Cornes: Was Richmond's AAMI Community Series side the worst team on paper in a decade?By Nic Negrepontis
SEN
28 Feb 2025Kane Cornes has labelled the Richmond 26-man squad named for their AAMI Community Series loss to Collingwood the worst side put on the park since the Suns and Giants’ inaugural seasons.
With Dion Prestia, Sam Lalor, Tom Lynch, Noah Balta and Josh Smillie unavailable and the likes of Liam Baker, Daniel Rioli, Shai Bolton and Jack Graham departing in the off-season, plus the retirement of Dustin Martin, the Tigers are officially in full rebuild mode.
Collingwood rolled them by 83 points and kicked 21 goals against a Richmond side that only featured five remaining premiership players.
Cornes says he will be keeping a close eye on Richmond crowds this season and hopes fans show up to support the team.
“Rebuilding sounds great on paper until you actually have to go through it and Richmond’s 22 (from the AAMI Community Series) is the worst 22 I’ve seen since Gold Coast and the Giants came into the competition,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“This is worse (than North and West Coast’s recent teams).
“I’m putting the Richmond crowds in the gun. You were all for the rebuild and the young players coming in – will you turn up this year? Will Richmond fans turn up this year?
“In 2018, the average home crowd was 61,000. In 2023 it was 51,000. Last year it was 44,400. What will the average crowd for Richmond home games be this year? Will it be 1993 levels of 24,000?
“Rebuilding is great on paper until you actually have to go through it and how supportive will the Richmond fans be? Will they turn up and watch them? I’ll be watching closely.”
Richmond host Carlton in the traditional Thursday night season opener, with their next two home games against Brisbane in Round 4 and Gold Coast in Round 6.
The Tigers had 98,489 members in 2024, down from 101,349 the year before.
Richmond's AAMI Community Series 26-man squadFB: J.Blight, B.Miller, N.Broad
HB: J.Short, S.Banks, T.Brown
C: T.Dow, J.Ross, J.Trezise
HF: R.Mansell, S.Campbell, M.Rioli
FF: J.Bauer, S.Ryan, S.Green
FOLL: T.Nankervis, T.Taranto, J.Hopper
I/C: N.Vlastuin, K.McIntosh, T.Sonsie, H.Armstrong, L.Trainor, K.McAuliffe, L.Fawcett, T.Sims
EMG: C.Gray, J.Koschitzke, K.Smith, J.Alger
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2025/02/27/cornes-was-richmonds-aami-community-series-side-the-worst-team-on-paper-in-a