Inside Football's Richmond 2009 preview

[one-eyed]

Inside Richmond
Inside Football, March 4, 2009

The Tigers' Best 22

B:     Moore        Thursfield        Raines
HB: Newman       McGuane        Bowden
C:   McMahon        Tuck           Deledio
HF:  Cousins      Richardson      Cotchin
F:    Morton        Riewoldt         Brown
R:   Simmonds       Foley          Coughlan
Int: Tambling, Johnson, Pattison, Thomson



Player Rankings          (change since last year ---- new = not ranked last year, blank = unchanged)

1. MATTHEW RICHARDSON         
2. BRETT DELEDIO                    +2
3. NATHAN FOLEY                   
4. NATHAN BROWN                   -2
5. JOEL BOWDEN                      +1
6. TROY SIMMONDS                  -1
7. BEN COUSINS                      new
8. SHANE TUCK                       
9. CHRIS NEWMAN                   +3
10. KANE JOHNSON                  +13
11. TRENT COTCHIN                 new
12. WILL THURSFIELD               +3
13. ANDREW RAINES                 -2
14. LUKE McGUANE                  +8
15. JORDAN McMAHON             -1
16. KELVIN MOORE                  +12
17. MITCH MORTON                 +1
18. RICHARD TAMBLING            -1
19. ADAM PATTISON                +6
20. JACK RIEWOLDT                +4
21. ADAM THOMSON                new
22. MARK COUGHLAN              -13
23. KAYNE PETTIFER               -13
24. SHANE EDWARDS              -4
25. JAY SCHULZ                      -6
26. DANIEL CONNORS              -5 
27. JAKE KING                        -14
28. DANIEL JACKSON               -2
29. CLEVE HUGHES                 +1
30. MATT WHITE                     +2
31. DEAN POLO                       
32. TOM HISLOP                      new
33. JARRAD OAKLEY-NICHOLLS
34. ANGUS GRAHAM                  -5
35. GRAHAM POLAK (lnj.)          -28


Who's Flying!

Luke McGuane - watch him go this year
Andrew Raines - as good as new
Richard Tambling - burning on the track

Who's Not!

Trent Cotchin - that pesky achilles
Mark Coughlan - ditto the knees

[mightytiges]

Thomson did alright against Collingwood but not sure how he could yet be included in our best 22. Whitey is a bit stiff.

If that player rankings is based on 2008 then Tucky should be around 4th IMO.

[mat073]

Not sure who did these rankings.....Some strange selections.

I believe Moore (16) is more important to us now than Thursfield (12) and McGuane (14).However these guys all rock.

Kane Johnson jumping 13 spots to be number 10 this year?????????

Brown (4) Bowden (5) Ahead of Tuck.Im with you MT, Tuck is now Top 4.

Pettifer(23) about 10 spots too high for me.Matt White (30) 10 spots too low.

Cogs(22) hasn't played for two and a half years.With this logic-Cousins should be in our top 2.

[tiogar]

Tambling ahead of Riewoldt? Not sure about that.

Hughes ahead of King? Not sure though i hope Cleve comes good.

Overall it is more or less accurate though when was the last time Ben Cousins found himself 7th on any list?

[Chuck17]

It has me stuffed, two players in Jackson and White should be at least five places up

Thompson is too high as an unproven and Johnson up 13 places  , no way

[tiogar]

Look at that HF line. Cotchin, the best teenager in the league, Richo a Tiger legend and the best marker and battler of them all and Cousins who may well be the best footballer in Australia if he is up, fit and firing.

Tigerland has stars again.

[big tone]

It has me stuffed, two players in Jackson and White should be at least five places up


Watching Jackson is like watching Straunchie run around in the Legends game! I think 28 is flatering!!
But i do agree that little Whitey should be up the list a little/lot.

[Smokey]

Look at that HF line. Cotchin, the best teenager in the league, Richo a Tiger legend and the best marker and battler of them all and Cousins who may well be the best footballer in Australia if he is up, fit and firing.

Tigerland has stars again.

Yes we do.   

[Stripes]

Brown, Bowden, Cogs, Pettifier, Cousins and Raines should be much lower on the list. Matty White should be well up the list and Gus should be well above JON!

Bowden and Brown are still good players but no longer in our top 5. Pettifier and Cogs have done nothing on the field for us for quiet some time so on performance alone they should be low on the list.

Raines had a very ordinary 2008 with performance and then injury so likewise should be further down IMHO.

Cousins, Thomson and Hislop have not played a game for us in the H&A season so they must be rated according to previous club performance...but 7 is still a little high for me for Cuzz given the hurdles he has, and will need to still, jump to remain competitive on the field.

I rate Simmonds in our top 3 on importance alone.

Stripes

[mat073]

Its not often I disagree with you Stripes but to say Raines was ordinary in 2008 after only playing 1 and a half games is a bit harsh.
Do agree that Bowden & Brown no longer top 5,however probably still Top 10 IMHO.
It appears Inside football is basing the rankings on reputation rather than reality.

[Stripes]

Its not often I disagree with you Stripes but to say Raines was ordinary in 2008 after only playing 1 and a half games is a bit harsh.
Do agree that Bowden & Brown no longer top 5,however probably still Top 10 IMHO.
It appears Inside football is basing the rankings on reputation rather than reality.

Agreed.

Though my judgement on Raines was less so on his form but rather on the amount of time he was on the park last year. How can he be rated so highly when he didn't play enough games to be judged by especially when there are other players who did play throughout the season who are far below him...

I also agree that reputation obviously played a big part in the rankings which makes me suspect someone how knows little about the list made the final call.

Stripes

[mat073]

Yep, blows the mind how Raines can be higher than Moore,Thursfield and McGuane.

[mightytiges]

It's not easy to do a whole list ranking 

1. Richo
2. Lids
3. Foley
4. Tuck
5. Simmo
6. Moore
7. Brown
8. Cotchin
9. Cousins
10. Newy
11. Bowden
12. Johnson
13. McGuane
14. Thursty
15. Morton
16. McMahon
17. Riewoldt
18. Tambling
19. White
20. Edwards
21. Jackson
22. Coughlan - higher if not injured but probably still in our 22 if he was fit.
23. Raines
24. Polo
25. Hughes
26. Connors
27. Schulz
28. Thomson
29. Graham
30. Patto
31. Petts
32. King
33. Hislop
34. JON
35. Collins
36. Polak (inj. indefinitely)

Rest (2 years or less non-debutants & rookies): Rance, Putt, Vickery, Post, Gourdis, Silvester, Nahas, Browne, Gilligan

[Chuck17]

I like that one a whole lot better MT 

[mat073]

I would have Schulz above Cleve now MT.
At least Jay can play forward and back...where as our bald friend is a one trick pony.
Does anyone know why he shaved his head ?