The four-point plan to fix Richmond as presented by David King, Kane Cornes on AFL 360Max Laughton
Foxsports
4 August 2016THE Tigers are in trouble, that much is clear.
What isn’t clear is how to fix them.
After three straight seasons of finals footy and a combined 42 wins over that period, Richmond is languishing on just seven wins with four games to play in 2016. And a bottom-four finish potentially on the cards.
There’s unrest at Tigerland with a group of prominent figures seeking to enact change at board level, while others have called for the sacking of coach Damien Hardwick.
But nothing can be done without a plan — and Fox Footy analysts David King and Kane Cornes have created a four-point guide they believe should be the model for Richmond.
“It’s easy to go with the scattergun approach, but I think they need to step through it slowly,” King explained on AFL 360.
Their plan to fix the Tigers begins right at the top.
1. TOTAL CLUB REVIEWA FORMER Richmond assistant coach himself, King believes first the Tigers must complete a total review.
The club is expected to begin the process at the end of the season with King stressing the Tigers must look at everything from top to bottom.
“It (needs to) encompass everything at the club. The way they’re playing, the way they got players, why they missed out on players,” he said.
“Why didn’t they get (David) Armitage a couple of years ago, why didn’t they get (Dan) Hannebery? Why’d they miss on (Adam) Treloar? Is Dion Prestia the man?
“Review everything, every department so you’ve got everything out in front of you and see where things are at.”
King pointed out that while many — including himself — have made suggestions for what Richmond should do, only those within its four walls can truly determine the best decisions.
“We can’t do that from the outside, it’s silly us going this guy has to go, the board has to change, sack the assistant coaches. I think that’s crazy,” he said.
But given there’s a month to go and Richmond’s season is over in a competitive sense, King says they should start now but take their time with the review.
“They know the problems now, they’re not going to change in a month,” he said.
“They can take two months with this process but every decision they make after that has to be correct.”
2. ESTABLISH A VISIONONCE the review is complete, King says the Tigers need to establish a firm vision of where the club is going.
St Kilda made perhaps the most public statement of its vision when it outlined the club’s blueprint for a premiership before 2020 back in 2014.
King believes that sort of on-paper, full-club plan is vital for Richmond.
“Start again. Say this is what we’re doing, we’re now aiming for 2022 or 2021, whenever it is,” he said.
“Are we going to target free agency? Are we going to spend money on recruiting and development? Are we going to spend it on the cap and what are we going to do with our footy department? Get all those sorts of things in order.”
Port Adelaide champion Cornes agreed, approving of Damien Hardwick’s work as coach but suggesting that a mooted move to bring in Gold Coast’s Dion Prestia would fit a forward-looking vision.
“Their list is not good enough and to target Dion Prestia now, it’s not the right call,” Cornes said.
“They’re not in the premiership window to target a Prestia. He’s played 22 games in the last two years, he’s had hamstring issues as a kid.
“Why would you go after Prestia and give up your first round pick to get him? They need to get as many picks as they can and get kids in.”
King agreed suggesting that “you can’t keep your first round pick and then get Dion Prestia.”
3. IDENTIFY KEY PERSONNELWHEN analysing Richmond’s list, many have pointed at its top-heavy nature, with stars like Dustin Martin and Alex Rance not getting the support they need from the bottom bracket of the group.
But Cornes also suggested that any theoretical future plan needs to find stars of the future — because he doesn’t think there are any at the club right now.
“Who’s the next star after Martin and Rance? It’s not (Brandon) Ellis, it’s not (Nick) Vlastuin. It’s not (Reece) Conca,” he said.
“Those early picks that they’ve had, I think they’ve played enough footy to now say that they’re probably not going to be stars. They’re probably going to be good servants.”
King argued that point, suggesting there is still potential in Ellis, Vlastuin and Conca that we haven’t yet seen because of how poorly the club is going.
“The Brisbane Lions weren’t the back-to-back-to-back Lions four years earlier, you’ve got to give these stars chances to emerge,” he said.
“I’m not saying they’ve got five of them there but they’ve got enough.”
Cornes wasn’t done there suggesting Trent Cotchin’s captaincy needs to be reconsidered.
“I looked at (Trent) Cotchin on the weekend and I know he’s an easy target and gets looked at a lot,” he said.
“Perhaps they need to make a statement with their captain and perhaps that man is Alex Rance, if you can convince him to do it.”
But it’s not just on the field where the Tigers need to identify their key personnel according to King.
“You either endorse the staff or you change, off the back of all of the evidence in front of you and your new vision,” he said.
“You can have your comments about the coach, the players, who to trade and who to keep, but you can’t do it without all of the information. We’re out here taking pot shots from the cheap seats.”
4. UNITY WITH DECISIONS AND MESSAGINGTHEN after all of that is done, King believes there is one word Richmond must look at — unity.
“Make your decisions and then, united, walk forward,” he said.
“Your decisions have got to be the same, not with 15 spokesmen maybe just two or three. That includes the captain, the coach and maybe one other like Brendon Gale. We don’t want to hear from everyone else.
“And then just move forward as a club — united.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/the-fourpoint-plan-to-fix-richmond-as-designed-by-david-king-and-kane-cornes-on-afl-360/news-story/c0fbc90580529808bd4f35447876084e
