Tigers’ draft problemsSarah Olle
Foxsports
May 3, 2016RICHMOND’S timid drafting and over-reliance on its Moneyball trading is at the root of its rot.
Not only have the Tigers failed to capitalise on the rise of the free-trade era, but have consistently made cautious decisions when drafting that may yet prove to be catastrophic.
While football analyst David King said blame could appropriately be apportioned to all levels of the club, he said Richmond’s recruiters were central to its overestimation of its list.
“When you look at their Round 1 draft picks over the past few years, they’ve been safe,” King told On The Couch.
“They’ve missed on that first round pick, but if you look outside of that, there hasn’t been many wildcard selections in the 30s or 40s.”
King isolated the decision to draft Reece Conca at pick No. 6 in 2010 as one such example of the Tigers’ list management woes.
Selected after Conca were players such as Geelong’s Josh Caddy, Essendon’s Dyson Heppell, GWS’ Dion Prestia and Gold Coast’s Tom Lynch — players who have all grown into bona fide stars.
While King conceded you could mount a case for drafting Brandon Ellis with pick No. 15 the following season, as well as Nick Vlastuin with pick No. 9 in 2012, Richmond’s decision to recruit Ben Lennon with its first round draft pick in 2013 remained a major failure.
Carlton young gun Patrick Cripps was selected after Lennon, a fact that should stir much malaise at Tigerland.
But compounding the Tigers’ recruiting headache has been their inability to look outside the box and unearth higher draft picks who have the potential to blossom into 200-game players.
King said the Swans had been frontrunners in this regard, recruiting midfield stars Dan Hannebery and Luke Parker with pick No. 30 and No. 40 respectively.
Yet that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Indeed, King said the Tigers’ desire to play high-tempo footy had exposed them as nothing short of pretenders this season, with a plethora of players in career-worst form magnifying the bandaids that had been used to cover bullet holes.
“They’ve tried to go with the modern game, but they just can’t do it,” he said.
“They wanted to play faster, but it has spun them out of control.”
“Time and time again they give the ball to Bachar Houli and, you know what, it doesn’t pay the bills. He’s having a horror season.
“They haven’t got the intent to cover the turnovers so they’re paying a really big price every time they turn the ball over and without Alex Rance on the weekend they were made to look second rate.”
Richmond’s recruiting sins (David King)1. Too safe in Round 1 at the draft
2. No impact selecting players outside of Round 1 at the draft
3. Recycled talent has had no impact
4. Free agents have had no impact
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