List assessment: Richmond
richmondfc.com.au
By Brian Royal
Tue 24 March, 2009
RICHMOND’S 2008 season was a vast improvement over the 2007 wooden spoon, with the Tigers finishing just half a game behind eighth-placed Collingwood.
But climbing through the bottom half of the ladder is much easier than getting into the top half, and Brian Royal, Richmond’s director of coaching, takes us through every player on the list that Tigers fans expect will take them to finals this year.
Senior listJoel Bowden
Joel’s role has probably changed a bit; he’ll play more forward, but we all know how flexible he is, so he could also play back or on the wing a bit.
Nathan Brown
Brownie’s coming off his first full pre-season since that horrific leg injury. He was probably our best player against Brisbane last week, so fingers crossed he can stay injury-free.
Andrew Collins
Andrew’s in his third year at the club, and is continually improving. The challenge ahead of Andrew is breaking into our midfield, which is pretty strong.
Daniel Connors
Daniel’s had a horror run of injuries over the pre-season – had an achilles problem, then over-trained himself. Once he got back on the track, he then broke a finger. A tough start to the season for him.
Trent Cotchin
He’s had a really injury-interrupted pre-season, but because we realise he’s going to be a very very good football player for this club for a long time, so we’re being very cautious and not rushing things.
Mark Coughlan
Mark’s pre-season has been outstanding, and was probably on track for round one until his cartilage problem. But what he showed before that was that he was probably going to get back to his best.
Ben Cousins
We know how hard he trains and how hard he pushes himself, so we’ve made sure we’ve managed him very carefully. He played 71 per cent ground time against Brisbane, so we’re very confident he’ll be playing round one.
Brett Deledio
Lids is coming off an outstanding season last year, winning the best-and-fairest. He’s had a dominant pre-season, and he’ll spend a fair bit more time in the midfield this year, maybe resting forward.
Shane Edwards
Shane’s played all the NAB series, and we’ve moved him down back as a smaller half-back because of the way he can use the ball. I’d suggest that’s where he’ll be starting the season.
Nathan Foley
Nathan is an outstanding young individual, and like Lids, has had an outstanding pre-season. He hurt his ankle against Brisbane, but with his outstanding professionalism, he’ll be right for round one, you’d expect.
Angus Graham
Angus has had an interrupted past couple of years, but he seems to have conquered that ankle problem. He’s certainly vying for that number two ruck spot for round one.
Tom Hislop
Tommy’s been a real surprise packet for us. When Essendon discarded him, we were pretty keen to get hold of him. He’s predominately played as a marking forward in our setup. He hasn’t set a foot wrong, and has shown a great attitude.
Cleve Hughes
Cleve was going along nicely but a little hotspot in his foot has cost him his spot for round one. He’d been playing in the senior forward setup and was going along nicely. He’s just got to believe in himself more.
Daniel Jackson
Jacko’s had a really strong pre-season because he’s a fitness freak. It’s taken him a while to get to totally understand the game, particularly in the midfield, but he’s starting to get his hands on the ball quite a bit.
Kane Johnson
A strained posterior cruciate ligament meant that at Kane’s age, we decided to give him a break and get it right. Doing it that way gives him the best chance to play his best level of football.
Jake King
Kingy’s had a strong pre-season – he always does everything well. But Jake needs to improve his skills and his decision-making – as a back pocket he’s tough and hard and wins his own footy, but at times he gives it back.
Luke McGuane
Luke had a great season in 2008, and carried that through the pre-season. You suspect Luke’s going to be a strong backline player for Richmond for some time.
Jordan McMahon
Jordie came back to pre-season with a few injury problems, but since Christmas he’s ticked all the boxes. He’s been a very consistent performer for us since then.
Kelvin Moore
Kel had a quiet pre-season after finishing last year with some injuries. His form over the pre-season has been fairly solid, and one of the strengths of our side this year will be our reliable backmen.
Mitch Morton
Mitch’s form over the pre-season has been as strong as anyone at the club. He gets down on himself quite easily, but you suspect he’s going to have a strong year.
Chris Newman
Newy’s been fantastic. He’s not intimidated by anyone. The maturity he’s shown over the last couple of years is probably the reason he’s now skipper of this footy club.
Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls
It’s probably a year where Jarrad needs to step up. His pre-season form – like last year – has been great on the training track, but he understands what he needs to do with his use of the footy and decision-making.
Adam Pattison
Patto missed seven or eight weeks with an ankle injury. With the depth in our ruck division, we decided to get him right rather than push through it.
Kayne Pettifer
Kane’s almost off the long-term injury list, and he’s going along really nicely. Kane knows exactly where he’s at, and he was probably very lucky to keep his position on the list last year, so it’s a really important year for Kane.
Graham Polak
We’ve been absolutely amazed at how well Graham’s come back. We have to be very careful with him because everyone’s hopeful of where he can get back to. It’s still a long way to go, but we’re very pleased with how he’s going.
Dean Polo
Dean’s performances over the pre-season have been very good. We’ve probably started to settle him down back, but he’s valuable because he can play midfield as well. He’s probably in our best 24.
Jayden Post
We’ve been really pleased with Jayden – he’s probably a bit ahead of where we thought he’d be. Played in our round one NAB Cup game against Freo and held up well. Can play forward or back.
Dean Putt
Putty’s still learning the game, but he’s got some great athletic qualities. It’s probably going to take three or four years to get him to where we expect him to be, because he’s a young 200cm ruckman.
Andrew Raines
Andrew’s back to the form that got him the runner-up in the best-and-fairest a couple of years ago. Andrew needs to improve his decision-making – he consistently wins the ball, but we have to keep it.
Alex Rance
Rancey’s had a good pre-season – an achilles cost him a few weeks before Christmas, but since then he hasn’t missed a beat. We’d be expecting that Alex could play some senior footy for us this year.
Matthew Richardson
What can you say about Matty? He’s had a fantastic pre-season, predominantly on the wing. I guess the challenge for Matty is whether his body will allow him to play at the standard he sets.
Jack Riewoldt
Jack’s put his hand up as one of our key forwards. I’d be disappointed if he didn’t play every game this year.
Jay Schulz
We’ve been really pleased with his pre-season – he’s played full-forward and centre half-forward and had a really strong presence, and he can play forward or back. The beauty with Jay is his use of the footy.
Troy Simmonds
Simmo really prides himself on his pre-seasons, and how fit and strong he can get. We’ve managed Troy really well, and I think he’s going to peak at the right time – round one.
Richard Tambling
We’ve gone more half-forward/midfield with him. His pre-season has been OK, without being outstanding. Richard knows exactly where he’s at, and the areas he needs to improve on.
Adam Thomson
Adam’s a strong inside midfielder. We’ve been really pleased with his pre-season, but he’ll have to bide his time because we’ve got a strong midfield.
Will Thursfield
Will’s just a consistent performer. Offensively you don’t get a lot out of him, but you know he’s going to do a job one-on-one, and that’s what he’s paid for, isn’t it?
Shane Tuck
Tucky’s Tucky. He’s as consistent player as you can get – his best game’s an eight out of 10, and his worst is a six out of 10, and it doesn’t get much better than that.
Tyrone Vickery
We’ve been really impressed with Vickers – in pre-season ruckwork, he’s been really competitive against Troy and Angus. He’s going to be a good player, but again, we have to make sure we don’t rush him.
Matt White
Matty’s super-quick, and he uses that pace well – at times he’s untouchable. He’s starting to play really consistent footy, and he’ll play through the midfield.
Rookie listAndrew Browne
We’ve been really really pleased with Browny’s progress over the pre-season. As a rookie ruckman, he’s been very very competitive, and we’ve got some decisions to make for round one.
Alroy Gilligan
We’ll just have to be patient with Alroy – he shows some really exciting traits, and he shows he can really play the game. Alroy’s challenge is to understand how to become a professional athlete.
David Gourdis
David was unfortunate to be dropped back to the rookie list, but we’re really impressed with his continual improvement. His explosive speed will be invaluable to us down the track.
Robin Nahas
He came to us with typical OP problems. A small forward who kicks goals and puts good defensive pressure on, which we really need. Unlikely to play round one, but I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t play AFL this year.
Jarrod Silvester
A bit like David Gourdis, unlucky to not be on the list. We’re really pleased with where he’s at, he was good against Fremantle in the NAB.
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