Our midfield

[ajGreen]

End of season - CBA stats -


Toby Nankervis   457   83%   31yo his style of play likely means when the end comes it will come quickly.
            
Jacob Hopper   466   81%   29yo Hopper a good inside mid but has little pace and is found wanting on the spread    
      
Tim Taranto   428   81%   28yo See Hopper total liability defensively too often because of his lack of pace.    

Dion Prestia   189   68%   33yo  been a great servant but is  slowing and it kills us again on the spread and unable to run defensively. up its time to delist or make sure he is there only for cover and depth.    trouble is when clubs keep these types they cant help themselves and they play all year just look at McIntosh. Mid numbers are horrible reckon all of Dow Ross and Prestia will stay not because they are going to take us anywhere   but for depth due to those poor numbers.
                                       
Kane McAuliffe   70   59%   A kid who has very good pace who crunches tackles and should become a good player.                              
                                          
Samson Ryan   25   56%   Looks a flop atm he will enter his 6th season next year and turns 25 this december.
                                                                  
Thomson Dow   130   44%   Slow battler has no real weapons and kills us on the spread.   
                           
Jack Ross   194   34%   25yo 92 game plodder who needs to go. He is typical of clubs making the same mistake over and over and not making a tough call. will be another very ordinary player we have got to 100 games. Early days it was okay but now we need to use games he is getting on kids and actually replace him with a mature mid WHO CAN ACTUALLY PLAY CONSISTENTLY WELL..

Kamdyn McIntosh   135   24% delisted.

Can see all of them being retained this year bar McIntosh obviously. but we sure as hell need to not only replace them but get our mid numbers up to a sustainable level without them on the list.
In Three years time it is not inconceivable, indeed likely all of them are gone bar McAuliffe hopefully  and probably Taranto maybe Hopper as well as vets..

This year lets say we dont cut any genuine mids at all i would go something like this in this draft.

2024 crop
Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe

Pick 2 2025 mid
Pick 3 2025 mid
f/s Kellaway 2025 mid.
ND pick that we get in. Use on a ruckman. so there is a young ruckman.

F/A 2025. mature bodied mid if available or small forward or ruckman.
PSSS , MSD , PSD  and Rookie Draft  2025.Utilise at least 2 of the rookie sytems  Target a few state league types may not be on mids but flankers. Get 8 new faces in make sure we get 5 mids of differing types a ruckman and a small forward

Our mid numbers would then be where they need to be .
The current mids we have plus 5 this off season would equal 15. Pretty sure we are going to take at least three regardless and we would still have to cut the likes of ross dow Sonsie and retire Prestia over the coming seasons so still work to do over a three year period.

Lalor
Hotton
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming.
Grlj.

*Kellaway pending*

 + Retschko.


Filled the small forward X2 NRT & Pucker. No ruck yet. Maybe Hayes-Brown

[camboon]

 Should be able to find a winger or two from this years draftees IMO,

[ajGreen]

Should be able to find a winger or two from this years draftees IMO,

Reckon Hotton and Grlj look fun as wings.

If the idea is

Lalor
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming.

As developing inside mids.

 + Retschko.can be a other option / back up.

Looks like backline will be many options so balta/brown/banks type could push up wing also?

[the claw]

Pretty sure the idea is
Lalor
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming
Hotton
with old heads
Taranto
Hopper.

For me Grlj starts on a hbf.
Campbell and Retschko if he shines in preseason the wings. Would have loved to add Hunter Holmes into this mix.

[ajGreen]

Pretty sure the idea is
Lalor
Smillie
McAuliffe
Cumming
Hotton
with old heads
Taranto
Hopper.

For me Grlj starts on a hbf.
Campbell and Retschko if he shines in preseason the wings. Would have loved to add Hunter Holmes into this mix.

Vlastuin. Balta. Miller. Trainor. Brown. Banks.

Back line looks pretty full And you'd likely have gibcus and broad best 23.

Smillie...

Grlj looks better fit wing /mid/Hff short term

[Hard Roar Tiger]

That explosive speed of Gryl has me channeling Nathan Foley which I would love to see next year. Our bigger mids are the perfect types to release him, particularly from centre stoppages. I think our wingers might come from our half back depth with both Banks and Brown being good options. I think Banks in particular has good wheels, is a nice kick and has shown the balls to kick into space quickly which is so important when we have the ball on transition.

[one-eyed]

Every AFL team’s midfield ranked 1-18

We’ve unveiled our verdict on the competition’s best, and worst, midfields from the 2025 season.

Harrison McIlwaine
zerohanger.com
December 12, 2025

Richmond

Ranking: 17th

Much has been made of Richmond's commitment to youth, but the bulk of its midfield production was left to the ageing. Dion Prestia (33), Jacob Hopper (28) and Tim Taranto (27) joined ruckman Toby Nankervis (31) in the top four for total clearances for the yellow and black this year.

The Tigers struggled to get their hands on the pill, averaging 51.4 fewer disposals than their opponents this year, besting only the Eagles in this and many other metrics, including total clearances.

Adem Yze's men were the worst side for first possession to clearance rate, inside 50 differential, and centre clearances, leaving the former Demon under no illusions as to what needs addressing over the summer.

https://www.zerohanger.com/every-afl-teams-midfield-ranked-1-18-171649/2/