One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on November 22, 2025, 05:57:18 PM
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How do we all rate our recruiting effort this year?
INS:
Trade Period:
Patrick Retschko 186cm 28-02-2006 Geelong Midfielder
National Draft:
7. Sam Cumming 184cm 27-07-2007 North Adelaide/South Australia Midfielder
8. Sam Grlj 182cm 26-07-2007 Oakleigh Chargers/Vic Metro Midfielder
31. Zane Peucker 179cm 04-12-2007 Woodville-West Torrens/SA Small Forward
54. Noah Roberts-Thomson 181cm 29-03-2007 Sturt/South Australia Midfielder
Rookie Draft:
2. Passed
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OUTS:
Pick 99 to Geelong
2026 5th rounder to Gold Coast
Tylar Young (traded to West Coast for pick 38 which ended up pick 31 on draft night)
Kamdyn McIntosh (not offered a contract)
Jacob Blight (not offered a contract)
Thomson Dow (not offered a contract)
Jacob Koschitzke (not offered a contract)
Jacob Bauer (not offered a contract)
Mate Colina (not offered a contract)
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AFL Draft Report Card
Jack Jovanovski, Ben Cotton, Ben Waterworth and Will Faulkner
Fox Sports
November 21st, 2025
RICHMOND
It was hard for Richmond to go wrong with its opening pair of selections, having the choice of the open pool after Willem Duursma and Cooper Duff-Tytler were the first two non-club-tied players off the board.
In a telling pre-draft move, the Tigers — who’d been strongly linked to Sam Cumming, Sullivan Robey, Xavier Taylor and Sam Grlj with their first two picks — visited Cumming and his family in the days prior to the draft in a clear indication of the club’s interest.
And the Tigers got a good one in the North Adelaide product, who’s highly regarded for his class, power, speed, agility and competitiveness. Cumming has drawn Isaac Heeney comparisons due to his ability to go forward and hit the scoreboard.
Then Richmond swung a surprise, opting to take Eastern Ranges line-breaker Grlj with the eighth overall pick after it seemed he was destined to fall out of the top 10.
Could they have traded down from no.8 and still gotten Grlj? That’s a question worth asking.
“Was surprised, we thought maybe Sullivan Robey might get taken, but they have gone for maybe more of the need,” dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna said on Fox Footy.
“They have loaded up through the midfield and forward half of the ground, now they get the explosive half back that can set the game off on counter-attack.”
Passing on Robey and Taylor in particular was notable, but it’s hard to pick a fault in the two top talents the Tigers came away with.
Gieschen and company then took bolter Zane Peucker in the second round. The forward-midfielder averaged 25 disposals, 1.5 goals, and 5.5 score involvements this year for the Woodville West-Torrens under-18s.
They capped their work by pouncing on Noah Roberts-Thomson — cousin of former Sydney Swans dual premiership player Lewis — in the late third round.
Grade: B-
Club-by-club rating:
Gold Coast A+
Essendon A
Carlton A-
North Melb A-
West Coast A-
Adelaide B
Brisbane B
Hawthorn B
Sydney B
Fremantle B-
Melbourne B-
Richmond B-
St Kilda B-
Geelong C+
GWS C+
W.Bulldogs C+
Collingwood C-
Port Adelaide N/A
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-draft-2025-fox-footy-report-card-every-teams-draft-picks-graded-and-analysed-who-your-team-picked-best-and-worst-selections-analysis/news-story/63a5611ac14f173e0fac823cbcb07ee0
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Grading every club's selections at the AFL Draft
Jasper Chellappah
ESPN
Nov 21, 2025
Richmond
The direction of the draft was always going to hinge on the Tigers, who had kept everything in-house despite making their minds up over a week ago. After bids on Dylan Patterson and Dan Annable, Richmond landed on Sam Cumming and Sam Grlj.
Cumming is the perfect modern midfielder, applying himself defensively with intent and getting forward to set up scoring opportunities with speed and aerial ability. Grlj is the best athlete in the pool, burning off opponents with ease and running all day either off halfback, a wing or through the middle.
On night two they injected some excitement to the front half with Zane Puecker who plays above his 179cm height with marking exploits, and paired him with fellow SA prospect Noah Roberts-Thomson. A tall midfielder who can go forward, NRT is the cousin of Swans cult hero Lewis.
Grade: A-
Club-by-club rating:
North Melb A+
Gold Coast A
Carlton A-
Essendon A-
Richmond A-
Adelaide B+
Collingwood B+
Hawthorn B+
Brisbane B
Geelong B
St Kilda B
Fremantle B-
Melbourne C+
Sydney C+
W.Bulldogs C+
GWS C-
West Coast C-
Port Adelaide N/A
https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/47039558/afl-draft-2025-grading-every-footy-club-draft-grades-analysis-jasper-chellappah-west-coast-eagles
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Winners and Losers of the 2025 AFL Draft (True Footy)
The AFL draft is done and dusted, Jesse and Dylan sit down and go over who were the winners and losers over all 3 days.
Richmond discussion:
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eHregB5t16Q/hq720.jpg?v=6920e836&sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLCPSpFG-BQoikjd1fiusZXFDp1XgQ) (https://youtu.be/eHregB5t16Q?t=5825)
https://youtu.be/eHregB5t16Q?t=5825
How did your club do? (Zerohanger | Craft of the Draft)
With the 2025 AFL Draft officially in the books, Mitch and Jonty look at how each club fared with their range of selections.
Richmond discussion:
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QRhlYZuCdD8/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEhCK4FEIIDSFryq4qpAxMIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJD&rs=AOn4CLAi6vzO01JJUjWypaJq-7YjEk_Oyg) (https://youtu.be/QRhlYZuCdD8?t=2242)
https://youtu.be/QRhlYZuCdD8?t=2242
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Wont know for two or three seasons.
Thought from a list needs perspective we have done well.
Grlj at hb for now makes for a great Rioli replacement and helps with pace issues.
Cumming as a mid is a perfect fit for us so we add more quality and depth to the area.
Retschko more pace and running power to a wing think he could be a great get for us. Our wings in recent years have been ordinary.
How poor has our list of small forwards been Peucker added to Algar and Hotton goes a long way to addressing this area.Campbell as well if he is played as a forward still think wing is the go for him.
NR-T another mid adding to a shallow list of mids.
Think the rebuild is going great even though i disagree with some things.
Think we have been a bit lapse in our use of F/A and trades for players since 2016. i think we are now in a position to start adding mature needs to the list especially thru F/A next year while staying involved in the Nd.
If we play as many kids as possible in preference to older players i think we will still be a bottom 4 team so id be going back to the draft well again hopefully we turn over another 8 - 10 players.
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Done well imo
Hit the draft hard again with 4 picks and grabbed someone we think may be useful in the Geelong kid
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The Draft
Club by Club Draft Review
November 26, 2025
Tommy Wolfe
Reading the Play
(https://readingtheplay.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/screenshot-2025-10-06-at-10.16.51-pm.png?w=948)
Relative rating: -76 pts
Reading the Play Guide: B+
Summary:
Richmond were always tipped to be one of the more intriguing players in this year’s draft, and they certainly lived up to that billing. Rather than following consensus views linking them to Sullivan Robey or Xavier Taylor, the Tigers trusted their own board and backed the player they rated highest. Sam Grlj was their man. His early-season VFL form turned heads inside Punt Road, and with speed a clear list priority, the Tigers felt no need to overthink it.
As the draft drew nearer, the noise around Sam Cumming intensified. It was no real shock to see Richmond call his name with their first pick. Cumming is fearless, combative and relentlessly driven to win the ball. When he gets it, he can be damaging. Expect him to settle into a marking half forward role with midfield bursts as 2026 unfolds. Tigers supporters, and neutrals alike, will warm to him quickly. His playstyle fits seamlessly within the club’s evolving attacking structure and he profiles as an ideal complement to Sam Lalor.
Peucker’s rise through the National Championships made him an attractive option. He brings burst, power and an instinctive attacking mindset, all of which suit Richmond’s brand. The challenge will be sharpening his defensive work, which is critical for modern small forwards. If he embraces that aspect, he has every chance of carving out a long-term AFL role.
There was widespread expectation that Louis Kellaway would earn the final list spot, but Richmond went a slightly different direction, selecting Noah Roberts-Thomson. He is a smart mover with tidy skills and enough power to fit the Tigers’ need for run and dare. His development curve will be worth tracking closely.
Taken as a whole, Richmond’s draft was much more about list architecture than chasing pure best-available talent. After last year’s enormous haul, they had the freedom to draft for role and balance. In that respect, they succeeded.
https://readingtheplay.wordpress.com/2025/11/26/club-by-club-draft-review/
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I reckon 2024 based on what we saw looked extraordinarily promising with the caveat that we can get Smillie’s body right.
On that basis, who are we to judge 2025 any differently?
Development and the conditioning team now need to bring them into a afl standard.
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Overall I reckon we did well
But I find myself doing this :huh3 around the Retschko trade
Don't get that one at all
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What’s wrong with it WP? We gave up a pick we wouldn’t have used anyway or would have used to get him.
They rated him in last years draft but missed out on him. 19 years old with a full season of vfl under his belt and fills a position of need.
It did come out of absolutely nowhere and had never heard his name prior to a couple months ago lol.
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Overall I reckon we did well
But I find myself doing this :huh3 around the Retschko trade
Don't get that one at all
Yeah, ok. But that trade has cost us pick 99, our smallest piece of draft currency to bring in a player. What else was pick 99 supposed to bring us other than a hopeful? At least we gained a player who looks to be a good fit that we monitored in the VFL for 12 months before we snapped him up. I'd prefer this to some washed up retread ...
Until he plays a game (firsts or seconds) we won't really know anyway. But for pick 99 he doesn't have much to pay back.
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I understand that it was only pick 99 that we weren't going to use. THough that picked would have ended up closer to late 60s early 70s wouldn't it?
But ...
The reason I don't get it is
He was a rookie at Geelong who was getting de-listed. And from what I understand was no where near getting an AFL game down there (will stand corrected if I've read all that wrong)
I appreciate he fills a need I'm just not sold yet on using a primary list spot on him when we could have picked him up in the rookie draft for nothing
I wish the kid nothing but the best, he's a Tiger now
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For all intents and purposes there is no difference btw the primary list and rookie A list. They both fall under the max total list (not including cat B) of 42. There is probably some monetary differences like minimum salary of a player on the primary list is higher than a player on the rookie list but I can’t imagine he is on much $$$ regardless.
The cat A rookie list just needs to be abolished at this point. 3 quarters of the rookie draft were just used on recycled AFL players who were delisted and then re-listed by the same club.
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I understand that it was only pick 99 that we weren't going to use. THough that picked would have ended up closer to late 60s early 70s wouldn't it?
But ...
The reason I don't get it is
He was a rookie at Geelong who was getting de-listed. And from what I understand was no where near getting an AFL game down there (will stand corrected if I've read all that wrong)
I appreciate he fills a need I'm just not sold yet on using a primary list spot on him when we could have picked him up in the rookie draft for nothing
I wish the kid nothing but the best, he's a Tiger now
So in this scenario we would have taken Burton or Krasnadamskis as our last national draft pick prob?
Then used the last spot on Retschko or had him as the train on player.
What difference would that make?
Gieschen says they were high on Retschko. He had a good season with the vfl team and they obviously rated him in his draft year. Getting another 24' crop player is very good idea.
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Think he fits us to a tee.
WE not only saw him as a kid and liked him but we had the added bonus of seeing him at vfl and performing extremely well.
We take mature players from the vfl who tick most boxes and he does that along with a bigger body of work to judge him by.
Pretty sure he did not get a game at Geelong because of higher rated senior players who they wanted to keep and he was delisted because they promised rookie spots to those players who had served them well. Think there is a tight squeeze on down at Geelong.
For me the interesting thing in this is Geelong Drafted Hunter Holmes he was one i wanted us to take to go with Retschko on the other wing
As for the nd as i have said we wont know for three or so years but we had a desperate need for mids, pace, wingers small forwards a HB Dan Rioli replacement and a ruckman or two the only one we did not address is the latter.
I think the top 10 were all fairly even wewent with a tough as nails well skilled quick inside out mid whats not to like.
For me the addition of just 5 new faces in just year two of rebuild with even more compromised drafts than we have now coming not good enough.But thats more a list management thing than recruiting.
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I understand that it was only pick 99 that we weren't going to use. THough that picked would have ended up closer to late 60s early 70s wouldn't it?
But ...
The reason I don't get it is
He was a rookie at Geelong who was getting de-listed. And from what I understand was no where near getting an AFL game down there (will stand corrected if I've read all that wrong)
I appreciate he fills a need I'm just not sold yet on using a primary list spot on him when we could have picked him up in the rookie draft for nothing
I wish the kid nothing but the best, he's a Tiger now
The more perplexing thing is why the Cats dumped after one season. Finished 5th in their ressies b&f and their dna with kids is very much about patience so this one was highly unusual
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I understand that it was only pick 99 that we weren't going to use. THough that picked would have ended up closer to late 60s early 70s wouldn't it?
But ...
The reason I don't get it is
He was a rookie at Geelong who was getting de-listed. And from what I understand was no where near getting an AFL game down there (will stand corrected if I've read all that wrong)
I appreciate he fills a need I'm just not sold yet on using a primary list spot on him when we could have picked him up in the rookie draft for nothing
I wish the kid nothing but the best, he's a Tiger now
The more perplexing thing is why the Cats dumped after one season. Finished 5th in their ressies b&f and their dna with kids is very much about patience so this one was highly unusual
Hopefully their loss is our gain. At the cost of pick 99 it may be a master-stroke, time will tell. I must say I'm quite ok with it.
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I understand that it was only pick 99 that we weren't going to use. THough that picked would have ended up closer to late 60s early 70s wouldn't it?
But ...
The reason I don't get it is
He was a rookie at Geelong who was getting de-listed. And from what I understand was no where near getting an AFL game down there (will stand corrected if I've read all that wrong)
I appreciate he fills a need I'm just not sold yet on using a primary list spot on him when we could have picked him up in the rookie draft for nothing
I wish the kid nothing but the best, he's a Tiger now
I think the idea was that he was going to be delisted, he was told so, he said he wanted to play for us and we wanted him, so trading just meant he wouldn't go to the rookie draft and thus no chance of WC etc picking him up. Long shot but yeah.
Otherwise....agree on most points pretty much.
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Seems to have a good attitude , good runner with some speed who finds the ball . There must be a knock on him as Geelong don’t discard players who have any chance of making it. I just hope we can coach that knock out of him.
Anyway we need a reserve scapegoat ,we’ve got Shorty but if he goes down who will will they turn on now Macca’s gone .
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I understand that it was only pick 99 that we weren't going to use. THough that picked would have ended up closer to late 60s early 70s wouldn't it?
But ...
The reason I don't get it is
He was a rookie at Geelong who was getting de-listed. And from what I understand was no where near getting an AFL game down there (will stand corrected if I've read all that wrong)
I appreciate he fills a need I'm just not sold yet on using a primary list spot on him when we could have picked him up in the rookie draft for nothing
I wish the kid nothing but the best, he's a Tiger now
I think the idea was that he was going to be delisted, he was told so, he said he wanted to play for us and we wanted him, so trading just meant he wouldn't go to the rookie draft and thus no chance of WC etc picking him up. Long shot but yeah.
Otherwise....agree on most points pretty much.
Whatever the knock on him is I'm sure we'll know about it & have plans in place to address it/them.
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I think I did see some had him in their
First game team which I thought was just extraordinary
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Thank SBJ that we didn’t pick Robey, looks to have back issues poor bugger
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2025 AFL Draft Review: Richmond
Peter Williams
Rookie Me Central
November 30, 2025
ANOTHER couple of top 10 picks ensured Richmond was able to add more top-end talent to its young and developing list at this year’s AFL Draft. The Tigers selected three out of four South Australians in the haul, with speed and competitiveness a key trait in the haul.
DRAFT HAUL
NATIONAL DRAFT:
Pick 7. Sam Cumming
Pick 8. Sam Grlj
Pick 31. Zane Peucker
Pick 54. Noah Roberts-Thomson
Cumming has an untapped ceiling and boast some fantastic power as a half-forward or rolling into the midfield. His natural competitiveness comes to the fore and will work up and down the ground with some nice speed, while also being able to compete in the air. He is one to plonk at half-forward and let him go to work.
Grlj boasts some elite speed, and like Cumming has serious potential. The theme of ‘competitiveness’ will pop up across the board, and while not a massive accumulator, the Oakleigh Chargers midfielder-defender does offer linebreaking run and power. He is the more defensive version of Cumming, though both offer variations within their profiles.
Peucker is much the same with his elite speed and power on display, working hard in the front half of the ground. He might be a little longer to make his debut as he builds up his tank for AFL level, but the talented South Australian has plenty of hurt factor when he is on-song. His ability to hit the scoreboard and bring others into the game is what drew clubs to him.
Finally, a third South Australian in Roberts-Thomson is thrown into the mix, and like the others, has some nice wheels on him. He moves well and has terrific footy IQ, while also being clean around the coalface. He too can play forward or through the middle, and knows where the goals are too, averaging more than a goal per game from 23 touches and five marks in the SANFL Under 18s and was a nice value late selection.
GRADE: B+
Richmond was never going to lose with the picks it had, and clearly the Tigers wanted speed, power and competitiveness amongst its ranks. The quartet all offer variations of that, so the coaching group will be excited to see what they can offer next year and beyond. The two top 10 draftees should see action next year, with the other two likely to be a little longer, but anything is possible in the rebuild at Punt Road.
https://central.rookieme.com/afl/2025/11/30/2025-afl-draft-review-richmond/
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West Coast, Richmond and North Melbourne are all expected to be toward the bottom third of the ladder by the cessation of next season, giving all three sides another look at the top end of the draft.
Richmond's quick transition to focusing on the draft saw them net six first-round prospects last year before adding a further two in the top 10 last month.
"Naturally, you look at clubs that finished towards the bottom of the ladder this year...," Craft of the Draft analyst Jonty Ralphsmith said.
"Richmond have done so well with the players they've managed to bring in from right at the top end. If they can get another player or two to complement that, (they'll be well set).
https://www.msn.com/en-au/sport/nba/the-six-clubs-set-to-shape-next-year-s-afl-draft/ar-AA1Rsg6b
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I think I did see some had him in their
First game team which I thought was just extraordinary
Extra ordinary based on what.
In his first year he played exceptional footy in the vfl. He actually has better attributes for a running role than many we have on the list.
Geelong got the pick right imo but circumstance said they had to cut him and another youngster to fit in mature servants.
Imo in any other draft he would have been taken top 30 - 40 but in last years draft he slipped to the rookie draft.
Forget about Geelong or where he was initially drafted just look at his attributes for the game and how well he performed against men last year.
Having seen HR-S for 6 seasons id play him in front of him every single time atm. He at the least doesnt poo his pants when contact is inevitable or panic.