Like the summer of '16: 'New toys' have Tigers buzzing in flag tiltThe Tigers filled two holes during the Trade Period as they push for another flag
By Riley Beveridge
afl.com.au
15 February 2023IT FEELS like the summer of 2016 again for Richmond.
At the end of that season, which had finished in disappointment and an exit from the competition earlier than anyone could have hoped, the Tigers identified their critical areas of need, backed their list management team and their coach Damien Hardwick, and went to work.
In came Dion Prestia, who cost the club a first-round draft pick but filled a gaping midfield void. Josh Caddy, acquired in exchange for a second-round selection, was another key arrival. Toby Nankervis, perhaps a more speculative recruit, was also traded for. Collectively, the decision to bring in the talented trio cost the club significant draft capital. But three premierships later, the gamble proved undoubtedly worth it.
Fast forward a few years and Richmond again found itself in a position where it needed to take stock and re-evaluate. It had left the 2022 season earlier than planned and had problem areas across the field urgently in need of addressing at the trade table.
Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper, both from Greater Western Sydney, were identified as targets who could fill holes in midfield positions and cost the club first and second-round picks in both last year and this year's drafts to recruit.
While it was again a big price to pay, the Tigers had been here before and can already see similarities to that summer of 2016-17 unfolding across 2022-23. Like Prestia, Caddy and Nankervis had done all of those years ago, now it is Taranto and Hopper who have lifted the energy and the belief around Punt Road.
"There's nothing more exciting as a coach than when you bring in new toys, whether that's through the draft or during the Trade Period. To bring in some established players of a high quality, too, that's really exciting," Hardwick told AFL.com.au.
"It's exciting, not only for me and the coaching staff, but also the playing group as well. They get a real buzz out of it. They've embraced us and we've embraced them. I think they're really enjoying their time with us at the moment."
Richmond finished last season as a middling midfield team. It ranked 12th in the competition for contested possession differential and was in the bottom four clubs across the League for clearance differential. The targeted recruitment of Taranto and Hopper, two big-bodied inside bulls, was therefore essential.
But their arrivals will also enable the Tigers to get creative. There will be less of a reliance on Trent Cotchin and Prestia, the side's two best contested players last season, who will turn 33 and 31 respectively this year. It will also mean the club can be more flexible with where it uses its difference-makers like Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton.
"This has been in the pipeline for about two years. It's not as if you straightaway just go whack. You've got to put a lot of work into getting the players that you're looking at," Hardwick said.
"What it's also allowed us to do, by bringing in those experienced guys, is explore a couple of other options with our talent. We can move a couple of pieces around, which is always exciting. Sometimes, it can be a little bit fraught with danger too. You don't want to move too many pieces. But we're looking at some ways where we can gain some advantages by bringing those two boys in.
"For us, it's been a long process. We knew there were some deficiencies where we thought we could bring in some established talent and you trade for needs. With that, it allows us to then put some other parts in play as well. Most clubs, I reckon, would be working one or two years in advance in terms of what they're looking for. We're no different."
There are other, more frustrating, similarities to that last transitional Richmond period as well. Namely, the side's inability in recent seasons to balance the ledger in close games. That came back to bite the Tigers in last year's finals exit, where Brisbane forward Joe Daniher's goal with just 60 seconds left – the result of a handful of Richmond players being unable to clear the ball from the goalmouth – saw them sent packing by the Lions.
Remarkably, the heartbreaking two-point defeat in the elimination final meant Richmond has now won just one of its last 11 games decided by a kick or less, a dismal record dating back across the last two seasons.
A similar story had blighted the club's promising start to the 2017 campaign – the year that followed the arrival of Prestia, Caddy and Nankervis – where Richmond lost three consecutive matches against the Western Bulldogs, Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney by margins of five, two and three points respectively.
"We spoke about that at length. The things that cost us in the final were the things that cost us throughout the year. It was the same sort of situations. Things we really should have stopped, but didn't stop," Hardwick said.
"You can gloss over them or you can sit there and appreciate that, in a way … you've got to get the group uncomfortable. If they're uncomfortable, they'll continue to grow. We challenged the group over one of our off-season talks about what that looks like and how we need to get better in that part of the game.
"Over the last two years, I think we've lost nine or 10 games by under a kick. We've got to get some things better. Some of that is coaching, some of that is player execution, but it's a mixture of those things. If we did get those things right, and once again it's easy to look back in hindsight, but if we did then the whole season dynamic can change for us. Instead of being in the bottom half of the eight, we're a top-four side.
"Sometimes, you look at it in hindsight and in 2017 it was a similar story. At one point at the start of the year, we lost three games by under a kick. But it held us in good stead moving forward. We've just got to get back to improving in that facet of the game.
So, given the similarities the club is currently experiencing to the beginning of its last dynasty, is a premiership the benchmark for season 2023? A flag or not, expectations are high at Punt Road.
"Every side is judged on win-loss. Outcome is the measure of our success," Hardwick said.
"We know – and this is quite a boring answer – but if we play to a certain standard from a process point of view, then we'll be OK. The system that we play will keep us in games, it will allow us to play a certain style of game, but then our talent will effectively have to take over to help us win that game. If we get that right, if our talent gets on the park, then we'll win more games than we don't.
"We've got an expectation like every side. Every side wants to make finals and win the premiership and we're no different. But what we have to do is focus on what we can control and that's the process. The process is really specific. If we do these things well, this will give us a really good chance of getting where we need to go."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/874892/like-the-summer-of-16-new-toys-have-tigers-buzzing-in-flag-tilt
