Player Watch #45 Thomas Burton

[tigerdan]

I wanted him when I saw he averaged 30 possies a game. Obviously had the same "problem" as Lambert, just a bit small at AFL level.

Then he turned up at 630am for his first training session and had to wait for the groundsman to arrive and unlock the front gate.

Just like Lambert, surround him with a few bigger onballers and every other club will be crying that they didn't pick him when they had the chance.

 

[Grrr]

Doesn't look to have any outstanding attributes other than he can read the play, which is not a bad attribute. And is pretty small, so could be a sow burn. But seems to have a really good attitude, wants it bad.

 

[tiger_tough]

Doesn't look to have any outstanding attributes other than he can read the play, which is not a bad attribute. And is pretty small, so could be a sow burn. But seems to have a really good attitude, wants it bad.

speed?

 

[The Vaucluse]

If he’s good by foot, can find the footy, quick across the turf and is mentally tough then he ticks the key boxes.

 

[NZ_Tiger]

If he’s good by foot, can find the footy, quick across the turf and is mentally tough then he ticks the key boxes.

He’s not good by foot.

But there’s a lot to be said for someone who can run to the right spaces to be an option. Quantity can be its own quality.

 

[Grrr]

speed?

Yes nippy, 2.92 is quick off the mark, but top end speed seems normal. I might be wrong but watching his highlights and his game last weekend, you don't really notice he's a speedster. But nippy is good.

 

[Grrr]

He’s not good by foot.

But there’s a lot to be said for someone who can run to the right spaces to be an option. Quantity can be its own quality.

He looks neat by foot, but short distance kicking mainly. But Jagga Smith is not great by foot either. In fact he has quite a few of Smith's traits.

 

[Barnzy]

Liam Baker mk2

Way more accomplished ball winner as a junior. Just racks it up. Also more burst.

I'd put him closer to the Priestia archetype.

 

[Grrr]

Way more accomplished ball winner as a junior. Just racks it up. Also more burst.

I'd put him closer to the Priestia archetype.

More Polpettine than Polpette.

 

[Tiger1974]

So we trialled 2 rucks no good? While season starting and our 2 back ups are injured? Hope this guy is worth it.

U don't pickup a raw ruckman to play straight away (i.e replace the injured). Both ruckman reportedly way off AfL senior footy and would b long term options.

 

[Muddiemoose]

U don't pickup a raw ruckman to play straight away (i.e replace the injured). Both ruckman reportedly way off AfL senior footy and would b long term options.

Yup
Either of the two rucks we looked at wouldn’t be just as useful as a backup ruck as Burton right now

Glad we had a look and went with the best available

 

[wegetpumped]

U don't pickup a raw ruckman to play straight away (i.e replace the injured). Both ruckman reportedly way off AfL senior footy and would b long term options.

And what was ryan? or the two basketballers?

 

[THE THIN MAN]

you could tell the direction in the afl became dont bother trying to mark it just be a backboard and deflect it to our smalls. he was literally just standing there with arms straight up most of the time.

 

[Madtiger2006]

I feel an early debut for him

 

[The Mighty]

I feel an early debut for him

Next Week Farken .....................

 

[Madtiger2006]

Next Week Farken .....................

Why not

 

[Yze does it]

Why not

ahead of who?

Smith & Retsko?

 

[Cactus_]

How good.

Burton becomes a Tiger

Watch the moment Senior Coach Adem Yze gives Tom Burton the news that he is a Richmond player.

www.richmondfc.com.au

everyone talking about how short he is but he looks like he’s a couple of inches taller than Yze

 

[THE_GUN]

everyone talking about how short he is but he looks like he’s a couple of inches taller than Yze

That is strange
Yze is/was 187cm and burton 178cm same size as Jayden Short

 

[Jozzy]

The video was taken in the theatre/lecture styled room so Burton would have been standing up on a stair/ramp during that clip.

 

[RJK Tiger]

U don't pickup a raw ruckman to play straight away (i.e replace the injured). Both ruckman reportedly way off AfL senior footy and would b long term options.

Correct. The time to look at that issue was the off-season. And he didn't look at addressing it, at all.

 

[THE_GUN]

Correct. The time to look at that issue was the off-season. And he didn't look at addressing it, at all.

Ok now who was available that you could have brought into the club
name the Ruckman thats was available we didnt take

 

[RJK Tiger]

Ok now who was available that you could have brought into the club
name the Ruckman thats was available we didnt take

Is that what happened? The club were waiting for me to let them know who to target?

If you need a ruckman, you gotta address that.

If I recall correctly, I said the club should take Mason Cox as a Free Agent to provide ruck coverage & also provide a grown up in the fwd 50 who knows how to compete & be physically imposing. We all hate Cox for 2018 - but the guy is fit. a competitve beast & deinitely has leadership qualities. He seems like a good guy to be your teammate - and annoying as **** to play against. I said that lots and lots of times, that i would target Mason Cox in Free Agency to at least have a option in 2026 versus no options. And got laughed at lots & lots of times. Cox would 100% be in our starting 22 in Round 1 & be useful right now.

Im all for a rebuild, but i was keen on the club taking 1 or more of Steele, Cox & JUH. Its not even Round 1 yet and we are all scrambling to find coverage in the ruck and midfield. Guess who plays Ruck & Midfield and would be locks to be in the side Round 1 IF we had signed them - The Robot Chickens - Steele + Cox !! They added 350 games of experience, coverage in the 2 most physically demanding positions on the field. leadership. and would have cost us a 3rd, or even 4th rounder combined. If Steele wanted to come to Richmond, they would have made it easy for him to come to us.

The big difference between what i want and the supporters who laugh is - us to be competitive as an AFL side while we focus on rebuilding. Whereas the others, just want us to be as young as possible, while focusing on rebuilding. Making a young side play without a ruckman is a ****ing awful strategy - the ruckman is the biggest bloke on the field ffs - you need guys who protect the kids when other teams start to target them physically - which 100% will happen if any of them get any good. If Lalor gets off to a good start to the year, 100% expect him to get targeted physically. And who will be there to proivde him some protection? Samson Ryan.

 

[THE_GUN]

Is that what happened? The club were waiting for me to let them know who to target?

If you need a ruckman, you gotta address that.

If I recall correctly, I said the club should take Mason Cox as a Free Agent to provide ruck coverage & also provide a grown up in the fwd 50 who knows how to compete & be physically imposing. We all hate Cox for 2018 - but the guy is fit. a competitve beast & deinitely has leadership qualities. He seems like a good guy to be your teammate - and annoying as **** to play against. I said that lots and lots of times, that i would target Mason Cox in Free Agency to at least have a option in 2026 versus no options. And got laughed at lots & lots of times. Cox would 100% be in our starting 22 in Round 1 & be useful right now.

Im all for a rebuild, but i was keen on the club taking 1 or more of Steele, Cox & JUH. Its not even Round 1 yet and we are all scrambling to find coverage in the ruck and midfield. Guess who plays Ruck & Midfield and would be locks to be in the side Round 1 IF we had signed them - The Robot Chickens - Steele + Cox !! They added 350 games of experience, coverage in the 2 most physically demanding positions on the field. leadership. and would have cost us a 3rd, or even 4th rounder combined. If Steele wanted to come to Richmond, they would have made it easy for him to come to us.

The big difference between what i want and the supporters who laugh is - us to be competitive as an AFL side while we focus on rebuilding. Whereas the others, just want us to be as young as possible, while focusing on rebuilding. Making a young side play without a ruckman is a ****ing awful strategy - the ruckman is the biggest bloke on the field ffs - you need guys who protect the kids when other teams start to target them physically - which 100% will happen if any of them get any good. If Lalor gets off to a good start to the year, 100% expect him to get targeted physically. And who will be there to proivde him some protection? Samson Ryan.

Ok so your solution to our Ruck issue's going foward is to get a 35 year old mason cox for 1 year and a cooked Jack Steele.

Im glad the club didnt wait for you to provide your ingenious solution

 

[RJK Tiger]

Ok so your solution to our Ruck issue's going foward is to get a 35 year old mason cox for 1 year and a cooked Jack Steele.

Im glad the club didnt wait for you to provide your ingenious solution

What was the option they went with?

Taking a option will always beat sitting on your hands and doing absolutely nothing. Cox would at worst help this year. Then you at least are giving Simms one more year to develop. You could take 1 year options for 3 years in a row, hoping Simms might be ready by then. I have been completely happy with the club taking the draft and choosing who they want - but, they needed to address the elephant in the room which is - our side is awfully undermanned, lacks conditioning, unreliable & have poor on & off-field discipline. You don't fix any of those problems by bring in "more kids". You fix it by getting more experience and grown ups involved in the group. Cox is a good leader and role model. Love him or hate him, you gotta pay him his dues. He deserves them. Grew up in a 3rd world dictatorship country & had no background in AFL. Finds himself Towelling up the greatest backmen of his generation, Rance, in a Prelim. Competes like a mofo. Stands up for his teammates & has the confidence to speak up in a huddle if the team needs a rev up. He was a great, extremely cheap, option for us to take for 2026. I was pretty impressed with Masons Finals series after being dropped for several months, he stood up and looked like he belonged to be there.

I also wanted to get Chol again when Gold Coast were looking to move him on. I always liked Chol and thought ppl were harsh on him. Competed hard, impacted entire quarters & was a professional, playing the "back up utility" without complaint, missing out on 2 Grand Finals despite playing several games as our starting KPF or Ruckman when Toby or Lynch/Jack were out.

If they wanted a long term option, the they should have targeted TDK or Marshall. TDK's contract is insane, but we could have got him without losing any picks at all. The money is likely there to take on too, we could have offered him what the Saints did. I guess we will see how that moves looks and evaluate that later. Personally, its the 7 years more than the reported $1.7m they gave TDK that worries me. Offering younger UFA's with elite potential 50% more than they are worth to retain picks is a great strategy, but the contract needs to expire in 2-3 years with a understanding that a extension would likely be looking at a more team friendly deal. Youre overpaying to keep multiple 1st round picks & still get him in & possibly speed your rebuild by a year or two. Marshall was likely gettable to a team that could offer them more than the Cats were & we could have likely packaged him with Steele & the saints would have done it - as the amount of cap space they were freeing up in a single move would have allowed them to sign Aleer. If you wanted a long term option, they were the 2. Personally, I would have gone for the short term option in Cox. Fixed the issue for 1 more year, maybe 2. Give Simms another cpl of years to develop & make solving the issue longterm a primary goal from here on forward