Richmond confident its developing list has what it takes to surge up the AFL table
MICHAEL WARNER
HERALD SUN OCTOBER 23, 2013 12:00AM
RICHMOND has defended its lack of action at the trade table, declaring the club's list a work in progress.
The Tigers made just one move - swapping their second-round pick for Carlton ruckman Shaun Hampson (now pick 32) on the first day of trading.
Club legend Kevin Bartlett has questioned why they were not more active, believing they should have chased small forward and former Geelong star Paul Chapman.
But Richmond say it is sticking to a strategic list build, banking on work already done by list manager Blair Hartley to return them to the top four.
“Once the Hampson deal was done we were fairly confident that unless something came out of left field it wasn’t part of our strategy to make too many more changes this year,” football boss Dan Richardson said yesterday.
“We’ve got around 34 players that have come onto our list since 2010. So in other words we’ve got about nine players from 2009.
“We’ve been very active over the last few years and been through a period of significant change. This year was more about retention and stability.”
Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt, Reece Conca, Dylan Grimes, Alex Rance, Nick Vlastuin, Brandon Ellis and Shaun Grigg all recommitted to the club this year.
“Our key players are relatively young and our list is young,” Richardson said.
“We targeted Hampson. We needed a bigger ruckman to compliment Ivy (Ivan Maric), which we were able to get done fairly quickly.
“Early in the year that was an area that we identified where we could do with some more support.
“Blair drove all of that. That’s his role - he’s in charge of our list and oversees our list management and strategy and recruiting.
“You identify a need. The need was a ruckman and then it was assessing who was around and who was available.
“We thought Shaun was probably always third in line or became third in line with (Robert) Warnock coming on down there.
“We identified that perhaps he lacked a bit of opportunity and at 25 hopefully still has some upside left in him.
“It might look like we’re doing nothing but it’s part of a clear strategy that Blair has executed pretty well over the last couple of years.”
The Tigers plan on using just three picks at next month’s national draft - 12, 50 and 68.
Richardson said the first selection would be used on the best available young midfielder.
Asked about Richmond’s interest in Greater Western Sydney midfielder Dylan Shiel, Richardson said: “Dylan Shiel obviously seems to be a very good young player, but like all these things, you’ve got to have something you’re prepared to offer that someone else wants.
“If you were GWS would you do it for pick 12? We didn’t make an offer.”
The club received no compensation for the loss of free agent Matthew White because of the size of the base contract offered by Port Adelaide.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-confident-its-developing-list-has-what-it-takes-to-surge-up-the-afl-table/story-fni5f9jb-1226744709252
