Sam Edmund and Adam Cooney react to Mark Bickley's enormous Richmond predictionBy Isabella Bianchi
SEN
6 Dec 2024Sam Edmund and Adam Cooney have both doubted Mark Bickley’s huge call, after the former Adelaide captain predicted that “Richmond will go through the whole season winless next year”.
They discussed their reasonings on SEN Breakfast, maintaining it would be basically impossible for the Tigers to lose 24 straight games.
The duo later provided an insight into how the Tigers can find some success in 2025, and what a difficult season could teach them.
Edmund: “That is a bold, bold prediction, I think it’s happened a few times historically but not since 1964, certainly not in the AFL era. It was a different time obviously.
“In the modern day, can it still happen? It could, but how likely is it?”
Cooney: “We’ve seen some horrible teams win a game, like the expansion teams. Even a bunch of hacks that were assembled just before the 2016 season for the Bombers won a couple of games.
“Essendon beat Carton and Gold Coast in 2016 actually.”
Edmund: “So, you beat Carlton in your last week, Gold Coast a few weeks before that and beat Melbourne in Round 2, so they won three.”
Cooney: “Yeah so three wins and that is one of the worst teams ever assembled. As I mentioned, that’s pretty positive.”
Edmund: “The ceiling was low, but is the ceiling low for Richmond? Yes.”
Cooney: “Yes. But it’ll happen. Any team can have a shocking day. Richmond might get two wins.
“They’ll play as the most inexperienced side since those expansion teams, but it’ll be good for them.
“They’ve just got to keep pouring games into these kids. If (Sam) Lalor is playing poorly just keep him out there.”
Edmund: “Richmond hasn’t won since June 6 when they beat Adelaide out at Adelaide Oval. Last year was a two-win season and they’ve become infinitely worse so I can see why Bicks has made that prediction.”
Cooney: “Yet they beat Sydney last year. That was Adam Yze’s first win, against Sydney at the MCG. Any team can beat anyone on the day if they’re off.”
Edmund: “I agree with you.”
The discussion then turned to clubs bottoming out after winning flags, like Richmond has done since their triple treat between 2017 and 2020.
Cooney, the 2008 Brownlow Medallist, played 11 seasons for the Western Bulldogs and two for Essendon, only featuring in finals in three of those campaigns.
He insists he would have been happy to go through his career without further success if he won a flag early.
“If someone came to me in my first and said, ‘Listen, where you’re 18 you’re going to play in a premiership with the Western Bulldogs but the next 15 years of your career you’re not going to play a final’, I’d say, ‘Who cares?’,” he added.
“That’s why you play, to win a premiership. It doesn’t matter what happens after that.
“People say, ‘Teams are wasted, they could have dominated three or four years’. Who cares? If you won a premiership, nothing matters after that.
“Ask St Kilda supporters, ask the Dogs supporters after 1954. Richmond won three of them! They could give two back now and be happy with the one that they’ve got.”
Edmund added: “Is it worth the downfall? 100 per cent.
“Couldn’t be worth it any more in my humble opinion.
“But maybe it depends on where you come from. If you’ve been spoiled by success of your footy team then maybe, but so many clubs are desperately trying to win premierships and they’re so very hard to win.”
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/12/05/sam-edmund-and-adam-cooney-react-to-mark-bickleys-enormous-richmond
