Recruiting manager Matt Clarke's explanation of our draft selections (afl/HS)

[one-eyed]

RICHMOND loved Northern Knights midfielder Patrick Naish and really wanted to bring the son of former rover Chris Naish to the club under the father-son rule.

But they also hoped they wouldn't have to pick him too early during Friday night's NAB AFL Draft.

On that front, it was mission accomplished. The Tigers were able to add excitement machine Jack Higgins with their first selection, No.17 overall and then bring a new ruckman, Callum Coleman-Jones to Punt Road and athletic forward Noah Balta before eventually turning their attention to Naish, who they secured with selection No.34.

The Tigers had to match a bid from St Kilda to get him, but their intelligence was right and they didn't need to draft him so early.

"We really liked him and there was a bit of romance around the father-son," recruiting manager Matthew Clarke said.

"But we didn't really want to alter our draft strategy and getting a tall in was a priority for us."

It was an instant decision to match St Kilda’s bid and to therefore cap off a big night, which started with the selection of Higgins.

"In every grade and every team, he gets the job done. He’s a smart player who gets the footy and he puts a lot of defensive pressure on, which is what our side has done this year and what Damien (coach Damien Hardwick) will demand of him, so we can see him playing pretty early."

The retirement of Ivan Maric dictated the selection of Coleman-Jones.

"He was too good to pass up, but he has also played a lot as a deep forward as an underage player and he was captain of South Australia, which also appealed from a leadership point of view."

The Tigers know they captured lightning in a bottle when they won the flag with their small forward line this year and Coleman-Jones could play alongside Jack Riewoldt next year if circumstances required that the Tigers need a second tall forward.

"He's physically capable and his running is good. He knows how to get the footy, but the rucks and the big forwards also take some time, but the coaches won’t put any restrictions on him," Clarke added.

Tall utility Ben Miller from Kalgoorlie was the Tigers’ final selection, with pick No.63 and if there was a smokey out of the Tigers draft it was him. But they love his versatility and believe they give him something to work with.

Clarke said that Richmond’s surprise premiership win was almost irrelevant to the type of list management decisions they have made.

"As much as we spend time with the coach, we still need to step back and look at where our list is going and also where the game is going."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-24/2017-afl-draft-who-did-the-tigers-pick-up

[one-eyed]

Richmond adds to its premiership mosquito fleet with Patrick Naish and Jack Higgins

Jay Clark,
Herald Sun
November 25, 2017

RICHMOND on Friday night secured the draft’s best small forward Jack Higgins as well as father-son gem Patrick Naish to add to its premiership mosquito fleet.

The Tigers warned they want to maintain the manic tackle pressure which led them to this year’s flag after landing Higgins, a 178cm wrecking ball from Oakleigh, with pick No. 17.

Higgins was rated the No. 1 player by Champion Data and laid 15 tackles in a single game this season, but surprisingly fell outside the top-15 picks.

It helped kick-start a golden draft haul for the Tigers who were able to bolster their spine with three valuable talls before welcoming Naish at pick No. 34.

South Australian captain Callum Coleman-Jones (pick No. 20) is a 201cm ruck-forward, Noah Balta (No. 25) is a super-athletic key defender and 196cm Subiaco ruck Ben Miller (pick No. 63) has nice speed for a big man.

Naish said he was thrilled to land at Richmond where his father played 143 matches and join forces with close mate Higgins.

“’Higgo’ and I always roomed together so I’m so happy for him,” Naish said.

“He played more midfield and I was on the wing, so he would always give it out to me, but since he moved forward we kicked it a lot to each other in the carnival.

“I think Higgo and I can add to that (Richmond’s) pressure and also add a bit of class to the group which is exciting coming off a premiership and then bringing in someone like Higgo.

“He is a superstar.”

Richmond recruiting manager Matthew Clarke said Naish could develop in a Bachar Houli mould and was optimistic Higgins may push for selection from early next season.

“All our blokes have got to be able to pressure and ‘Higgo’ can do the offensive stuff and do the defensive stuff as well, so that was a big tick for him,” Clarke said.

“We thought he was outstanding this year and he couldn’t have done much more.

“Every level he played at he performed at. Hopefully that will translate and maybe he will play some VFL footy or maybe he will go straight in, I don’t know.”

Clarke said the plan was to get at least two talls to help bolster its spine.

He said Balta had significant upside but was happy all three big men had physicality and size.

“We are not really sure what Noah really is, he is a really athletic player so he could play in defence, he could play in attack,” Clarke said.

“He could play as a key forward who bounces around and runs into people and marks it.

“Talls usually take time so I think ‘Higgo’ has got a bit more a chance to play earlier than the other big boys.

“But physically, one thing about those three boys is that they are all big strapping boys.”

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-adds-to-its-premiership-mosquito-fleet-with-patrick-naish-and-jack-higgins/news-story/7ca4f7bb4ccac2bcf1250aeea90f606d

[one-eyed]

Matt Clarke describes draftees:

VIDEO: http://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/2017-11-25/clarke-describes-draftees

[Tigeritis™©®]

We can all thank Chocco for our fine recruiting this year, I’m sure he will mention it at some stage.   

[Diocletian]

Look on the brightside - at least it's a step up from the days of Wallace taking the credit for building our Elimination Final side.......

[one-eyed]

Tiger draftees’ dissection

richmondfc.com.au
26 November 2017

Richmond’s Recruiting Manager Matthew Clarke provides a summary of the five players the Tigers picked up in the 2017 AFL National Draft . . .

Jack Higgins, small forward/midfielder (Oakleigh Chargers)

“Jack’s got a good personality . . . he’ll fit in really well with our group. Every level he goes and plays, whether it’s been under-16s, under-18s, different teams, he always performs. So we’re pretty confident he’s going to step up. Maybe he plays a bit of VFL footy, maybe he goes straight in. There won’t be any restrictions on these boys . . . he’s a very talented boy. It’s a really strong footy IQ that he’s got. Jack really knows where the ball’s going. He knows when to get forward, he knows when to get out the back, and to be lateral as well. He’s a very smart player. He also puts on really good defensive pressure and he has the unique ability to read the drop of the ball.”

Callum Coleman-Jones, ruckman/key forward (Sturt, SANFL)

“Callum’s very versatile. Although he didn’t finish off the season because he had a slight niggle with his knee, his form was pretty good up to that point . . . He’s got a strong leadership profile . . . was captain of SA (in the 2017 under-18 national championships). He’s not just a big ruckman that taps it down – he gets after the footy. He had 28 touches in a national (under-18) carnival game, which is pretty unusual for a ruckman. Callum can definitely play deep forward and mark it and kick some goals, but also relieve in the ruck. He might take a little bit of time to develop, as the big boys do, but once again, we won’t be putting any restrictions on him.”

Noah Balta, tall utility (Calder Cannons)

“Noah is a big, athletic boy. He can play forward, and he played a lot in the ruck for Calder (Cannons) as a mobile ruckman, so he might be able to do that as a second ruckman for us. Noah also played down back for Vic Metro (in the under-18 national championships) and showed some really good qualities there. What stands out about him is his athleticism, as well as his competitiveness. He’s big, he’s strong, he hunts after the ball, and he puts a lot of pressure on. That’s what we want our ‘talls’ to do.”

Patrick Naish, midfielder (Northern Knights)

“Patrick is a pretty smooth player. He’s got good footy IQ . . . he sees where the ball’s flowing and gets to the right spots. He’s a good run-to-handball receive player and he’s got great kicking skills. We can see him playing in a lot of positions – wing, half-back, half-forward and, maybe eventually, more through the centre bounces, which he did with the Northern Knights (in the TAC Cup). But he’s more that running type of player, who we want to actually use the footy.”

Ben Miller, tall utility (Subiaco, WAFL)

“We were a little bit surprised that he was still there on our board considering where we rated him. Ben’s got a lot of tools to work with. He hasn’t done a lot of training because he’s been living in Kalgoorlie. He only got down to Perth to play, and probably only trained a couple of times with the Subiaco Colts in the main season. So he’s pretty raw, but is very athletic, got great speed, kicks the ball well, and is a really good individual, who comes from a great family. We’re really excited to get him late.”

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2017-11-26/tiger-draftees-dissection

[Dougeytherichmondfan]

Look on the brightside - at least it's a step up from the days of Wallace taking the credit for building our Elimination Final side.......

Tend to agree with Terry. If we didnt get McMahon we wouldnt have Dusty....