Richmond 2021 review & what they should do this off-season: Rendell (Age)

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How your AFL team went in 2021 and what they should do this off-season

By Matthew Rendell
The Age
September 7, 2021 — 4.37pm

With the season coming to a close over the next few weeks, draft and list expert Matt Rendell is taking a look at each team’s season in 2021 and what they need to do with their lists over the off-season. This article will be updated daily with a new team.

12th. RICHMOND

Was the season a success?

(Premiers in 2020) 9 wins, 12 losses, 1 draw in 2021.

Who’d have thought Richmond would fall to 12th after winning three of the past four premierships? They had injuries to key players, but still, they should still have made the finals. I would suggest a very late start to the pre-season played a part in the fact that they didn’t make the eight, along with the large chunks of footy missed by Kane Lambert, Dion Prestia, Nick Vlastuin, Toby Nankervis, Bachar Houli, Tom Lynch, Ivan Soldo, Noah Balta, Nathan Broad and Shane Edwards. Then disaster hit when Dustin Martin suffered a kidney injury when they were still in contention for finals. The season dissipated very quickly without him.

The Tigers will have a great lead-in to 2022 and I suspect they will rebound quickly. They are fourth for age and experience, so their list shouldn’t fall off a cliff. Their best 23 next year contains 11 players who are 28 years old or over. Six of those players are in their best 10, with Jayden Short, Nankervis, Liam Baker and Shai Bolton rounding out the numbers. None of their older players look like retiring at the end of 2022, bar perhaps Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt.

The return of players such as Balta and Soldo after knee reconstructions, and the beauty of the games put into Callum Coleman-Jones, Mabior Chol, Thomson Dow, Hugo Ralphsmith, Riley Collier-Dawkins and Maurice Rioli will stand them in good stead next year. They have announced two retirements already in David Astbury and Houli, but Daniel Rioli is going to fill in beautifully down back.

What needs to happen during the off-season?

For the first time in a long time, the Tigers have draft selections to play with: two first-round picks and two second-rounders. The only problem is this is a terribly difficult draft because of the lack of viewing and the fact some prospects have played fewer than 10 games over two years. In addition, some of the best talent, Josh Sinn and Campbell Chesser in particular, have been injured for most of the year. Richmond don’t need anything in the trade market; at a pinch, maybe a key back to replace Astbury and Daniel Talia might be on their radar, but they are well-served everywhere else. Unrestricted free agent Chol and Coleman-Jones will struggle to be in their best team next year. They played some very good football this year and will have suitors and should be looking for opportunities. Both would likely bring second-round picks, which would give the Tigers an even stronger hand in the draft.

How should they approach the November draft? (Picks 7, 16, 26, 28, 40, 44)

They could package 26 and 28 and have another selection in the first round. North Melbourne, Adelaide and Gold Coast could accommodate them as their draft is still about the number of players they bring in to complement great young players. The Tigers could use one of their first-rounders to trade into next year’s draft as well, but that might be difficult as most clubs might be attempting this too. Richmond are in a very good position to go again next year after a big pre-season reset. Their brand of football is excellent and stands up, but they only have a year or two left in their premiership window.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/how-your-afl-team-went-in-2021-and-what-they-should-do-this-off-season-20210831-p58ngg.html