Rebuild that started in 2024 draft : What are our missing pieces after 2 drafts

[Danog]

Ruck and wingman who can kick accurately inside 50.

 

[Danog]

Pinch Dodson from St Kilda at the end of the year when he's out of contract. Behind TDK and Marshall.

Wonder if Blair is already putting in the work for this. If we take Burton over Special K, it may be in the works already.

 

[Calcium Man]

Pinch Dodson from St Kilda at the end of the year when he's out of contract. Behind TDK and Marshall.

Wonder if Blair is already putting in the work for this. If we take Burton over Special K, it may be in the works already.

Take Dodson even if we take special K.

 

[Keilor Tiger]

We need a ruckman, but do not draft one. Must trade for the right one.

There are virtually no quality rucks in the comp under 24/25 years old. To draft one at 18 means at least 5-7 years of development and then it’s still pot luck. Look at Ryan. He’s only just hit 25 after 5 years of development and people want him gone. We could draft the next Max Gawn

11

Max Gawn

Age

34

Ht

209cm

Wt

110kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.1

4star

K

7.4

3star

HB

6.7

4star

CL

2.8

4star

HO

35.3

5star

D

18.5

4star

K

11.5

4star

HB

7.0

4star

CL

3.5

4star

HO

29.2

5star

D

8.4

3star

K

3.6

2star

HB

4.8

4star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

15.6

5star

and if he’s not ready at 22, he’ll be thrown under the bus.

Best to let someone else do the development and we pinch him at the right time just like we did with Nank (and Port with Sweet, Swans & Grundy, Lions & Draper etc)

 

[Dr Tigris]

I suppose we spent pick 17 on Higgins, 12 on Hotton and 15 on D Rioli, so the club has shown it will spend a rd 1 pick on this type of player. Interesting where they see Hotton playing ultimately but it would not shock me if he spends significant amounts of time deep forward. I don't think any club has been more successful in recruiting dangerous small forwards with later picks over the last 11 years though...

2014 pick 67 Butler, rookie Castagna

2016 pick 29 Bolton, rookie Stengle

2017 rookie Baker

2020 pick 51 Maurice Rioli

2021 pick 30 Jud Clarke

2022 rookie Campbell, pick 55 Green

2024 pick 58 Alger

2025 pick 31 Peucker

That is on top of the 3 rd 1 picks 12 Hotton, 15 D Rioli, and 17 Higgins.

They are not all Charlie Cameron level, and some found other roles, but we seem to be able to produce viable small forwards almost at will.

There probably haven't been too many total misses, with maybe rookie pick Aarts, pick 43 Cumberland, and MSD picks Parker and Coulthard the only ones fitting that description of the last 18 players likely to have been recruited as small forwards.

I think if a dynamite midget forward was the best available at any pick then Richmond would take him. But I think we have a deceptively strong small forward contingent already on the list. Why it hasn't seemed that way is players like Rioli, Green, Campbell, Clarke, Hotton, Alger have either been very young, and/or injured and playing in totally malfunctioning forward lines with very little in the way of viable key forwards for the last 3 years.

Another thing the club seems to do is identify small forwards with very late birthdays like Clarke(Oct) and especially Campbell and Alger and now Peucker(all Dec) who might have more upside than an average draft pick at the time of drafting.

By the end of 2026, we could easily be carrying an embarrassment of riches in our small forward contingent, especially noting as well that both Lalor and Cumming seem to be very talented forwards amongst our midfield prospects.

We've mostly drafted for defensive small forwards. Had a high hit rate. But it'd be nice to have some more scoring power there. Although saying that a few year ago it was Dusty filling that hole, and he did the best job you could get. And now Lalor looks damn good as well. Cumming on junior form - we'll see.

Personally I reckon we have enough good small forward - i.e. AFL quality. But we don't have any that look like being really dangerous. As yet anyway.

if an elite small forward was t our pick in 2026 then yeah, grab him. Otherwise we can get by with what we have.

 

[THE_GUN]

As a barge pole to keep TheGun at a safe distance

Whats your address ?

 

[Rich01]

I suppose we spent pick 17 on Higgins, 12 on Hotton and 15 on D Rioli, so the club has shown it will spend a rd 1 pick on this type of player. Interesting where they see Hotton playing ultimately but it would not shock me if he spends significant amounts of time deep forward. I don't think any club has been more successful in recruiting dangerous small forwards with later picks over the last 11 years though...

2014 pick 67 Butler, rookie Castagna

2016 pick 29 Bolton, rookie Stengle

2017 rookie Baker

2020 pick 51 Maurice Rioli

2021 pick 30 Jud Clarke

2022 rookie Campbell, pick 55 Green

2024 pick 58 Alger

2025 pick 31 Peucker

That is on top of the 3 rd 1 picks 12 Hotton, 15 D Rioli, and 17 Higgins.

They are not all Charlie Cameron level, and some found other roles, but we seem to be able to produce viable small forwards almost at will.

There probably haven't been too many total misses, with maybe rookie pick Aarts, pick 43 Cumberland, and MSD picks Parker and Coulthard the only ones fitting that description of the last 18 players likely to have been recruited as small forwards.

I think if a dynamite midget forward was the best available at any pick then Richmond would take him. But I think we have a deceptively strong small forward contingent already on the list. Why it hasn't seemed that way is players like Rioli, Green, Campbell, Clarke, Hotton, Alger have either been very young, and/or injured and playing in totally malfunctioning forward lines with very little in the way of viable key forwards for the last 3 years.

Another thing the club seems to do is identify small forwards with very late birthdays like Clarke(Oct) and especially Campbell and Alger and now Peucker(all Dec) who might have more upside than an average draft pick at the time of drafting.

By the end of 2026, we could easily be carrying an embarrassment of riches in our small forward contingent, especially noting as well that both Lalor and Cumming seem to be very talented forwards amongst our midfield prospects.

I haven’t seen enough of Peuker to make comment on his small forward goal kicking craft. Alger looks promising, but I wonder where he ends up. In his junior year he didn’t need much of it to kick goals. More of a small leading forward type. Clarke I was hoping to become our Lambert role player but let’s just hope he can return from his latest injury. Steely I’m not optimistic on. And I love Riolis pressure but he doesn’t kick enough goals.

Guys like Seth and Taj are the ones, but I’d love them to be more Shane Edwards type players through the middle as that’s where I think they can be most damaging. How good would one more of these types be if we could alternate three of them forward and up the ground? We just need on other on our list to work out.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

We've mostly drafted for defensive small forwards. Had a high hit rate. But it'd be nice to have some more scoring power there. Although saying that a few year ago it was Dusty filling that hole, and he did the best job you could get. And now Lalor looks damn good as well. Cumming on junior form - we'll see.

Personally I reckon we have enough good small forward - i.e. AFL quality. But we don't have any that look like being really dangerous. As yet anyway.

if an elite small forward was t our pick in 2026 then yeah, grab him. Otherwise we can get by with what we have.

I think reserve judgement on our small forwards until we can see them hopefully operating with a decent structure around them this year. We might have a couple of surprise packets I think.

 

[THE_GUN]

List of players that would be considered small forwards or will play in that position
Campbell
Alger
Green
Rioli
Mansell
Peucker
NRT
Hotton

I think we have enough

 

[Meteoric Rise]

List of players that would be considered small forwards or will play in that position
Campbell
Alger
Green
Rioli
Mansell
Peucker
NRT
Hotton

I think we have enough

I think we recruit these guys like Bolton, Dan Rioli and Hotton, and because we deploy them in other roles some or most of the time people forget how dynamite they are as goal sneak close to home small forwards. Richmond has profited immensely in the fairly recent past from keeping the opposition guessing about who will be lining up near goals after each stoppage or in different phases of play, rather than have say a designated goal kicking small forward like Charlie Cameron. Who Richmond used to just say meet your chaperone for the day Charlie, his name is Dylan Grimes. Good luck.

 

[THE_GUN]

I think we recruit these guys like Bolton, Dan Rioli and Hotton, and because we deploy them in other roles some or most of the time people forget how dynamite they are as goal sneak close to home small forwards. Richmond has profited immensely in the fairly recent past from keeping the opposition guessing about who will be lining up near goals after each stoppage or in different phases of play, rather than have say a designated goal kicking small forward like Charlie Cameron. Who Richmond used to just say meet your chaperone for the day Charlie, his name is Dylan Grimes. Good luck.

We will have a very different dynamic of 'small foward' going foward with the current list with players like
Alger , Campbell , Cumming , lalor , Hotton which will all get roles further up the ground and rotate through the foward line
even players like Smillie & Taranto will drift through there so we run out of positions for the traditional small foward

The AFL is heading more in the direction of multi positional players

 

["The Roar Is Back"]

people quickly forget the recent 3 premiership stint coincided with the emergency of Castagna .

Answer to what is needed is quite simple .



…


…

..

We need a shit tattooist who kicks alot of points .

 

[sabso]

people quickly forget the recent 3 premiership stint coincided with the emergency of Castagna .

Answer to what is needed is quite simple .



…


…

..

We need a shit tattooist who kicks alot of points .

Campbell gray says hi

 

[Simche]

The obvious answer is a genuine elite quality small forward. I see Campbell long term being better in a Kane Lambert

23

Kane Lambert

Age

34

Ht

178cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.7

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

3.5

5star

G

0.6

4star

D

17.3

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

9.6

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

3.1

4star

G

0.5

4star

D

10.6

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

4.6

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.2

3star

type role. Rioli's best football thus far has been playing further up the field and even into the middle, and Mansell I don't think is a long term piece and doesn't project as elite.

Ruck there's quite a few quality ones coming up in the next draft apparently, but I think people in general overrate the position. Outside of Gawn and Cox (Dean not yankee), most premiership ruckmen have been either pulled out of the second hand bin or genuine B graders and I think that's the model to follow. Plenty of blokes that could be the next Darcy Cameron

14

Darcy Cameron

Age

30

Ht

204cm

Wt

103kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

6.0

1star

K

3.3

1star

HB

2.7

2star

CL

0.3

2star

HO

5.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

3.0

2star

CL

0.5

3star

HO

3.5

5star

D

6.0

2star

K

3.3

2star

HB

2.7

3star

CL

0.3

2star

HO

5.3

5star

or Toby Nankervis

25

Toby Nankervis

Age

31

Ht

199cm

Wt

102kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.2

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

7.0

4star

CL

2.9

4star

HO

21.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

5.7

2star

HB

6.3

4star

CL

3.0

4star

HO

17.0

5star

D

7.8

2star

K

3.4

2star

HB

4.4

4star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

8.4

5star

sitting on other lists as I don't think Samson has the makings of an AFL level ruck and I've not seen enough of OHB to really form a definitive opinion.

I honestly think we continue to go down the path of drafting the best available mids and defensive interceptors now to really build the quality of the engine room and power behind the footy as I've got faith in our young tall forwards and think that key backs can be found late in the draft and flankers can be made out of resting mids or blokes that don't quite make it right in the middle of the guts. Broad and Vlastuin are going to be massive outs and while we've got Gibcus, Trainor, Banks, I think there's now a genuine need to start to think about more depth in that role.

 

[Football Tragic]

I'm actually not concerned about drafting players to fit any position. I'm confident that we will trade for a mature aged ruckman in a couple of years, so atm, we're just treading water with the ruckmen we have. Sims and Ryan (if a miracle occurs) may surprize us all and become the ruckman we desperately need but our plan will be to trade for one at this stage.

In terms of our midfield and small forwards, I just think we'll continue to add quality depth through the draft.

I actually think our list is in a desirable position atm

 

[Meteoric Rise]

The obvious answer is a genuine elite quality small forward. I see Campbell long term being better in a Kane Lambert type role. Rioli's best football thus far has been playing further up the field and even into the middle, and Mansell I don't think is a long term piece and doesn't project as elite.

Ruck there's quite a few quality ones coming up in the next draft apparently, but I think people in general overrate the position. Outside of Gawn and Cox (Dean not yankee), most premiership ruckmen have been either pulled out of the second hand bin or genuine B graders and I think that's the model to follow. Plenty of blokes that could be the next Darcy Cameron or Toby Nankervis sitting on other lists as I don't think Samson has the makings of an AFL level ruck and I've not seen enough of OHB to really form a definitive opinion.

I honestly think we continue to go down the path of drafting the best available mids and defensive interceptors now to really build the quality of the engine room and power behind the footy as I've got faith in our young tall forwards and think that key backs can be found late in the draft and flankers can be made out of resting mids or blokes that don't quite make it right in the middle of the guts. Broad and Vlastuin are going to be massive outs and while we've got Gibcus, Trainor, Banks, I think there's now a genuine need to start to think about more depth in that role.

I have been thinking a bit further on this overnight from others mentioning this need for an elite small forward during the last few days.

Do we really think we are carrying 4 pretty decent speculative types in Rioli, Green, Mansell, Campbell already, and then spend:

pick 1 on Lalor

pick 12 on Hotton

pick 58 on Alger

pick 7 on Cumming

pick 31 on Peucker

who are all shaping as prospects who can play forward, some of them expected to be elite, and then still wanting to spend a big pick on an elite small forward? That seems nuts to me, the future forward line is already recruited, unless something goes horribly wrong. The eldest of any of those guys above is 25 right now and the rest are 23 or younger, mostly 18 or 19. We surely intend to give these guys a chance to develop without adding more. Remembering Judson Clarke is also still on the list and has played just about exclusively small forward as well.

Lalor and Hotton look like being elite players, and for now at least, they will be playing the majority of their footy forward. Campbell is right up there just based on what he has shown up to the age of 20. You probably get 2 more into the 2026 team at the most. Those are likely to be pressure players Mansell and Rioli. If this remains a need for us then we haven't recruited right.

 

[Dr Tigris]

I have been thinking a bit further on this overnight from others mentioning this need for an elite small forward during the last few days.

Do we really think we are carrying 4 pretty decent speculative types in Rioli, Green, Mansell, Campbell already, and then spend:

pick 1 on Lalor

pick 12 on Hotton

pick 58 on Alger

pick 7 on Cumming

pick 31 on Peucker

who are all shaping as prospects who can play forward, some of them expected to be elite, and then still wanting to spend a big pick on an elite small forward? That seems nuts to me, the future forward line is already recruited, unless something goes horribly wrong. The eldest of any of those guys above is 25 right now and the rest are 23 or younger, mostly 18 or 19. We surely intend to give these guys a chance to develop without adding more. Remembering Judson Clarke is also still on the list and has played just about exclusively small forward as well.

Lalor and Hotton look like being elite players, and for now at least, they will be playing the majority of their footy forward. Campbell is right up there just based on what he has shown up to the age of 20. You probably get 2 more into the 2026 team at the most. Those are likely to be pressure players Mansell and Rioli. If this remains a need for us then we haven't recruited right.

Nice summary. I think people want a super elite small forward. Which is OK. But we have enough fire power, potentially, that we should be looking for other talent. My real issue is that the position we don't have, ruck, is also one where where I don't want to spend a top pick.

Getting another mid won't hurt. But beware the GWS thing of having too many good mids so that it causes balance problems in the team.

 

[THE_GUN]

Our foward line is set and we have more than enough options to kick goals there is we can develop them properly
Peucker will be good and thinking Papley is his top end style wise
Rioli in a good team will be pressure tackling and speed
Cumming & Lalor rotating through and Hotton driving oppo coaches crazy like Shai did

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Nice summary. I think people want a super elite small forward. Which is OK. But we have enough fire power, potentially, that we should be looking for other talent. My real issue is that the position we don't have, ruck, is also one where where I don't want to spend a top pick.

Getting another mid won't hurt. But beware the GWS thing of having too many good mids so that it causes balance problems in the team.

Yes I think you are spot on here Dr T. We can split picks to aid our trading. But with those top picks take midfielders or uniquely talented players like Mac Andrew or Luke Jackson. With the mids, clubs like Collingwood will be desperate in a couple of years for mids who have been in the system for 2-4 years, they will give us big picks for a spare quality mid if we have one.

Shocking to think you could despise one of your own players enough to trade them to the Pies, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Dr Tigris]

Yes I think you are spot on here Dr T. We can split picks to aid our trading. But with those top picks take midfielders or uniquely talented players like Mac Andrew or Luke Jackson. With the mids, clubs like Collingwood will be desperate in a couple of years for mids who have been in the system for 2-4 years, they will give us big picks for a spare quality mid if we have one.

Shocking to think you could despise one of your own players enough to trade them to the Pies, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

At some point enough is enough MR.

Dealing with the Pies. Sick taste in my mouth.

But then if we can do 2024 trade on them ... OK - 2 firsts for Ross.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

At some point enough is enough MR.

Dealing with the Pies. Sick taste in my mouth.

But then if we can do 2024 trade on them ... OK - 2 firsts for Ross.

F1's from Pies, yes please.

Last 5 drafts alone they have traded away pick 3 2021(Callaghan) and pick 14 2024(Faull.)

In return they have got absolute spuds like Caleb "retiring to pursue other interests" Poulter, and Reef McInnes. And that certified superstar Lachie Schultz. No wonder the umps & tribunal had to police escort them through finals to narrowly win their only Grand Final victory for the last 34 years. Clownshow of a FC.

 

[THE_GUN]

At some point enough is enough MR.

Dealing with the Pies. Sick taste in my mouth.

But then if we can do 2024 trade on them ... OK - 2 firsts for Ross.

What you trading Ross ?

Nank gives up the Captaincy
Taranto - Captain
Ross - Vice Captain

 

[Simche]

I have been thinking a bit further on this overnight from others mentioning this need for an elite small forward during the last few days.

Do we really think we are carrying 4 pretty decent speculative types in Rioli, Green, Mansell, Campbell already, and then spend:

pick 1 on Lalor

pick 12 on Hotton

pick 58 on Alger

pick 7 on Cumming

pick 31 on Peucker

who are all shaping as prospects who can play forward, some of them expected to be elite, and then still wanting to spend a big pick on an elite small forward? That seems nuts to me, the future forward line is already recruited, unless something goes horribly wrong. The eldest of any of those guys above is 25 right now and the rest are 23 or younger, mostly 18 or 19. We surely intend to give these guys a chance to develop without adding more. Remembering Judson Clarke is also still on the list and has played just about exclusively small forward as well.

Lalor and Hotton look like being elite players, and for now at least, they will be playing the majority of their footy forward. Campbell is right up there just based on what he has shown up to the age of 20. You probably get 2 more into the 2026 team at the most. Those are likely to be pressure players Mansell and Rioli. If this remains a need for us then we haven't recruited right.

I don't mind Hotton, Lalor or Cumming resting as a forward but if they're spending more than 35% game time there in future I'm not sure that'll bode well given they're largely being drafted as elite midfielders.

Outside the talls there's arguably 4 roles up for grabs. If Campbell has that high half forward role that rolls up to the contests down then arguably 3. That leaves room in my view for 1 resting midfielder, 1 medium sized marking target who is good at ground level and 1 small elite pressure forward.

I've been pretty clear that I'm not sold on Mansell long term and think he can be upgraded. Rioli, in my view, is better when he's involved in the play and has shown more when he's taken time up the ground or in that Campbell type role. I'm hoping Alger perhaps becomes that medium target, but who knows at this stage and Peucker hasn't played a game.

I think given the real emphasis on forward half pressure, and the fact it is genuinely one of our real issues at the moment, it makes sense why people want more depth.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

I don't mind Hotton, Lalor or Cumming resting as a forward but if they're spending more than 35% game time there in future I'm not sure that'll bode well given they're largely being drafted as elite midfielders.

Outside the talls there's arguably 4 roles up for grabs. If Campbell has that high half forward role that rolls up to the contests down then arguably 3. That leaves room in my view for 1 resting midfielder, 1 medium sized marking target who is good at ground level and 1 small elite pressure forward.

I've been pretty clear that I'm not sold on Mansell long term and think he can be upgraded. Rioli, in my view, is better when he's involved in the play and has shown more when he's taken time up the ground or in that Campbell type role. I'm hoping Alger perhaps becomes that medium target, but who knows at this stage and Peucker hasn't played a game.

I think given the real emphasis on forward half pressure, and the fact it is genuinely one of our real issues at the moment, it makes sense why people want more depth.

I agree on 4 spots to fill on the forward line outside the talls. So that I know I am not making this up to suit my argument, let me list all the small/medium players who are listed as forwards or mid/forwards on footywire. And this time I will also do it by age.


26yo+ Nobody

25 Mansell, Ross(mid-for)

23 Sonsie(mid-for), Rioli
22 Clarke, Green
21 Campbell

19 Hotton(mid-for), Lalor(mid-for), Alger
18 Peucker

That is 11 players into 4 positions. None are older than 25, and only 2 are older than 23 yrs 5 months.

Campbell is a small forward and a really good one. One of Lalor/Hotton/Cumming is going to be forward when they play for the foreseeable future, possibly forever. They are high calibre forwards, certainly Lalor and Hotton are. We have every type of small/medium forward you could imagine listed there. Surely we need to let some of those 11 fail before thinking of replacing them? We haven't even listed Taranto or Cumming among the 11 there. They have displayed forward capability.

Sure, say we have pick 6 in the 2026 draft and the best available player is a dynamite small forward, we take him. But the same would go for any other position on the ground. We are definitely not short on small/medium forwards or mid-forwards. The four youngest above just need to be given time to find their feet and work out their roles at AFL level. They have played about 20 games between them.

 

[Simche]

I agree on 4 spots to fill on th forward line outside the talls. So that I know I am not making this up to suit my argument, let me list all the small/medium players who are listed as forwards or mid/forwards on footywire. And this time I will also do it by age.


26yo+ Nobody

25 Mansell, Ross(mid-for)

23 Sonsie(mid-for), Rioli
22 Clarke, Green
21 Campbell

19 Hotton(mid-for), Lalor(mid-for), Alger
18 Peucker

That is 11 players into 4 positions. None are older than 25, and only 2 are older than 23 yrs 5 months.

Campbell is a small forward and a really good one. One of Lalor/Hotton/Cumming is going to be forward when they play for the foreseeable future, possibly forever. They are high calibre forwards, certainly Lalor and Hotton are. We have every type of small/medium forward you could imagine listed there. Surely we need to let some of those 11 fail before thinking of replacing them? We haven't even listed Taranto or Cumming among the 11 there. They have displayed forward capability.

Sure, say we have pick 6 in the 2026 draft and the best available player is a dynamite small forward, we take him. But the same would go for any other position on the ground. We are definitely not short on small/medium forwards or mid-forwards. The four youngest above just need to be given time to find their feet and work out their roles at AFL level. They have played about 20 games between them.

I agree with you that if we've got pick 6 we go best available whether that's tall, small or anywhere in between. We don't have such a depth of talent yet that we can't afford to try and maximise our selections at the pointy end. I personally think you go with best available tall if they're elite and if not best elite mid. There's far more success in making a junior elite mid a flanker than there is vice versa or trying to do something with a failed tall.

That being said you asked what the missing pieces are in terms of the thread and while I agree the young ones need to be given a chance nothing I've seen at current dissuades me from thinking that we wouldn't be a better team with a Nick Watson or Coby Weightman type in the side.