Are Richmond finally capable of winning a flag?

TigerTime3

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Aug 19, 2014
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Since 2010, we've become one of those professionally run clubs that consistency produces young talent while improving year on year.

We have a history of going from nowhere to being premiership contenders for a decade plus (1943-1967, then 1967-1980).

I understand our great club has many challenges and a lot of hard work to do. It will be tough. However, I believe we have the people in place to take us to be the best in the AFL. Yes, it'll take a lot of work. Rome isn't built in a day. Hawthorn look awesome right now. But we have a great off-field team setting our club up for on-field success.

Do you think we're capable of being the best team in the AFL within the next 2-3 years?
 
Sep 4, 2007
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I don't think we have the right list at the moment. But FA can help you address that. Probably two or three short ie to get to the same level as Hawthorn or Swans. Natural development will help but there is still a lot of hope in that statement. Must finish top 6 this year and win a final to become a genuine threat.


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Jan 2, 2013
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An interesting discussion point. I don't actually think that Hawthorn consider themselves to be the best, they just work overtime to be the best they can be and hopefully things click at the right end of the season. They also have the best coach. Richmond need to be the same and just keep getting better and better. Can we be the best... well yes if we recruit, develop, plan and draft brilliantly and get everything off field lining up also... but there's a lot of IF'S there... injuries and good fortune have to fall your way also... Consider what would happen if Hawthorn got their injuries late in the 2014 season (including the coach being ill) would they have won the flag?

Richmond are notorious for getting ahead of themselves and this has been a strong weakness for a long time. It was once a strength but that's when the club could just go and find players seemingly at will and just pay them good coin to play for the club. Then the off field team let their ego's allow the club to get raped by Collingwood.

What's great now is that the club is building for sustained success and the window shouldn't be too far away from opening up. We're making more right moves than wrong moves now and it is conceivable to say that we could be the top club in 2-3 years however there are several other clubs that can say the same thing.
 

Barry_Badrinath

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I don't think we have the right list at the moment. But FA can help you address that. Probably two or three short ie to get to the same level as Hawthorn or Swans. Natural development will help but there is still a lot of hope in that statement. Must finish top 6 this year and win a final to become a genuine threat.


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Obviously not, but how many premiership sides had their list in place 2-3 years early? Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood all added key players in the off-season before their first premierships.

We will obviously need to keep adding depth but I feel that the main pieces of the puzzle are in place. Some more development from within and a poaching or two and we'll be a contender.
 
Sep 4, 2007
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Agreed, I think our depth is now a lot better and there is genuine competition for spots. Geez, what must have Deledio thought when he first got to the club in 2004/05 - he must have walked in the door and thought he was already the best player there!


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TheTigerArmy

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Agreed, I think our depth is now a lot better and there is genuine competition for spots. Geez, what must have Deledio thought when he first got to the club in 2004/05 - he must have walked in the door and thought he was already the best player there!


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And the scary thing is he mite have been right..:eek::eek::oops::straining::drunk:
 
If everything goes right, yes. We have players who, potentially can fill all the necessary slots required.

If everything doesn't go right (probably more likely), then at the end of the year we hit FA to fill the gaps and/or make a few upgrades.
 
Nov 26, 2007
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We have one of the youngest lists in the league still, in terms of the age of our best 22 players.

It's been widely accepted that players start hitting their peak around 25/26, and usually that lasts until about 29 or 30. There are even some players who improve when they're in their late 20's.

Here's a quick breakdown of the age of the majority of our players.

-----------------------
28 years old +

Newman (32)
Foley (29)
Maric (29)
Chaplin (29)
Knights (28)

-----------------------
24-27 years old:

Deledio (27)
Houli (26)
Edwards (26)
Riewoldt (26)
Morris (26)
Rance (25)
Cotchin (25)
Vickery (24)
Hunt (24)
Lloyd (24)
Gordon (24)

------------------------

18-23 years old:

Grimes (23)
Dea (23)
Lambert (23)
Martin (23)
Griffiths (23)
Miles (23)
Batchelor (23)
Conca (22)
Ellis (21)
Vlastuin (21)
McIntosh (21)
McDonough (21)
Elton (21)
McBean (20)
Lennon (19)
McKenzie (18)
C. Ellis (18)

Now that top tier is still quite young, in comparison to say a Geelong or North, who have 6 or 7 guys that are over 30 years old, we only have 1 guy over 30, and he's certainly in his last year, and not an automatic best 22 selection. But we won't have many even in 2 or 3 years time.

As for that 2nd tier age group, it shows that we are actually well on track to building some serious sustainable depth here. The majority of our best 22 are in that 2nd tier age group, so in 3 years time, the majority of these players will just be starting to hit peak in terms of age, and they would have spent that 3 years at AFL level.

Which brings me to the final tier.

Whilst we still have a few guys in that little group that haven't played yet, we've already seen the impact that a kid such as McIntosh can have, given a few years to develop and not being rushed straight in, so that I think is a big tick for our development team, and justifies the pick-ups of guys like Petterd and Grigg, who have shouldered the load whilst we've let a kid such as McIntosh develop.

Plus we know on exposed form that Ellis and Vlastuin have grown into some very good quality players already, however they were forced to from word go, which is a sign of their character. However, I do still prefer letting kids develop.

I don't really wanna see guys like Corey Ellis and Reece McKenzie being given games based on potential, I wanna see them spend a few years in the lower levels, developing their game, and then come into seniors and make an impact, like McIntosh did.

Imagine if we had 1 or 2 "McIntosh" stories every year? Wouldn't be long before our development would started to get rated by the industry.

Our future is looking good, and the great thing is, guys like Petterd, Grigg, and whoever else that have filled the gaps, and have held spots in our team whilst this list has developed, are going to find it harder and harder to stay in the team.
 
Jun 18, 2007
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Dr Awkward

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I'm a bit worried about our list. It's decent, but I'm not sure if the players are good enough to go to the top. There are a lot of ordinary players still in our best 22. When I say ordinary, I don't mean bad, I mean average players. We would still have to add a fair bit of quality in order to challenge imo.

It's tough, when you look around the comp there are a lot of decent lists that are comparable to ours. But in the least I think the list is pretty primed to be in the finals mix for the next 3-5 years.
 

no orange peeler

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Please not this year as i will be in Berlin for the prelim and Rome for the GF.
But in all seriousness i believe we are a serious chance in 2016-18. Ages will be ripe. Some astute recruiting/trading could see it happening quicker then expected. It will also coincide with the decline due to list age of sydney hawthorn freo and #lolnorf
 

Nallad

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Three guns + some good natural development away from it in my opinion. 3 years away from challenging.
 
Building nicely but I think we are still a class mid short and we need the players we recruited last year to come into the side to give us more run. A couple of years off but we have a very competitive team now. I can now go into every game thinking we can win if we play well and a few things go our way.
 

gaelictiogar

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The bookmakers have us at about 21.00 for the flag and that is probably about right. An outside chance not impossible but highly unlikely. The like of Sydney are almost certainly stronger and Hawthorn may get another year out of it before decline sets in.

I think we will be top 8 and probably will be top 6 and I suspect we may well be genuine top 4 material come 2017 or even next year if things fall right. When a team is a genuine top 4 side it can win a flag.
 

thetradesman

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Nope, We aren't ready to challenge the hawks, swans, Cats yet.

Too many players that crumble under the pressure of finals footy or just make stupid mistakes still.

We should win a final though.
 

SpudsLoveChild

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May 17, 2014
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This year...no
Buy a few recruits, retain the talent - yes, I am looking at you Alex Rance. Sign already - and continue to develop and we're in with a chance.
 
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