I would not be surprised if we are not similar in 5 or 6 years time.
There are no guarantees if you have crap recruiters it wont matter where you finish of for how long.
At the end of the day all im saying is we need to be patient it will take longer than what people want or think.
It will take the best part of 5 seasons to get last years crop close to 100 games and in that 23 - 28 prime age bracket.
Unlike Hardwick in 2010 who had Rance Grimes Cotchin Martin Riewoldt edwards as a base who would drive the boat we have last years crop starting from scratch.
In a few years there will be no Prestia Probably Hopper Nankervis, Broad Vlastuin Lynch Taranto will be at the back end of his career.
There is not a lot in our current 23 - 28 age group we are building from scratch its not 2010 its more like 2006.
Let them get the list to a point of games and experience to where expectations should be looking success.
My view is while we are near the bottom go hell for leather in targeting as much of the best youth as possible and actually getting as many games into them as possible.
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We have free agency now to speed things along if we recruit correctly.
Our backline should have been sorted by now if gibcus came up.
Pass mark is the fitness department doing their job.
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Imagine praising a club for finishing below 16th for over a half a decade.
whos praising them for anything.
Fact is after 20 years of mostly middling finishes 2000 - 2019 they were getting nowhere.
iN 2020 they clearly made the choice to totally bottom out and they have been near the bottom for 6 years.
What was the choice that was forced upon us last year oh thats right bottom out and do the hard yards how stupid are some its not rocket science.
We can be nm of the 2000 - 2019 period or we can do the hard yards and actually fully embrace bottom finishes for three or four seasons and give ourselves a chance to climb out of the mire and actually be challengers again.
Like north we will have to keep on bringing in top talent and then get the games into them. Anyone who thinks just one draft or even two or three will be enough really are delusional.
Did north have a draft like Algar. Sims. Six first rounders?
3 and 4* shortly after?
Nine players currently 19 and under prior to the draft. Arguably with decent ceiling
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Imagine praising a club for finishing below 16th for over a half a decade.
whos praising them for anything.
Fact is after 20 years of mostly middling finishes 2000 - 2019 they were getting nowhere.
iN 2020 they clearly made the choice to totally bottom out and they have been near the bottom for 6 years.
What was the choice that was forced upon us last year oh thats right bottom out and do the hard yards how stupid are some its not rocket science.
We can be nm of the 2000 - 2019 period or we can do the hard yards and actually fully embrace bottom finishes for three or four seasons and give ourselves a chance to climb out of the mire and actually be challengers again.
Like north we will have to keep on bringing in top talent and then get the games into them. Anyone who thinks just one draft or even two or three will be enough really are delusional.
Did north have a draft like Algar. Sims. Six first rounders?
3 and 4* shortly after?
Nine players currently 19 and under prior to the draft. Arguably with decent ceiling
They've had lots of opportunity
2017 > 4 (LDU)
18 > 8 (Thomas)
19 > 8 (Serong) traded out
20 > 3 (Phillips) + 13 (Powell)
21 > 1 (JHF)
22 > 3 (Sheezel) + 4 (Wardlaw)
23 > 2 (McKercher) + 4 (Duursma)
24 > 2 (FOS)
That's 10 top 10 picks in the last 8 years, most of which were stuffed up.
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Didn't NM have 2,4,20, 22, 23. in 2023 and picks 3 and 4 the draft before.
You miss the point lets say top 30 picks are what you want. north have had 14 of them us 12 2020 - 2024 drafts
We got ours basically in one draft. Nm have spread it out.
North imo started their rebuild in 2020, us well despite the 5 picks in 2021 we started ours in 2024.
From 2020 - 2024 NM have had 8 top 10 picks all actually top 5 picks we have had just 3.
The real difference is and i repeat myself they have spread their picks thru all of those drafts and been able to get games into their younger players over that longer period.
A simple look at the games their younger players have compared to us should be all it takes.
us well we have hardly participated in three of those drafts. We did not start our rebuild until last years draft. We were still going hard at a flag at the end of 2022 bringing in Taranto and Hopper.
It has cost us dearly as far as the draft goes, we only had picks 49 and 55 that year and the following year 2023 the effects were still being felt with just picks 40 and 51. Add in 2020 where we only had picks 40 and 51. So around two drafts we have had 3 drafts with very few picks and very late at that.
Our last 5 drafts imo its fair to say we have hardly been involved in three of them.
The two we have participated in. The 2021 crop is on very shaky ground and Gibcus aside you have to ask have we found a potential A grader. We had those 5 picks 9 - 30 simply because we traded out of the 2020 draft into the 2021 draft, effectively spreading those picks over two years. our picks in total 9, 17, 28. 29, 30. 40, 51 over the two drafts.
We had last years draft of 8 first round picks but the reality is its at a cost of our mid tier and coming of two drafts with little participation.
We are quick to talk about how poor nm picks have been but we dont know about ours. Last years crop too early to call. Most would agree the net results of our drafting since 2017 have been poor. Yet all of our picks are gunna be great with no busts.
People also discount how run down and aged our list was getting at the end of 2020 and the drain on the middle tier of players we had by our better ones leaving. Getting all those picks last year came at a cost that people just ignore and it was also a catching up of sorts as far as picks go..
In fact no one wants to talk about how poor our middle tier is after their departure or how kittle we have participated in previous drafts or how poor our drafting has been since 2016.
We have 7 or so aging players who are not far away from retirement or should be retired already. Our middle tier is made up mostly of players the like of Ross Rioli Ryan etc with a few decent players.
So a soon to be gone list of vets, a poor middle tier and a group of kids who don't have games behind them.
Yet people already have lost patience simply by thinking of silly time frames.
Look at power clubs like essendon and carlton falling into the trap of too many middling finishes and not getting anywhere. we did it ourselves
Imo Nm should be challenging for the 8 next year given the age profile and games played. they may stay low one more year because of the experience/ games played profile is still a bit low.
But if you ask me they are way in front of us as far as the experience profile goes simply because they have had to spread their picks over a longer period.
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They haven’t played finals in 10 years
In the same period we won three flags
OF COURSE they are ahead of us in the “experience profile” on their rebuild
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I think a repeat of last year is a success. If we go less wins it's a fail and pressure will be on Yze. I think repeating last year tally should be the goal, be great for more but I'd be surprised if our list is ready to win 6-8+ games.
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AaargHhrrGGHHH
Norf were a draw ahead of our 2025 season and a win ahead our 2024.
For all the bluster, that’s the only stat that matters and on that basis we will be ahead of them again before too long.
They pay one man 25% of their soft cap which is a ridiculous decision for such a young team that rely so heavily on development coaches
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Didn't NM have 2,4,20, 22, 23. in 2023 and picks 3 and 4 the draft before.
You miss the point lets say top 30 picks are what you want. north have had 14 of them us 12 2020 - 2024 drafts
We got ours basically in one draft. Nm have spread it out.
North imo started their rebuild in 2020, us well despite the 5 picks in 2021 we started ours in 2024.
From 2020 - 2024 NM have had 8 top 10 picks all actually top 5 picks we have had just 3.
The real difference is and i repeat myself they have spread their picks thru all of those drafts and been able to get games into their younger players over that longer period.
A simple look at the games their younger players have compared to us should be all it takes.
us well we have hardly participated in three of those drafts. We did not start our rebuild until last years draft. We were still going hard at a flag at the end of 2022 bringing in Taranto and Hopper.
It has cost us dearly as far as the draft goes, we only had picks 49 and 55 that year and the following year 2023 the effects were still being felt with just picks 40 and 51. Add in 2020 where we only had picks 40 and 51. So around two drafts we have had 3 drafts with very few picks and very late at that.
Our last 5 drafts imo its fair to say we have hardly been involved in three of them.
The two we have participated in. The 2021 crop is on very shaky ground and Gibcus aside you have to ask have we found a potential A grader. We had those 5 picks 9 - 30 simply because we traded out of the 2020 draft into the 2021 draft, effectively spreading those picks over two years. our picks in total 9, 17, 28. 29, 30. 40, 51 over the two drafts.
We had last years draft of 8 first round picks but the reality is its at a cost of our mid tier and coming of two drafts with little participation.
We are quick to talk about how poor nm picks have been but we dont know about ours. Last years crop too early to call. Most would agree the net results of our drafting since 2017 have been poor. Yet all of our picks are gunna be great with no busts.
People also discount how run down and aged our list was getting at the end of 2020 and the drain on the middle tier of players we had by our better ones leaving. Getting all those picks last year came at a cost that people just ignore and it was also a catching up of sorts as far as picks go..
In fact no one wants to talk about how poor our middle tier is after their departure or how kittle we have participated in previous drafts or how poor our drafting has been since 2016.
We have 7 or so aging players who are not far away from retirement or should be retired already. Our middle tier is made up mostly of players the like of Ross Rioli Ryan etc with a few decent players.
So a soon to be gone list of vets, a poor middle tier and a group of kids who don't have games behind them.
Yet people already have lost patience simply by thinking of silly time frames.
Look at power clubs like essendon and carlton falling into the trap of too many middling finishes and not getting anywhere. we did it ourselves
Imo Nm should be challenging for the 8 next year given the age profile and games played. they may stay low one more year because of the experience/ games played profile is still a bit low.
But if you ask me they are way in front of us as far as the experience profile goes simply because they have had to spread their picks over a longer period.
Yes we understanding the lalor draft has only had one season.
The point is you had nine potentially good players from one draft that should get better.
Then 3 and 4*
Again this draft.
North have had time to get their players experienced. But it's a good base and theoretically should be able to catch up.
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Flat out is the mantra at Richmond as Adem Yze's men look to train and play at full noise next season. The Tigers are being encouraged to chase success in a hurry.
@Richmond_FC @AFL @NickButler10
Watch last night's 10 News report here: https://x.com/10NewsMelb/status/1988503560091263124
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I just reread Crawski’s post and it makes no sense.
Until, 2022, they have not had any genuine stars from the draft since 2017 (LDU).
They’ve picked up 4x top 5 picks and one (Wardlow) is injury riddled and another (Duursma) already looks a bust.
They traded out of this years draft so by Craw’s own logic, they have picks 25 and 26 which will most likely be beyond the 30 threshold that Crawski has laid out.
Their captain wanted to leave in the off season so if his opinion is any guide, they are nowhere near it.
They are an unmitigated joke and their list rebuild is a mix of good top end talent, the odd decent 24-28 (really only Larkey) and a spread of older players looking for a decent cheque or extra year for their career.
In reality, their rebuild started 2 years ahead of ours and I would argue with Brown, Banks and hopefully Gibcus - we have a case that our rebuild has a more stable base than theirs.
The club who have done a great job in building a list is Freo - young talent on every line and upside to come. Just get a decent coach and I see them pressing in the next few years.
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Tiger cubs urged to 'go full noise' in 2026
By Anna Pavlou
RFC website
Nov 13, 2025
Up-and-coming Richmond defender Tom Brown has heaped praise on Adem Yze's fresh approach to the 2026 season.
With a new 'flat out' mentality filling the four walls of the Swinburne Centre, it's hard to ignore the confidence building in a young side.
And, with the AFL introducing a new top 10 system, which will include Wildcard Finals, Brown believes the time is no better than now, to push up back into contention.
"I reckon it's great for the league, and it's good for us, a team on the up, because we can get back there sooner rather than later," Brown told 10 News.
The preparation has started for the young Tiger cubs, with the first-to-four year players returning to an excited coaching group.
"We had a meeting Monday and they [the coaches] want us to go full noise straight away, to make mistakes," Brown said.
"Because that's how you get better."
https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1929065/tiger-cubs-urged-to-go-full-noise-in-2026
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I just reread Crawski’s post and it makes no sense.
Until, 2022, they have not had any genuine stars from the draft since 2017 (LDU).
They’ve picked up 4x top 5 picks and one (Wardlow) is injury riddled and another (Duursma) already looks a bust.
They traded out of this years draft so by Craw’s own logic, they have picks 25 and 26 which will most likely be beyond the 30 threshold that Crawski has laid out.
Their captain wanted to leave in the off season so if his opinion is any guide, they are nowhere near it.
They are an unmitigated joke and their list rebuild is a mix of good top end talent, the odd decent 24-28 (really only Larkey) and a spread of older players looking for a decent cheque or extra year for their career.
In reality, their rebuild started 2 years ahead of ours and I would argue with Brown, Banks and hopefully Gibcus - we have a case that our rebuild has a more stable base than theirs.
The club who have done a great job in building a list is Freo - young talent on every line and upside to come. Just get a decent coach and I see them pressing in the next few years.
Lol that is one of the more ludicrous posts ive ever read. Sheesh some are blinkered..
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Every AFL club’s early pass mark for 2026
Jack Jovanovski and Will Faulkner
Fox Sports
1st December 2025
RICHMOND
Pass mark: Win eight games
The Tigers outperformed external expectations in Adem Yze’s second season, winning five games after some audaciously claimed they’d go winless. It’s time to see if they can take the step with natural progression from their plethora of promising youngsters, with Sam Lalor, Jonty Faull and Taj Hotton at the forefront. Josh Smillie’s development is crucial after a tough rookie season, while Luke Trainor, Harry Armstrong and Tom Sims will also be expected to take another step. Key premiership veterans Toby Nankervis, Nick Vlastuin, Nathan Broad, Tom Lynch and Dion Prestia remain to guide those youngsters along, while coach Adem Yze has added two more years to his Tigers tenure. And it’s not as if Richmond lost much this off-season, with Tylar Young’s trade departure arguably leaving the biggest hole — and a tolerable one at that. Adding a few more wins to this year’s tally is a reasonable target.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2025-every-clubs-pass-mark-for-2026-season-trades-draft-analysis-predictions-finals-and-premiership-favourites/news-story/503744ed87559447559d4cf6c627400b
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8 for a pass pffft who writes this crap.
4 is a pass for me.
6+ I'd be quite happy tbh.
8 is not going to happen.
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Reckon 6 is pass.
We can’t go backwards Andyyy.
8 is a stretch but honestly that 2024 crop and a fit Gibcus might surprise a few next season.
Full seasons from Lynch and Balta might get a few on back foot. We know that next year there will be clubs like Carlton in round 1 who’s expectation will make them tighter on game day. If we can get off the chain like we did vs GWS, Carlton and Eagles (over there) there’s no reason why we won’t bob up and expose a couple of pretenders.
I’d love a scalp like the Bulldogs next year.
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Reckon 6 is pass.
We can’t go backwards Andyyy.
win:loss ratio is not the only/best indicator of progress in this rebuild
8 is a stretch but honestly that 2024 crop and a fit Gibcus might surprise a few next season.
Can't expect a pack of 19yo kids to be the difference just yet IMO
Full seasons from Lynch and Balta might get a few on back foot.
Lynch is going on 34 and went at a little more than 1.5 goals/game this year. Also not the answer/difference in 2026 IMO. Balta had an interrupted year and I'd back him in to return to form maybe
We know that next year there will be clubs like Carlton in round 1 who’s expectation will make them tighter on game day. If we can get off the chain like we did vs GWS, Carlton and Eagles (over there) there’s no reason why we won’t bob up and expose a couple of pretenders.
Definitely will beat a few teams unexpectedly but like I said I'd be happy with 6. We fluked a couple of wins this year to get 5.
I’d love a scalp like the Bulldogs next year.
Bogey team for us IMO. They will always smash us when we're this weak. That's their MO.
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Lol at the hysteria and focus on the win loss table.
Improvement for us atm is NOT directly related to win loss ratio's.
In fact if playing as many available kids as possible is the aim, as it should be. Then US and WCE are likely bottom two again.
If the kids are fit we must play them. Lets not do this year again where we managed 6 wins with so many of our kids not available.
Its a fact people, not until we get a large group of the talented kids to 60 - 100 games then we are gunna struggle to win games.
Measure improvement just with wins then punt road oval will get torn down by disgruntled supporters.
Ya know lets say all of Smillie Lalor, Hotton, Faull, Armstrong Trainor Campbell McAuliffe and Cumming play 15 games each then we will cop plenty of hidings.
The only other option is to play blokes like Rioli Sonsie HRS etc we will still lose and may even jag 5 or 6 wins but it will get us nowhere.
We don't need to win games to see player improvement in youngsters.
Embrace year two of the rebuild they usually take a lot longer than what is spoken about. Watch the kids get games and experience this will be the real improvement not some win against a battling side with a side full of older battlers. Which if we are honest is where most of our wins came from.
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Gossage stating the obvious.
RICHMOND (17th)
“They’ll rise. They won’t make finals but they’ll rise.”
RISE
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2025/12/03/afl-20256-rise-fall-or-stay-in-2026