There's a Richmond season preview thread on the Essendon fan forum Bomberblitz.
http://www.bomberblitz.com/forum/index.php?s=595e1209d0336c04437589d68d927420&showtopic=30813The first post is a cliched rant
but the second preview by poster Humble Minion at least tries to avoid the Richmond bashing:
Definitely a high-variance sort of team. If they all play up to their potential then they look strong, but even more so than us, there's a hell of a lot that could go wrong.
Goalscoring. Richo is a hell of a player when he's on, but it's worth remembering that he's had his two most injury-free seasons EVER in 05/06, so he's probably overdue to damage something, and while they've got some individual quality up fowrard, as a unit they look a lot less menacing when he's gone. Kingsley can't be relied on, Brown's leg is still questionable, Schulz needs to show some consistency soon, and the others - Hughes and Riewoldt, are just kids.
Key defense. Options they have, but all of them have question marks. Gaspar is old and looked pretty damn average at times last year, though he did have injury problems that hampered him. Thursfield is quality, but is still young, is returning from injury, and at 189cm might have problems with the bigger guys. Bowden is a rebounder who can be exposed by a stronger mark. Polak is a wildcard - could be useful, but could also be a very big waste of everyone's time. And even if he does turn it around, he's got off-the-mark pace issues similar (but not as serious) as our very own Keps, which may hamper his effectiveness and restrict him to an up-the-ground CHB role.
Rucks. Thin. Simmonds is good, but will be coming into the season off a restricted preparation, which can't be helpful. After that it's the likes of Knobel (tall and tries, you can say that about him if not much else), and the unproven Pattison. Could be a serious weakness.
Mids. In roughly the same boat as we are - in transition. Some older, solid-if-not-always-brilliant guys (Johnson, Tuck) plus a load of kids looking to cement their spots. They'll be looking to Deledio, Newman, Coghlan, Foley, Tambling, Raines, Newman, Oakley-Nicholls and the like to step up in the same way we're looking to Dyson, Gus, Winders, Davey, etc. Coughlan and Newman particular have injury clouds though - Coughlan has serious recurring OP that's put his entire career in doubt and will continue to be a problem. Everything depends on how these players develop, but they've got so many young running players that by the law of averages you'd expect they'll be able to put together a pretty damn decent on-ball brigade in a year or two.
At the moment they're very wedded to the Wallace small-player gameplan, though with the arrival of Polak and the drafting of Hughes and Riewoldt it at least looks like they haven't completely neglected their talls. In the presence of an in-form Richo they look dangerous, but I think he makes their midfield look better (or at least better-established) than they currently are. They're a team on the rise, but I don't think they'll rise fast enough to be ready to take full advantage of Richo in a finals tilt, and after that it's anyone's guess what their team structure will look like.
