Season preview: Richmond
12:01:10 PM Thu 16 March, 2006
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au
In the lead-up to the 2006 AFL premiership season, afl.com.au will be taking a close look at each team and, based on a poll of our writers, ranking them and counting down from 16th to 1st.
We'll seek to answer key questions about each club and select their best line-up. Today, Paul Gough stalks the Tigers.
Club: Richmond2006 ranking: 10th1. Are the finals a realistic option for the Tigers in 2006?Yes. The Tigers rose from four wins and last place in 2004 to ten wins and 12th place last year, ultimately missing the finals by just a game and a half. While the doomsayers point to a much tougher draw - six interstate trips this year compared to just three last year - and the fact that the gifted Nathan Brown is expected to still be below par this season as he bravely battles back from a broken leg, the Tigers are still capable of reaching the eight. The provisos are they find someone to hold down centre-half-back to help Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway in defence, are able to conjure enough goals even if Brown is struggling and that means continued improvement from players such as Kayne Pettifer, Andrew Krakouer, Brett Deledio and Daniel Jackson - who is expected to play forward this year - and finally provided its engine room of Kane Johnson, Mark Coughlan and Shane Tuck all have injury-free years.
2. Who is the best candidate to hold down centre-half-back?This is the key area for the Tigers as they badly need someone to hold down this important position to free up the creative Joel Bowden and enable Kellaway to play on the third tall forward. Both men have been forced to play centre-half-back in recent years, regularly giving up height and weight to giants such as Brisbane's Jonathan Brown and St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt. And the player the Tigers hope will fill the breach is 193cm, 95kg Jay Schulz, who is about to embark on his fourth AFL season. Schulz was tipped for the role last year but his season never got going thanks to a broken ankle early in the season and hopefully for long-suffering Tiger fans he is ready to improve in 2006.
3. Will Nathan Brown recapture last year's formHopefully, but it's a tough ask. Brown is one of the AFL's genuine match-winners and, at his best - such as when he kicked five goals in the final quarter on Collingwood's All-Australian defender James Clement last year - is simply unstoppable and a joy to watch. And while fans of all clubs wish him all the best in his recovery from a broken leg, such was the seriousness of the injury it would be asking a lot to expect him to recapture the kind of form that saw him kick 34 goals in the first ten games last year. If the Tigers can get as many goals from him for the entire season this year it would be a good result and whatever Brown does in 2006, expect a big improvement from him in 2007.
4. Why we have predicted Richmond to finish 10thThe Tigers look capable of holding the ground they made last year but with queries over Brown and their defence do not look capable of pushing into the top eight in 2006. A much tougher draw also does not help the Tigers' cause and their first month in particular is a horror with Telstra Dome matches against the Bulldogs and St Kilda followed by daunting away trips to West Coast and Brisbane. If the Tigers are to be a realistic finals chance they have to win at least one of those games and then in the middle of the season they face four interstate trips (Fremantle, Hawthorn in Launceston, Port Adelaide and Sydney) in the space of seven rounds. Overall expect the Tigers to be close to last year's mark of ten wins, which would again probably land them just outside the top eight.
5. Our best Tigers 22B: Newman, Gaspar, Kellaway
HB: Bowden, Schulz, Chaffey
C: Deledio, Johnson, Hyde
HF: Pettifer, Richardson, Krakouer
F: Jackson, Stafford, Brown
Rucks: Simmonds, Tuck
Rover: Coughlan
Inter: Raines, Rodan, Tambling, Hall
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