Jonathan Brown says that Richmond‘s 7 A-grade players give them a chance of winning 2015 flag Max Laughton
FOX SPORTS
July 22, 2015RICHMOND are a chance to win the premiership in 2015 because they have seven A-grade players, according to Jonathan Brown.
He made the call on Monday night’s edition of On the Couch, saying a team needs star power to win the flag and the Tigers have that in spades.
The three-time premiership star named Brett Deledio, Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Shane Edwards, Alex Rance and Jack Riewoldt as A-grade stars for the Tigers.
“That’s half a dozen right there,” Brown said, “and you need six star players.”
He added that he thinks that Ivan Maric “can certainly compete with the best of them”, throwing him in as a seventh.
But Champion Data graded every team’s list at the start of the season and said that the Tigers had only four elite players — elite meaning in the top 10% of their position.
The stats gurus said that Deledio, Riewoldt, Edwards and Rance were elite at the beginning of 2015, with Cotchin, Martin and Maric called ‘above average’ — in the top 35% of their position.
Cotchin has grown in stature throughout the 2015 season and would be the likeliest to be in that top bracket as of now.
Compared to the other premiership contenders, the Tigers are well-placed at the top of their list.
Hawthorn lead the AFL according to Champion Data with eight players qualifying as elite at the start of 2015 — Shaun Burgoyne, Jarryd Roughead, Grant Birchall, Josh Gibson, Cyril Rioli, Luke Breust, Jack Gunston and Matt Suckling.
Suckling’s struggles this season may take him out of that top bracket but with Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis not even named elite, the Hawks surely lead all-comers.
Ladder-leading Fremantle had four elite players — Aaron Sandilands, Michael Johnson, Nat Fyfe and Michael Walters, with highly-rated midfielders David Mundy and Stephen Hill missing out.
Sydney had just three — Lance Franklin, Kieren Jack and Josh Kennedy, with many members of their star-laden midfield being named above average including Dan Hannebery, Luke Parker and Jarrad McVeigh.
Despite pre-season predictions not having West Coast as high up as they currently are, the Eagles were allocated five elite players — Shannon Hurn, Josh Kennedy, Mark LeCras, Eric Mackenzie and Nic Naitanui.
Brownlow medallist Matt Priddis was called above average while breakout stars like Jeremy McGovern, Jamie Cripps, Andrew Gaff and Elliot Yeo were branded average.
Adelaide were the closest to the Hawks in the elite category with six Crows named there — Eddie Betts, Patrick Dangerfield, Sam Jacobs, Rory Sloane, Brodie Smith and Daniel Talia.
But Brown did caution the Tiger army, pointing to the lower portion of their list as the crucial weakness at the club.
“They probably don’t have the depth that Hawthorn does, but Richmond have been outstanding and they’ve got some guns.”
Champion Data agreed, calling just ten Tigers above average or better, with 11 average players and six either below average or poor.
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