Richmond’s list issues have been laid bare by disastrous loss to GWS, writes Jon RalphJON RALPH
Herald Sun
August 1, 2016 PAUL Roos spent a season assessing Melbourne’s list, then immediately put every player on notice.
“I’ve always said to the player group every player is tradeable, in my view,’’ Roos said in August 2014.
“I’ve said it to the Sydney guys at the end of every year and I’ve said it to the Melbourne guys tonight. We’ll try to get the best possible list we can get moving into next year.”
No pleasantries, no emotion — just the cold, hard reality that if you don’t do your job, you could be out the door.
Surely it is a message that will be absorbed by Richmond coach Damien Hardwick after the worst season in his 153-game, seven-year coaching career.
It’s time to shake things up, time to stop defending the indefensible.
Richmond’s disastrous, non-competitive 88-point loss to Greater Western Sydney should lay bare the issues on Richmond list.
And the conclusion must be that apart from Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt and Alex Rance, no one is untouchable.
If a rival is prepared to offer overs for 29-year-old Brett Deledio, with 243 games on the clock and a body now failing him, it has to be considered.
If a player such as Shane Edwards has contributed 11, 11 and eight possessions during three successive elimination finals, isn’t it time to put him on the market?
From Deledio to Edwards to Tyrone Vickery to Brandon Ellis to Reece Conca, any one with real talent, Richmond’s promise of an “aggressive” trade period should extend to all options being available.
The list of uncontracted players, including Vickery, Shaun Hampson, Reece Conca, Ben Griffiths, David Astbury, gives Richmond maximum flexibility.
Also unsigned are Sam Lloyd, Liam McBean, Jake Batchelor, Kane Lambert and Andrew Moore.
Yet Richmond unquestionably keeps faith with its list cloggers.
Champion Data reveals those who let the Tigers down in those three finals.
They include Edwards (average 45 ranking points), Brandon Ellis (51), Nick Vlastuin (56), Shaun Grigg (68) and Batchelor (49).
The rankings points in wins and losses this year are just as revelatory.
Alex Rance averages 86 points in wins, yet when the going gets tough he shines with an average of 105 points.
But from wins to losses, Martin drops 28 points (128 to 99), Deledio 15 (101 to 86), Edwards 16 (87 to 71), Griffiths 40 (92 to 52) and Vlastuin 33 (89 to 66).
If only Richmond’s pure talent was the single issue at play.
After 19 rounds of football this year, here are the problems that need addressing, in no particular order.
WHY does Richmond’s continue to play Jack Riewoldt away from his best position as a deep forward?
When the Tigers were under siege on Saturday, they bombed long to a collection of kids or small forwards, with Riewoldt not even in the forward 50.
WHAT exactly is the game style, because surely Hardwick doesn’t preach a non-tackling, chip-chip, non-pressuring, panic-rich style of play.
As Matthew Richardson said of the loss: “Yesterday it appeared to me the players completely lost confidence in what they were trying to do.”
IS Damien Hardwick in denial about the state of the list, given his statements about it being the most complete in seven years at the club?
Not according to Brendon Gale, who said on Sunday: “I don’t think so. We have turned over 41 per cent of our list in the last two years.
“That would suggest we are not satisfied with our list.
DOES the list review include the decision to recruit Chris Yarran, given all and sundry warned senior Richmond officials he had serious issues on multiple fronts?
Richmond will boost its recruiting department budget and likely tip out some of its 12 assistant coaches, but the trade and free-agency period is just as critical.
Dion Prestia wants to go to an immediate finals contender, but the Tigers just cannot afford to miss on him if he is their clear priority.
How else do they find a second and third pick within 20 (they don’t have a second-round pick) to stock up on the talent that is still lacking on this list?
The club keeps raving about its past two drafts, but who is the next A-grade star apart from the top five on this list?
It’s arguable there is one, despite exciting glimpses from Daniel Rioli and Oleg Markov.
Fix the game plan, instil some hunger, recruit some stars, dump the list cloggers, overhaul the footy department — there is not a moment to spare down at Punt Rd this summer.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/jon-ralph/richmonds-list-issues-have-been-laid-bare-by-disastrous-loss-to-gws-writes-jon-ralph/news-story/3cbc2364f402d245dccc3cb01c25b853
