All quiet in Tigerland but how to fix the list?
Michael Gleeson | June 3, 2009
TYPICALLY, coaching aspirants are fore-warned when contemplating entering the Tigers' den. Few clubs boast of their appetite for "eating 'em alive". Opponents, presidents, coaches — their diet does not discriminate.
Only the brave, desperate or stupid proceeded. The motto, embraced in modern marketing paraphernalia, is almost self-deprecating, for, while some might remain misty-eyed for a time when change came with blood on the floor, the reality is that time has passed.
Witness the bonhomie of the Wallace departure from Punt Road. The decision might have been as unsurprising as a Rafael Nadal grunt but when it arrived it was handled without a groan.
The club is not the cannibalising off-field basket case it has been. There have been two coaches in 10 years. They are profitable, the administration is stable, new facilities have been erected and a modern professionalism has been brought to the club. Yet there would be some trepidation among potential candidates for the vacant position and they are misgivings completely outside of the Tigers' control.
The team is almost certainly not going to make the eight this year for the eighth consecutive year. A new coach in normal circumstances would be inclined to embrace, in collaboration with a strong list manager, a policy to overhaul the list and make deep cuts.
Six of Richmond's best players are over 30. They are not likely to be part of Richmond's next premiership side so some may last one more year but little longer.
They have two A-grade young players: Brett Deledio and Trent Cotchin. Tyrone Vickery was a high draft pick last year and may become an A-grade but he is yet to play a game, likewise their second pick last year, Jayden Post.
Nathan Foley is a quality midfielder, Mark Coughlan, if he remains on the field, could also be. A clutch of others are honest, serviceable types, such as Chris Newman, Kelvin Moore and Luke McGuane. Andrew Raines is OK and Angus Graham has improved this past six weeks.
Others such as Jack Riewoldt and Alex Rance show good potential, Mitch Morton has a brain fade or two but knows how to kick goals, while Richard Tambling is the quintessential wildcard who could yet amount to everything or nothing.
But the factor that will most weigh on a new coach in assessing this players' list is what they can do about it. Or how soon they have a list of players they are comfortable they can take somewhere serious?
With the introduction of the two new teams and the dilution of the next five drafts, with the alteration of the draft age reducing the pool of available players, and with the Gold Coast given preferential access to recruit 17-year-olds, there is little ability for the Tigers — or any club wishing to do so — to make serious cuts to their list and replenish that list through the draft.
Of course, Richmond will find plenty of people ready and eager to do the job, but the task they inherit will not be an easy one for reasons that have nothing to do with Richmond's storied history. Indeed, for reasons little to do with Richmond at all.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/all-quiet-in-tigerland-but-how-to-fix-the-list/2009/06/02/1243708456385.html
