Richmond shouldn’t trade star players but refresh needed in coaching ranks to improve on-fieldJONATHAN BROWN
Herald Sun
July 30, 2016SACK the coach, replace the captain and trade out the big names.
That’s the scorched earth policy that just won’t work at Richmond, as much as it would be tempting.
It’s history now that the Tigers under Damien Hardwick went way too far down the recycled player road.
They’ve also picked poorly at the draft and the end result is a list lacking in depth and middle-tier talent.
You can forgive the success-starved Tiger Army for demanding scalps.
Hardwick has coached the most games in history without saluting in a final (152) and has a winning percentage of just 48 per cent across seven seasons.
But three finals series with an average list has been a reasonable coaching performance and I can see the logic in Hardwick’s optimism amid the wreckage of another failed season.
Daniel Rioli, Oleg Markov, Connor Menadue, Corey Ellis, Jason Castagna, Jayden Short, Mabior Chol and Nathan Drummond are exciting prospects.
And the one advantage Hardwick has over almost every other coach is five bona fide stars at his disposal — Alex Rance, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt, Brett Deledio and Trent Cotchin.
They’d be mad to let any of them go.
When you’ve got stars as good as Richmond you can do a lot of damage with depth.
Michael Hurley should be their first priority, but my mail is the Tigers are leading the race for Gold Coast’s Dion Prestia.
I’d only look at trading Deledio, 29, if he wanted out.
He’s had a few soft tissue injuries and it might work out like it did when Shaun Burgoyne left Port Adelaide in 2009.
But it would have to be a mutually beneficial decision because you wouldn’t want him to leave against his will — he’s very well respected within the playing group — and that can only be damaging to a club’s culture.
Rance is one of the best defenders of the modern era and I wouldn’t even entertain two first-round picks for him.
Cotchin has had a pretty good year and should stay on as skipper.
You learn a lot of hard lessons as a young captain in tough times and he’s been able to play to a high level when his team has been bloody awful and embarrassing for big chunks of the season.
That’s strong captaincy.
The biggest problem at Richmond is the middle part of the list.
The first person to mention the availability of another recycled player at Richmond’s next list management meeting should be handed his car keys and a cardboard box.
As many as 10 players should be retired, traded or delisted.
Reece Conca, Tyrone Vickery and Brandon Ellis should be traded to help them get back into the early rounds of the draft.
A major disappointment under Hardwick’s watch has been the underwhelming performances of key position players Vickery, Ben Griffiths, David Astbury, Todd Elton and Liam McBean.
Shane Edwards, Dylan Grimes, Nick Vlastuin, Bachar Houli and Anthony Miles are solid AFL players and I don’t mind Sam Lloyd as a small forward option.
Shaun Hampson could carry the ruck next year, and I’d keep Griffiths to support him.
The other big refresh needs to come in the coaches box and with the game plan.
Their ball movement has been way too slow for the past two seasons, and it didn’t help when Chris Yarran couldn’t play.
It’s a given there will be some new voices in the coaches box and an injection of fresh ideas.
I’d also go out and hire a tackling coach that makes more than token appearances.
It’s remarkable they even reached September considering their shocking record as a tackling and pressure team.
That would be hard for Hardwick to swallow, but the stats don’t lie.
It’s no coincidence Hawthorn has been the game’s best pressure side over the same period.
The Richmond list that survives the cull has got to be prepared for a torrid pre-season campaign, not necessarily running endless 300s, but getting their noses dirty and learning to hunt and hurt the opposition.
Hardwick is one of the hardest blokes I ever played against and knows all about that.
It’s been a season to forget, but if the Tigers are shrewd in the off-season they could be back in finals contention.
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