Analysis: Why in-demand star Tim Taranto picked Richmond over AFL rivals CollingwoodAdam Treloar famously picked Collingwood over Richmond because he thought they had a better list. Tim Taranto opted to go the other way. DANIEL CHERNY explores the intricacies of the call.
Daniel Cherny
HeraldSun
March 30, 2023 Saturday will mark seven years to the day since what was perhaps Brodie Grundy’s most iconic moment as a Collingwood player.
Trailing by 17 points more than 23 minutes into the final quarter of a round two game against Richmond, the Pies came from the clouds to pinch a one-point victory, with Grundy’s hurried goalmouth hack in heavy traffic putting his side ahead with 10 seconds remaining.
Among the subplots from that Friday night encounter were the exchanges between Adam Treloar, playing just his second game in black and white, and then Tigers captain Trent Cotchin.
Treloar had been pursued by both Collingwood and Richmond at the end of the previous season after he decided to return to Victoria following four seasons at Greater Western Sydney, where he had been runner-up in the club’s 2015 best and fairest.
The explosive midfielder said at the time that his choice to choose the Pies over the Tigers had been made because he thought Collingwood had a “better list” than Richmond.
It made for a compelling narrative heading into that early-season game in 2016, and Cotchin was all too keen to remind Treloar of his comments when the Tigers headed to what looked like a matchwinning lead late in the game, only to come unstuck when Collingwood surged.
As it turned out, 2016 was not a great season for either of the traditional Victorian heavyweights. Both clubs missed the eight. Richmond, having stumbled after three straight finals series from 2013 to 2015, was under siege at every level, with an attempted board coup accompanying a brutal football department review.
The Pies fared marginally better but could still only manage 12th spot, meaning respective coaches Damien Hardwick and Nathan Buckley entered 2017 under immense pressure.
Ultimately there was success ahead for both clubs. Buckley hung onto his job despite another year out of the finals before leading his side into a grand final in 2018 and preliminary final the following year, both of which were lost narrowly. Treloar could barely have been closer to becoming a Magpies premiership player.
But it was Richmond who had the last laugh. It is a parallel universe, but Treloar could conceivably have become part of the Tiger triple-premiership dynasty had he chosen to head to Punt Road rather than across the other side of Swan St.
All that brings us to Tim Taranto, who on Friday night plays against Collingwood in his third match for the Tigers. Taranto, like Treloar six years earlier, was in 2022 a talented and ready-made Victorian Giants midfielder weighing up interest from both Richmond and Collingwood as he came to the end of his contract at GWS.
There is a suspicion at rival clubs that Taranto was leaning towards the Tigers for much of 2022, however the Magpies were repeatedly linked with the onballer, who had been shunted to half-forward at times with the Giants. Ironically, Collingwood was only in a position to be able to even consider a play for Taranto after cleaning up its salary cap situation, by off-loading players including Treloar, and eventually Grundy too.
In any case, Taranto – alongside fellow GWS departee Jacob Hopper – signed respective seven-year deals with the Tigers. Not exactly taking a short-term view of things.
Hopper was also linked to Collingwood, while Geelong was also a major suitor before the Tigers blew the others out of the water with the length of their offer.
While both the Tigers and Pies made the finals last year, both were heavy reliant on scoring from turnover and relatively weak when it came to clearances. Taranto and Hopper therefore addressed a clear area of need. Having missed out on Taranto, Collingwood instead zeroed in on contracted Hawks midfielder Tom Mitchell, who had himself been linked to the Tigers a year earlier.
Taranto kept a relatively low profile after joining Richmond, and has not publicly discussed why he specifically preferred the Tigers to the Pies. But speaking on the Tommy Talks podcast with former teammate Tom Sheridan, Taranto said Richmond’s belief that it can defy the AFL’s equalisation forces was a compelling reason for his call.
“The list is looking really good. What kind of sold it to me is we reckon we can be successful for a long stint, kind of like Geelong’s been. I guess we’re kind of modelling it off that,” Taranto said.
Balancing the long-term and the short-term is an eternal juggle, and few clubs this century have managed to consistently contend for a premiership. The Cats are an outlier.
While the Pies have sold a message of regeneration under Craig McRae, they are not a particularly young side, and neither are the Tigers. Both teams last week fielded sides with an average age of more than 27. Only Geelong was older in round two.
Trying to project what these sides might look like come the end of 2029 is therefore almost impossible. Consider that from the 2016 game, only Taylor Adams, Jack Crisp, Jordan de Goey, Darcy Moore and Scott Pendlebury are still at the Pies, while Cotchin, Dustin Martin, Kamdyn McIntosh, Jayden Short, Jack Riewoldt and Nick Vlastuin are the survivors for the Tigers.
In Nick Daicos, Collingwood has an emerging superstar, probably the league’s most bankable talent for the next decade and maybe then some. Brother Josh has been a slower burn but has developed into one of the AFL’s best wingmen and is still only 24.
On the flip side Richmond has Shai Bolton, an All-Australian last year and also just 24.
But with Collingwood still getting meaningful contributions from Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom, as well as fellow 30+ year-olds in the injured Jeremy Howe, Jamie Elliott and Brody Mihocek, there is no guarantee that progress will be linear for the Magpies.
Likewise, the Tigers are still dependent for goals on Riewoldt, 34, and Tom Lynch, 30, while Dylan Grimes and Martin are both 31. And as impressive as Maurice Rioli jnr has been, the Tigers do not have a Nick Daicos-like player under 21. To be fair, no other club probably does.
Lynch could steamroll the Pies’ depleted back line on Friday night. Or Pendlebury’s incisive kicking could cut through Richmond’s pressure game. In any case, judging Taranto’s wisdom on the outcome of this match would be unwise. As Treloar and Grundy show, seven years is a bloody long time in footy.
https://www.codesports.com.au/afl/richmond/analysis-why-indemand-star-tim-taranto-picked-richmond-over-afl-rivals-collingwood/news-story/728510a39da59cad3d104dbd90c89523
