How the Tiger draftees are developing in 2005
2:12:53 PM Thu 21 July, 2005
Richmond coach Terry Wallace
richmondfc.com.au
Each year every AFL club walks away from draft day hoping that they have drafted a future champion (or two).
Drafting is not an exact science and there obviously are elements of risk involved in every selection. Each draft pick is a huge investment in time and money, not only for the hours put into each player’s selection, but also covering the development of them both fitness-wise and as players – from skill development to learning what the game’s all about at the highest level.
All this, along with two years’ salary, makes each drafting decision crucial to a club. If you look at recent history, it takes most players coming through the draft 3-5 years to really impact the AFL scene.
Each draft pick you miss on can equate to around a five-year turnaround for the club, by the time you redraft someone to replace them.
In this article, I thought I would take a look at how our 2004 draftees have performed, now we are getting towards the end of their first full season of AFL/VFL football in ’05.
Draft selection No. 1: Brett DeledioWith the first pick in the National Draft comes huge pressure, both on the club to get the selection right and also on the player who is chosen. I think anyone who has seen Brett play over the duration of this season, would be very impressed with his progress. First-up, you need to understand that he was one of the youngest players in last year’s draft, and was only a few weeks off being eligible to play at under-18 level again this season. Imagine what sort of player he would he have been running around in the recent under-18 national championships! Brett is the only player from last year’s national draft to have played all games at senior AFL level in 2005. And, as the season has progressed, we have seen him gradually improving and gaining more confidence. Brett’s speed and ability to burst away from packs, his long kicking, including some massive torpedo punts, and his ability to take strong contested marks, makes him a very special talent. There’s still enormous development in him, and he needs to improve his work ethic, so that he can become a hard-running, link player through the middle of the ground. If Brett can keep his performance levels up over the next six weeks, the Tigers may very well have their first-ever NAB Rising Star winner.
Selection No. 4: Richard TamblingWith our second selection in the ’04 National Draft, we chose Richard Tambling. Richard had been an excitement machine right throughout his junior career, and in his first AFL pre-season he was living up to everything expected of him. The 2005 season, however, has been very frustrating for Richard as he has had injury after injury and very little continuity in his play. He has shown glimpses of brilliance in cameo senior performances, but is yet to consistently win the ball at the game’s top level. Richard is one player who will benefit greatly from another pre-season under his belt and some consistency in training and match play. The upside of this player is huge and we need to be patient and work with him to bring out his very best qualities.
Selection No. 12: Danny MeyerDanny is a class act, both on and off the field . . . a very quiet individual, who goes about his work with very little fuss or bother. He’s extremely quick, has immaculate skills and has shown in his few senior appearances that he can handle the pace of AFL football. Danny, however, has a very immature body for AFL football and needs to develop in the gym, along with continuing to learn how to push himself on game-day, to generate more possession of the ball. When the ball is in his region, he competes as well as anyone . . . The next phase for him is to learn to get to more contests. To do so, he needs a strong fitness regime over the pre-season. Many of the 2004 draftees have not tasted AFL football, so Danny can at least say that he has already been on the big stage. With further development, he can be a classy player with the Tigers for many years to come.
Selection No. 16: Adam PattisonIf ‘Patto’ is prepared to work hard in the gym, he is going to become a ‘man mountain’ and a top-line player for the Richmond Football Club. He has a huge work ethic and his ‘motor’ allows him to run all day. Patto competes as hard as anyone, hits packs when going for marks, and shows up some of the smaller players at the Club with his second efforts at ground level. He needs to work with our assistant coaches on his skill development, as we need to get full value for the times he wins possession of the ball. Patto has been a standout at VFL level, and could easily have played more AFL games this year. But for most of the season our key-position players have stood up at senior level, which has probably restricted his opportunities. I do not have any issue with this hurting his development, as sometimes it is better to fight hard to win your position in the team, rather than have it given to you on a platter, which is happening more often these days at AFL level than ever before. Patto is going to be a centre half-forward of genuine quality, and just needs to continue to develop each part of his game.
Selection No. 20: Dean PoloDean found the transition from under-18 football, and living in country Victoria, to coming to a professional AFL club, and living a city lifestyle, very challenging over the pre-season and in the early stages of this year. He started his football this season with the Coburg Tigers reserves and played some solid games before finally being given the opportunity to step up to senior level with Coburg. Dean is a real competitor and a natural footballer, rather than a talented, natural athlete. It didn’t take long at senior VFL level for him to show his competitive nature, and over the past month he has been a solid contributor in the midfield with the Coburg Tigers. Dean is extremely fit and needs to use his big motor more to his advantage on game day, as he should have the capabilities of running with any player in the competition, or burning opposition players with strong, running efforts. His skill level needs improving, and he has been doing extra work with our skill development coaches to improve, particularly his kicking. It’s important for him to finish off the year on a strong note and get a solid pre-season under his belt. With the style of football that Dean needs to play to make the grade, he must have a strong body to mix it inside the packs.
Selection No. 36: Luke McGuaneIt has been a wipeout year for Luke. He has had injury problems and no continuity in his football. Luke came down from Queensland as an immature 17-year-old. I say this only regarding his body shape, as he fitted into Tigerland immediately and has been a terrific clubman since his arrival. Currently, though, he still has a boy’s body. When it comes to drafting, I never worry about the size and structure of a player in relation to his weight. With the professional approach these days from all strength and conditioning coaches, I know we can put the kilos on to their frame. It is impossible, however, to replace talent. Luke showed through the practice match series that he had the ability to match it with our senior players. But a very bad fracture of the upper arm, in the early part of the season, has forced him to miss a considerable amount of football. The unfortunate aspect of this is that it’s also curbed his ability to build up his body, which has put him 12 months behind some of our other draftees. Luke has speed, plus the ability to leap and mark the football. He’s a long-term project, who has a long way to go before reaching AFL level, but he certainly shows some exciting talent.
Selection No. 52: Dean LimbachAs a later draft pick, Dean also took some time to adjust to the tempo of AFL training. The under-18 boys find it difficult to come up to four sessions a day, six days a week through the pre-season, as it is such a rise in intensity and volume to what they have been used to in the past training-wise. Dean also is lightly-framed, but has worked very hard in the gym and made some significant gains already in his body development. At pick 52 in the draft, he was a speculative selection, based on his natural speed, leap and football ‘smarts’. His fitness levels are nowhere near that of an elite athlete, and much work needs to be done to even be relatively competitive in this area. Dean also needs to improve his competitive nature, as it is difficult to make AFL football without a fighting spirit. At times, he still plays as if in the junior ranks. There is no doubting that Dean has natural talent, but eventually it will be his decision whether he is prepared to work hard enough to overcome some of his deficiencies. The ball is squarely in his court, although he will certainly receive all the assistance that our coaching staff can give him.
Many Richmond supporters also ask about the development of our second and third-year players, and question whether they have made natural improvement this season. The best answer I can give to this is that the bar has lifted and we have not been prepared to give senior games to players, unless they have had the form to deserve them. Last year, the Club decided, in the latter stages, to blood some of these young players and give them a taste of AFL football. This was the correct decision, but they also need to respect the fact that you must earn the right to play at AFL level. We have been a little unlucky at times as players such as Schulz, Moore, Hartigan, Gilmour and, of course, Rodan, have all had major injury interruptions throughout this year. Andrew Raines continues to progress in the right direction, while our two rookies – Will Thursfield and Nathan Foley – have both won promotion and had a taste of senior football this season. They will be vying for a spot on the senior list at the end of the year . . .
In general, I am pleased with the development of our players, and understand that no club “bats at 100%” through the National Draft, particularly when you decide to select deep into the draft (ie pick 30 onwards).
It’s fair to say that we have bolstered our running stocks for the future, and I believe we will have a great mobile brigade wear the Tiger uniform over the next decade.
The next area of development for us is key-position, taller players. I see Schulz and Pattison being long-term projects in this region, but we will still need to find others for long-term success.
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