SSP Final rookie spot for the 2026 season

[PetterdHoisted]

Not perfectly or we wouldn't have taken Cumming first (I can't find his time besides 'under 3s' which is still elite).

But it is incredible how quick they are on average, pretty much all outliers on the test, and imo proves we overindexed on this specific metric.

I said during the year we'd need 6 Izak Rankines to rebalance our list so it wasn't slow, well our 6 choices were on average faster than Izak Rankine's 2.93 (which nabbed him 4th in the national combine). Actually every pick we know about was faster than Rankine, although my guess is Cumming was a tad slower.



Kras is arguably the weirdest of all because 20m sprint time isn't even something especially important for a ruck.

One way a recruiter could sense-check whether I'm right is, how close were to picking Robey? After all he was demonstrably the consensus pick among other recruiters and they were surprised we didn't take him. So surely we nearly took him? But if I'm right we wouldn't have rated Robey (he had a horrendous 20m time), he wouldn't even have been in contention, which is rumoured to be the case. (For the record I wanted Robey + Grlj)

The other interesting side-effect of us getting it wrong is that would mean our ratings would have been misaligned with everyone else's, so our recruitment team would have concluded a bunch of gems got through. That might explain why we acquired the Suns pick, why we have no space for Kellaway, why we have no room for the MSD now. Everyone agrees it's a very weak draft and yet we're hoovering up kids.

My guess is we genuinely intended on rookieing Kellaway, but we also expected the kids which we rated highly to get picked in the ND. When other clubs left a bunch of top 20m sprinters (it's not really a great metric for general speed much less overall football ability), the club decided they couldn't afford to go Kellaway because we rated Kras and Burton much more highly.

Note it doesn't even really matter, because it's a weak draft the expected-value from all our selections besides the first two picks is low anyway. If Robey goes onto to dominate there'll be questions raised. I'm more concerned about the implications re: the competence of our recruiters in general.

excellent post

Kellaway thing was weird

 

[Calcium Man]

Not perfectly or we wouldn't have taken Cumming first (I can't find his time besides 'under 3s' which is still elite).

But it is incredible how quick they are on average, pretty much all outliers on the test, and imo proves we overindexed on this specific metric.

I said during the year we'd need 6 Izak Rankines to rebalance our list so it wasn't slow, well our 6 choices were on average faster than Izak Rankine's 2.93 (which nabbed him 4th in the national combine). Actually every pick we know about was faster than Rankine, although my guess is Cumming was a tad slower.



Kras is arguably the weirdest of all because 20m sprint time isn't even something especially important for a ruck.

One way a recruiter could sense-check whether I'm right is, how close were to picking Robey? After all he was demonstrably the consensus pick among other recruiters and they were surprised we didn't take him. So surely we nearly took him? But if I'm right we wouldn't have rated Robey (he had a horrendous 20m time), he wouldn't even have been in contention, which is rumoured to be the case. (For the record I wanted Robey + Grlj)

The other interesting side-effect of us getting it wrong is that would mean our ratings would have been misaligned with everyone else's, so our recruitment team would have concluded a bunch of gems got through. That might explain why we acquired the Suns pick, why we have no space for Kellaway, why we have no room for the MSD now. Everyone agrees it's a very weak draft and yet we're hoovering up kids.

My guess is we genuinely intended on rookieing Kellaway, but we also expected the kids which we rated highly to get picked in the ND. When other clubs left a bunch of top 20m sprinters (it's not really a great metric for general speed much less overall football ability), the club decided they couldn't afford to go Kellaway because we rated Kras and Burton much more highly.

Note it doesn't even really matter, because it's a weak draft the expected-value from all our selections besides the first two picks is low anyway. If Robey goes onto to dominate there'll be questions raised. I'm more concerned about the implications re: the competence of our recruiters in general.

Whatever model we use has long had a heavier weighting for speed.

Draftees with basically sub 3 second 20m (banks and Balta were basically 3 flat) and make up 60% of our draft picks (including rookie and msd) since 2014.

Menadue
Drummond
Butler
Mckenzie
Short
Castagna
Rioli
Markov
Broad
Moore
Chol
Bolton
Balta (I think)
Miller
Baker
Ross
Turner
Aarts (I assume)
Pickett
Cumberland
Ralphsmith
Nyuon
MRioli
Parker
Brown
Banks
Clarke
Smith
Green
Campbell
Young
Coulthard
McAuliffe
Hotton
Sims
Alger
Cumming
Grlj
Peuker
NRT

And usually other draftees have exceptional other results otherwise like Gibcus vertical jump, Martyn and English super endurance, Armstrong agility etc..

 

[baazzaa]

Draftees with basically sub 3 second 20m (banks and Balta were basically 3 flat)

Ofc if our selections were merely under 3 seconds it wouldn't have been surprising at all. The 5 we know of are much faster than 3s.

And usually other draftees have exceptional other results otherwise like Gibcus vertical jump, Martyn and English super endurance, Armstrong agility etc..

I tend to agree we've focused too much on testing for a long time. IMO clubs like Geelong do better than us because they put more emphasis on footy IQ and leadership.

 

[Toadvine]

Ofc if our selections were merely under 3 seconds it wouldn't have been surprising at all. The 5 we know of are much faster than 3s.


I tend to agree we've focused too much on testing for a long time. IMO clubs like Geelong do better than us because they put more emphasis on footy IQ and leadership.

They just took Harley Barker and Hunter Holmes who are athletic freaks with their top two picks

 

[poppa pump]

Ofc if our selections were merely under 3 seconds it wouldn't have been surprising at all. The 5 we know of are much faster than 3s.


I tend to agree we've focused too much on testing for a long time. IMO clubs like Geelong do better than us because they put more emphasis on footy IQ and leadership.

I challenge geelong do better.
Pre 2012-2013 the Cats model was draft many juniors,then fill in a little which like us today netted them 3 flags and at times missing finals,
But since cats have changed to recruit most your team and draft some,they have won 1 flag in last 12 years while tigers have 3 flags.
Geelong is nothing like it was in building a team from their flags Years.

 

[fargothegreat]

Burton was at training today, so has not signed with Essendon.

 

[tigerfan1961]

I challenge geelong do better.
Pre 2012-2013 the Cats model was draft many juniors,then fill in a little which like us today netted them 3 flags and at times missing finals,
But since cats have changed to recruit most your team and draft some,they have won 1 flag in last 12 years while tigers have 3 flags.
Geelong is nothing like it was in building a team from their flags Years.

1 in 12? Try 1 in 14

 

[tiger_tough]

Training report - https://www.puntroadend.com/threads/pre-season-training-2026.59943/post-3290697

 

[_RT_]

Training report - https://www.puntroadend.com/threads/pre-season-training-2026.59943/post-3290697

The derailing of that thread prior to the latest Caesar report sheesh

 

[tiger_tough]

The derailing of that thread prior to the latest Caesar report sheesh

Tell me about it.

 

[tiger_tough]

Western Jets captain Tom Burton and Eastern Ranges tall utility Marcus Krasnadamskis will be back with [PLAYERCARD]Adem Yze[/PLAYERCARD]’s squad when the Tigers return in January. Hawthorn offered Krasnadamskis the chance as a train-on, but the basketball convert chose to trial with the Tigers.

 

[Grrr]

Who would you rather wait to get a gig behind, Nank at 32 or Meek at 26 at the peak of his game, which is pretty good.

 

[fargothegreat]

Who would you rather wait to get a gig behind, Nank at 32 or Meek at 26 at the peak of his game, which is pretty good.

Reeves and Ramsden also pretty handy reserve rucks. Special K made the right call.

 

[sante]

Reeves and Ramsden also pretty handy reserve rucks. Special K made the right call.

Not if we don’t pick him

 

[THE THIN MAN]

 

[LTT]

Not if we don’t pick him

Unless the club can find a way to insert some springs in Nank into make him competitive at the centre bounce or put muscle on Sampsons bones or accelerate OHB development then Kas is likely to be our N01 ruck next year. we would be nuts not to pick him. Doesn't mean we will of course.

 

[THE_GUN]

Who would you rather wait to get a gig behind, Nank at 32 or Meek at 26 at the peak of his game, which is pretty good.

The time line for Marcus is perfect at Richmond
Nank has 2 years left and only Samson Ryan to get past
2 years gives him enough time to build his frame and technique to compete
Meek has 6 years plus

 

[THE_GUN]

Reeves and Ramsden also pretty handy reserve rucks. Special K made the right call.

But will Richmond make the right call and select him over Burton

 

[Grrr]

Reeves and Ramsden also pretty handy reserve rucks. Special K made the right call.

Yes but K has to jump R & OHB..... be nice.

 

[Dr Tigris]

Well Sampson has been crushing the training so far, so maybe it's all a steep hill to climb for the K man

Maybe not, on the other hand.

You'd reckon that if he is that fast he can jump pretty high, or can be trained to.

 

[THE_GUN]

I am leaning towards special K over Burton so far from what i have read but things may change once the game simulations start in the new year.
List needs logic says K is the player we need and he has all the things you would want in a potential Ruckman going foward
Having Nank for another 2 years buys Richmond a bit of time for him to develop and 12 months for Richmond to see how he goes before we focus on a long term Ruckman that we most likely will need unless Samson explodes in 2026

Burton adds to the type we already have and unless he is a special type / talent could just be another small competing for a spot in the VFL team similar to Green / Smith

 

[Grrr]

Well Sampson has been crushing the training so far, so maybe it's all a steep hill to climb for the K man

Maybe not, on the other hand.

You'd reckon that if he is that fast he can jump pretty high, or can be trained to.

Sampson was flying last preseason as well.

 

[THE_GUN]

Sampson was flying last preseason as well.

Which airline ?

 

[Danog]

Which airline ?

Ansett

 

[sregit]

Which airline ?

Funny. That’s the only way he could get off the ground.