Tom Brown [merged]

[one-eyed]

https://www.aflphotos.com.au/galleries/results/?q=collection:AFL%202021%20Media%20-%20NAB%20AFL%20Draft%20Media%20Opportunity%20251121

[Owl]

I feel similar to claw on a lot of points, I do rate two dads as becoming a player though.  Our forward pressure was garbage and the mids got kicked around like road kill this year.   We got two good defenders, and gibcus looks fantastic player.  Dunno much about Tom, was kinda under the radar, had my hopes on at least one top pick being a mid.

[Diocletian]

He looks like he could be RCD's little brother....

[Rampsation]

Both boys need to spend the summer in the gym lifting weights

[one-eyed]

"Whatever it takes" - Brown

WATCH: https://www.richmondfc.com.au/video/1033478/-whatever-it-takes-brown?videoId=1033478&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1637811993001

[the claw]

Here's a red flag for ya
IMPROVEMENTS:

- Contested work
- Strength

In our backline? Sounds like a taller Naish.

Areal worry and when you think about the severe needs we overlooked here with great options available.

Claw, personally thought Hobbs was a better call ….?

People really can not blame others for voicing concern over our greatest needs being ignored.


Okay another tall defender was a need but it was nowhere near as severe a need for tall fwds.

Just look at the situation

Tall defenders - Tarrant 32, Balta 22, Grimes 30, Miller 22,Nyuon 20 and now Gibcus.

It really was an area that could wait another season if need, be but the likes of Miller and Nyuon and the age of Tarrant and Grimes   make it a need still..
We obviously rated Gibcus very highly and id say he was the best rated player on our list at 9. Personally i wanted Erasmus or Hobbs here. I have wanted Erasmus from a long way out. He went next pick and Hobbs who would have addressed our ability win ball went at 13 both must have been in the area for us.

Compare that to our KEY FORWARD SITUATION.

Riewoldt 33 and most likely in his last year
Lynch 29 and he has had his share of injury concerns. I worry about his longevity in this.

Why do supporters just keep on ignoring this.

JVR was available and Melbourne took him just two picks later. he like Erasmus was very much about where we could have taken him.
Fmd JVR  was clearly the bigger need by a huge margin but again i can only surmise the club went by their list of ratings at this pick its one i dont agree with and i really do hope they have got it right.


 And if people think being belted at clearance and contested possesion every weak is okay then good on em. If people think we don't need mids going fwd and we don't need to improve contested and clearance ball then they just are kidding themselves.

The state of our mids. VETS 29 plus 

Edwards 33 - light bodied small mid with great hands inside and evasiveness. cmon people he is close to retirement. Imo we have his replacement in Bolton. The injuries are starting as well, he has  missed a lot of footy the last two seasons. He is one of the better clearance and contested players we have and he is 33.

Cotchin 31 - will be 32 a week into the season. While his role has changed a bit he remains one of our better clearance  and contested ball winners
In recent years the last three he has begun to miss significant amounts of footy. Surely we are looking for his replacement time seems to be catching up fast.

Martin 30 - He aint getting any younger  imo its unfair to expect him to get better and more likely he will gradually decline as father time catches up. Also will more likely in the back end of his career spend more time fwd. He is another who we rely on to win his share of contested ball and clearances.

Lambert 30 - Missed a lot of footy this year is it a sign of the years creeping up? He is a runner for us,  basically not a big clearance player and wins enough contested ball to not make him too outside.

Pickett 30 - Is not a huge possesion winner or clearance player and is not a huge contested ball winner either.

Caddy 29 - Hmm imo lucky to be on the list. Has not been a big possession winner for us with few clearances and not a lot of contested ball. has played only 17 games in two seasons.

Prestia 29 - In his 11 seasons he has managed just three where he has played every game. He has consistently had injuries and we only got nine out of him last year and nine this year. Imo our best inside player and hes hardly on the park.When hes not there we lose so much contested ability and clearances.With the injuries you would think the club would not be thinking he is going to play too far into his thirties.

Thats a list of our vets and outside of Bolton and maybe Graham not one of the remaining mids we have looks like they will get anywhere near some the above ATM.

MATURE MIDS 25 to 28

McIntosh 27 - 28 in early april. Just a very  average player with poor touch and footskills and we play him on a wing. Have always maintained we can and should do better than him. He is the only Mature mid we have.

DEVELOPING MIDS 22 -24

Graham 24 - He to date has not been a big possession winner he wins few clearances and his contested ball winning has been just  okay.To my way of thinking he is not going to dominate contested ball and clearances and the stats back this up to date.

Baker 24 - Has played more as a defender for us.  This year played a lot more as a mid and showed he can get a bit of ball and win a bit of contested ball and play thru the midfield. to date has shown he is not a clearance player. Hate to be critical of this player because i love his tenacity asking him to compete inside with his size is just unfair. Imo not the answer to our inside problems imo.

Bolton 23 - Has tracked along nicely. He  has transitioned from primarily a fwd to primarily a mid who spends a bit of time fwd.
The last two seasons his clearance work has lifted to a good level and he has started to win enough contested ball.
At 175cm and not a big nuggety frame like say Prestia  we are not expecting him to be a bash crash inside player.As mentioned before i think he is our new Edwards type of mid without the superb hands.

Collier - Dawkins 22 - Imo his overall body of work has been underwhelming. He shows glimpses like just about every kid who gets drafted does at 22 i am not depending on him to become a top notch mid and im planning the list that way.Where are we at idf he actually doesn't make it? We cannot ignore that question forever. We will know this year i suppose.

Thats 4 developing players.  that is juniors we have considered deserve more development and we think they are or will become decent at worst.

JUNIOR MIDS 18 -21

Ross 21 - Just 21 but in year four now. People may not agree but he showed more three years ago than he does nowBig concerns about him and he just has not come on imo. Gotta ask is he an answer going fwd and if so im asking to what level will he achieve.

Then there is Dow Martyn and Ralphsmith all 20YO.
Well hugo should be a future winger for us. Dow is he a clearance contested ball player im not sure. i think he is a skilled player who can get a bit of ball and win a clearance here and there.
Martyn not shown much in the two games he took the field in. god knows what he will become a few knocks on his pace from some but if he can win a lot of inside ball and get to a lot of contests im not overly worried about his pace. I just dont picture him becoming a top end inside  afl player hopefully a servicable player.  What we are lacking with the big question marks surrounding RC-D and Ross are elite inside ball winning and clearance players.For me with the many vets with age and longevity  its just too few and questionable eggs surrounding quality  inside players on the list and it bit us hard last year.

For what it is worth based on GREATEST LIST NEEDS imo we should have gone Hobbs at 9 although my preference was Erasmus and JVR again based on greatest need at 17.

First of all there a no guarantees on Miller or Biggie and Balta is our only up and coming defender so it is a issue mate don't know we're your going there.

JVR wasn't a top 10 pick fullstop as you say go best available.This is a midfielders draft we still got 3 quality picks to come and can grab a forward 2 so how about you let the draft play out.

Jvr was available to us at pick 17 he went at pick 19 so someone rated him. Hmm the bigger need a key forward or a skinny hbf.

At least we have Balta a young player who is proven, and 100% no guarantees about Biggie and Miller but at least they are two young defenders actually on the list. What young Key forwards are there. The simple answer is none. ffs theres only Jack at 33 and Tom at 29  and you dont think we should at least have a few younger kids on the list developing.

You can kid yourself about it but  key forward by some margin is the biggest single list deficiency we have.

Go look at the reserves list no genuine key forward to be seen!!! there is ruck/fwd Ryan and im already wondering if he is another in a long list of half ruck, half forward but not quite either.

[Andyy]

Exactly Claw.

If we had taken JVR I'd be much happier with the draft overall, unless one of our talls becomes a forward we are quite stuffed for KPFs unless we trade one in.

[one-eyed]

From today's Age:

Tom Brown, the son of former Cat Paul Brown, is an excellent kick with elite agility who is keen to use his dash from half-back.

“They have already got some strong defenders in (Nick) Vlastuin, (Noah) Balta and all those sort of blokes, I can’t wait to get in and learn from them and gell with the backs,” Brown said.

“I feel like my agility and (ability to) read the play (is my strength). I am not sure of any of the game plans of Richmond, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

Brown’s father played 84 matches between 1990-98 for the Cats, including the 1994-95 losing grand finals, but he did not reach the three figures needed for his son to qualify as a father-son.

Tom remembers the night in grade six when his father was king hit outside a shop in Shepparton in country Victoria in 2015, leaving him unconscious with a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain. The offender was jailed for six years.

Brown has recovered well and played a big role in Tom’s development, and that of his older sister Millie, who joined the Cats as a father-daughter (AFLW rules mean a father only needs to have played one senior match for the daughter to qualify).

“He is rapt, he is thrilled for me to stay in Victoria,” Brown said of his father.

The Cats did not have a first-round selection, their first pick was No.24 (Toby Conway) so Brown’s hopes of joining a club he had barracked for were limited.

“I had no expectations going into the draft, I am just so thankful that Richmond picked me up. At the end of the day, they are the bigger cat, the Tigers,” the Murray Bushrangers’ product said.

Brown’s year was hindered by a syndesmosis ankle injury but that is now in the past, as he and Gibcus look forward to what awaits as professional athletes.

“I wasn’t sure whether I could go late first or in the second round, so it’s just a relief to finally find out, and the wait is over,” Brown said.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/strong-defence-richmond-s-youth-movement-ready-for-senior-challenge-20211126-p59ce6.html

[Darth Tiger]

RFC yet to address the pure elite mid-fielder need, and havent really had the draft capital to trade into the top 3 or 4.

Acknowledging that Sonsie would appear to be the Cotchin replacement. is that elite or more role player ?

In recognising that, there could be some forward planning to develop Tom Brown into a Callum Mills type as a defensive mid capable of rotation through the midfield when his body develops. And alot of things would need to go right for that to occur.

The current best 25 has 10 months to win another flag, and then this current premiership window shuts.

The question then becomes when can the next opportunity arise.

[lamington]

I’m trying my best to remain optimistic. I think of teams which have dominated and with the exception of 1-2 players typically teams have a large number of hybrid midfielders. Either goal kicking mids or defensive mids not too dissimilar to the Frankenstein teams the AA committees put together. I think of a player like luke hodge or andrew McLeod who was more than capable of going into the guts to throw off opposition match ups.

I’m not saying brown can be that level but I understand the thought process. I’m going to trust that Bolton and RCD can be our full time extractors once our dusty/crotch/Riewoldt dynasty closes

[MintOnLamb]

RCD, and Jack Ross need to step up this year

[Andyy]

RCD, and Jack Ross need to step up this year

Ain't that the truth, or probably delist.

RCD if he doesn't run out games in the midfield I would move him forwards.

Ross I'd say to him to put on 5kg over summer and stay inside as extractor only.

[the claw]

In some ways Brown and Banks do address a list need to a small degree.

We only had  Vlastuin as a medium defender at 187cm at least Banks and Brown who both look like they play a bit different to Nick and are more running types at least are mediums at 186cm and 187cm respectively.

No complaints with either of these kids but i am in Andyy's camp and think another mid or kpf at 17 and then taking Banks later as we did.

We actually drafted the BEST KPD according to most and already the club are talking about turning him into a fwd go figure. if they wanted a fwd they should have bloody well drafted one and a highly rated one was there at 17.

Let me make it clear im not having a go at the kids we took. I  am questioning weather we took the right types with such a good opportunity to not only take highly rated kids but take highly regarded kids that addressed HIGHER LIST NEEDS.

In Tom Brown i hope we have a better version of Houli. someone who can win a bit of ball and for gods sake be much more able to defend an opponent.Whiule running the lines and using the ball well.

[Rampsation]

In terms of a key forward I think we have to look at free agency now. Theres not enough time to develop one imo.

[Diocletian]

Next year's draft is supposed some kind of super draft for talls.....and we'll probably trade out of it for Tom Green....