Depending on how you see it, I believe that we are trapped between the 2 stages of redevelopment that a club needs to be a success. Sometimes a club may need a 3rd wave of players as well.
IMHO... any club that spends say 25 years trying to find itself ie in the wilderness like Richmond needs to start again. Technically we started again in 2004 - that could be said to be our first stage of the first rebuild.
In my opinion, when a club is as bad as we are you need to do two rebuilds to complete 1 of them properly.
Players taken in 2004 are entering the 21 yo age bracket, success usually comes between 23 and 27.
I reckon if people look at successful sides they will find 2 waves of young players coming through. Richmond started in 2004 and we have completed trading and drafted till the end of 2007.
We have made mistakes which means that the first of the two necessary waves is still incomplete. Cotchin and Rance and Putt and Gourdis should have been the start of the 2nd wave, but alas we have to include them in the 1st wave of players because the first wave havent come through as well as we'd hoped. Thats why we must tank in 2008.
In the 2008 draft we need to start the 2nd wave of players . Currently as it stands IMHO the list is only capable of hitting the lower level of the 8 because with the the inclusion of Cotchin we are still somewhere shy of finishing the 1st wave.
Lets hope Rance, Putt, Gourdis, Conners, Collins, JON, Hughes etc etc. come through. to finish the 1st wave necessary, so that the 2008 draftees become the start of the 2nd much needed group of players that a club needs to become successful.