Questions that were anwered. dont know why the names came up twice when copied and pasted, but cbf fixing it
[Comment From Raczimes Raczimes: ]
What was the reasoning being the Collins Trade?
A: I knew this question would be coming, we understood that we had uncontracted players targetted leading into the trade period, and also had a focus on keeping our picks in the draft. We completed a detailed analysis of our playing list and felt we needed to continue to build our midfield depth in particular, our size, capacity and flexibility
With the changes to the interchange rules, all these factors became paramount. At no stage did we place ANdy on the table, but when his name was raised by Carlton, after long consideration we felt this would be a fair and reasonable trade. It has ended with a win win, for both parties with Andrew ending up with an extended deal at Carlton after only having one year remaining on his contract at RFC. It also allowed us to go into the final days of trade week with a focus on the Bachar Houli trade
Comment From Shane Shane: ]
Hi Blair, personal question first up, how did you come to be at Richmond?
A:I was national recruiting manager at Port Adelaide, and was approached by Damian after he was appointed at Richmond
[Comment From Lisa Lisa: ]
Great job for your first trade week with the Tigers Blair! Is there anyone that you targetted that we missed out on? Whether through someone else getting them or them re-signing
A:Thanks Lisa! Trade Week requires a lot of planning, including meeting with player managers to discuss potential targets there were many options but we were always limited by players resigning at other clubs
[Comment From collo collo: ]
what position do you see shaun grigg playing next year?
A: We see Shaun playing as a bigger bodied inside midfielder with flexibility to be able to play on taller opposition on ballers, this also enables the likes of Cotchin, Martin, Foley to win more outside ball and provide us with greater flexibility
[Comment From Simon Simon: ]
Blair can you let us know the type of players that we are going to be looking for with our earlier picks in the draft
A: That is Francis Jackson's job, he is the national recruiting manager and his brief is to cover underaged talent for the National Draft
[Comment From RFC@Bigfooty RFC@Bigfooty: ]
Hey Blair, like what the club has done by bringing you in as an oppo analyst etc, and happy with the Grigg signature but don't understand the Houli attraction what do you see in him?
A:Bachar offers inside outside run and also a beautiful kick forward of centre, he has also shown the ability to play down back through the midfield and up forward.
[Comment From Chris Chris: ]
What does your role involve both on a week to week basis during the season and in a long term strategy sense?
A:I present to the players on our upcoming opponents strengths and weaknesses and areas of exposure. This also enables me to get a good handle on each clubs playing list throughout the course of the year. The long term strategy in relation to my role revolves around free agency and getting us extra prepared for this time.
[Comment From Max Max: ]
will we be targetting the best available player with our first pick in the national draft, or recruiting for a particular need?
A: I have always been a big believer in drafting for talent and trading for need so I would be saying we would be going for the best player
[Comment From Roar Metre Roar Metre: ]
Do you see David Astbury as our CHB in 2011?
A:David had a great first year and was a great pick by Francis and the recruiting team, he offers us great flexibility as he can play both forward and back. I know Damian is keen to give him a good run down back and see how he develops over time, at the moment it looks like he has a bright future
[Comment From Jayden Jayden: ]
Im still wondering, will the Tambling trade come back and bit us in the end? Like the Rodan trade we would welcome him back know doubt.
A:RIchard approaches us at the end of the regular season and mentioned that he might be looking for a change. After a long deliberation we agreed that we would like to facilitate a trade for RIchard. By gaining the end of 1st round selection compo pick, (Bock) from Adelaide it gives us great flexibility leading into the intro of GC/GWS, Giving us the potential to have two top20 selections in 2012+ and we can also trade this pick to any team over the next 4 seasons. We also obtained Adelaides 3rd round which would have offered us some protection, had Essendon had decided to take our 3rd round selection we had offered
[Comment From Dylan Dylan: ]
If RFC attain Brad Miller, do you see him playing many games next year? Or will it be purely as insurance if Reiwoldt or any other of our big guys go down?
A:We will only be looking at Brad in the rookie draft, as a mature aged rookie selection. Brad has expressed an interest in coaching and given the reliance we have on JRiewoldt it would offer us some back up if he goes down. We dont want to throw Ben Griffiths in too early given he is coming off two shoulder reconstructions. He is a fantastic character and our GM of Footy Craig Cameron has a strong relationship with Brad
[Comment From Atts Atts: ]
Hi Blair, Whats was the issue with not being able to get Houli & is there any truth in the rumours about Foley being on the market and the Tigers looking at Brad Miller?
A:I can assure you 100% that Nathan Foley was never on the market.
[Comment From Daz64 Daz64: ]
Hi Blair, can you tell me why Richmond didn't go harder at securing Sherman from Brisbane?
A: Initially we showed strong interest in Justin but both Sydney and the Bulldogs placed contract offers to him that we felt were overpriced and unwilling to match, given he was in and out of the Brisbane side late in 2010.
[Comment From matt matt: ]
other than brad miller, do you plan to target any other mature age recruits?
A:We had a strong focus on developing our list with youth, by adding Grigg and Houli to our mix we will now have Jack Riewoldt, Shane Edwards Daniel Connors all from the 2006 draft. When you look at the Geelong and Hawthorn premierships, they were built on strong draft periods and I feel that this will set us up well for the future
[Comment From Justin Justin: ]
DO you see us acquiring Houli through the nationall draft or the PSD?
A: We are exploring all of our options in relation to Bachar. It is great that Bachar has commited to us and we will look at both the National and PSD and decide over the coming days in what will be our best option in relation to securing his services
[Comment From Shane Shane: ]
Where does Will Thursfield stand moving forward, will he give 110% because by the sounds of it he isnt 100% happy at the club
A: We looked to facilitate a trade for Will but unfortunately there werent any interested parties. I spoke to WIll every day of the trade week and he understands that it is a business and he is now 100% committed to the Tigers and looking forward to 2011
[Comment From Chara Chara: ]
G'day blair. What about Posty? Lead up forward or key defender? Once he's settled and knows where he's playing, I think you'll see him really come on.
Posty is a late developer and really showed some solid form towards the end of 2010, as a mobile second ruck option. GIven his ability to mark the ball and read the play he might be used in different areas of the ground in 2011. With the change in the interchange rules playing two ruckman might be a thing of the past and this is where Jayden might find his spot. He has been in at the club everyday and looking forward to a strong 2011.
[Comment From Simon K Simon K: ]
Is a players attitude and off field behaviour becoming more prevelent in your selection? It appears we are recruiting better people than in the past i.e. less prone to mislead other members of the playing group. I hope this is the case.
A: Damian's philosophy is very culture driven and the recruiting team go to great lengths to ensure we are recruiting those that are 100% committed to the cause. That will always be a key focus area for us.
[Comment From Darren Darren: ]
Our rucks I feel are raw and under developed, is there any chance we would look at Rob Campbell to coach and shore up our ruck division until the others mature?
A:People forget Angus Graham is only 23 years old and we want to continue to invest time in to Ty Vickery. Andrew Browne also came on in leaps and bounds in 2010. It is easy to rule out a ruckman early in their career when you need to recognise that they take time. Mark Jamar was on the verge of being delisted last year and the next year he is All-Australian. I feel we need to continue to invest in our ruck stocks .
[Comment From steve steve: ]
Hi Blair, there are a few rumours floating around about us and a cloke! Are you able to enlighten us on whether we are looking?
A: We were all surprised by what came out about Cloke yesterday and I'm sure it will be settled with Collingwood in the coming weeks. We will continue to investigate all possible outcomes for the pre-season draft.
[Comment From Shane Shane: ]
Was Andrew Collins on the table before trade week or was that suggested by Carlton
A: No Andrew was not on the table, he was raised by Carlton and after long deliberation we decided it would be a fair and reasonable trade. It is never easy but we have to do everything in our power to improve our list. It has worked out well for Andrew as he has ended up with an extended contract, when he may have found it difficult to break into our team in 2011.
[Comment From Mark Mark: ]
Do you have much input with recruiting of juniors given your past experience at Port?
A: Francis and I work well together but his brief is to focus on the National Draft and if I can be of any assistance I will look to help out. But having seen him hard at work I can tell you all he has it 100% covered
