Emma Quayle's thoughts in today's Age:Similarly, Richmond's decision to take Ricky Petterd, Sam Lonergan and Orren Stephenson with three of its four rookie picks. The selections raised eyebrows, particularly given the club had already recruited Chris Knights and Aaron Edwards. But the Tigers' decisions are understandable.
The club took five kids at last month's national draft, which is more than most. It's retained two young rookies and drafted another one on Tuesday - onballer Cadeyn Williams. It's invested in some youth. For the Tigers, improving might mean hanging tough when next year gets hard or they lose players to injury, and mature bodies are more capable of weathering storms than those of untried teenagers.
Given where their list is at, the Tigers don't need to pour games into a bunch of high draft picks. Like Goodes at the Bulldogs, Lonergan, Petterd and Stephenson aren't clogging up the senior list.
Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/clubs-give-boot-to-punts-on-teenagers-20121211-2b7tj.html#ixzz2EktQ8qZ4