Analysis How the revamped Tigers could look in 2023 with the potential additions of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper

[Marcel Proust]

He pretty much nailed the side. Only change would be Pickett in for McIntosh. Short was born for a wing role been saying it for 5 years now. Graham has currency and will become Josh Caddy getting paid $500k in Magoo's then value drops. He had suitors previously I'd trade him now. Ross, Sonsie have leapfrogged him and got plenty of kids to come in.

I dunno if you can replace Pickett or McIntosh with short.

Not good enough defensively

 

[richoplzbreed]

I dunno if you can replace Pickett or McIntosh with short.

Not good enough defensively

It's all part of our new attacking mentality. With improved midfield winning clearances it's all about bombing it into our forward line and clunking or crumbing. Watch how fewer points we concede with same defence but not coming in so easily. Shorts metres gained and 50-60m bombardments will outweigh McIntosh's defensive running. Lynch, Riewoldt, Martin, Bolton, MRJ and Cumbo are gonna destroy when we start winning clearances. Even more so than this year

 

[Calcium Man]

I dunno if you can replace Pickett or McIntosh with short.

Not good enough defensively

I think a lot of people are going down the wrong path with short on a wing. I get that it seems like a good spot for him with his skills. But KMac and Pickett are both hard as a cats head, very good overhead (shorts actually pretty decent overhead but gives away a lot of height) and great one on one or being outnumbered.

 

[tropicaltiger]

And like all successful teams the depth down to players 27-30 is outstanding, HRS, Soldo, Stack, Clark, Banks, Brown. Sorry, that actually takes us to 32.

rating are about right but holey mackeral, GEORGE getting a gig now at 33 seems preposterous, since he was automatic till 2022 then in and out.

 

[richoplzbreed]

Graham is clearly our best defensive mid and has to play.. too many attacking mids can be dangerous th other way, IMO that’s what undid th demons th last few games.
Happy to be proven wrong tho


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Graham has been dining out on the job he did on Rory Sloane in 17 GF( he killed it that day and made a lot of us think he's the next superstar of the league. As did Dean Polo once!) since then he hasn't really progressed and what other defensive job has he really done? His tackle stats are inflated due to being 2nd to the ball. He's been good. But extremely bland. I can only judge the fact he was deemed fit to play this year, regardless of niggles. If his toe was no good play Stack, Banks anyone. He's on $500k and with Cotchin going around he's not even close to best 22. That's a complete waste of $$$'s for Magoo's. Fully fit I choose Ross and Sonsie over him every time. Ralphsmith, Banks, Clarke, Browne are all worthy of senior games. Graham would fetch something decent in a trade and his $$$$'s will be needed.

 

[muzhogg]

HERALD SUN - Jon Ralph, September 10, 2022 ​

Just how far can the additions of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper take Richmond? Take a look at the Tigers’ best 22 for 2023 and tell us what you think.​

Next season Jack Riewoldt will play at Richmond on a contract as much as $175,000 less than former Tiger Callum Coleman-Jones, who landed at Arden St this year.

For comparison, Riewoldt has three flags, three Coleman Medals, 11 Richmond goalkicking trophies and 755 goals to Coleman-Jones’ 19 games and 16 goals.
As Riewoldt said on Friday, the chase for the flag is one of the primary reasons he is playing on, having confided to good mate Richie Porte on a charity bike ride over summer this would be his last year.

But it is another example of the chasm between the AFL’s haves and have nots, with Riewoldt prepared to play for $300,000 and the Tigers using the 2022 second-round pick they secured for Coleman-Jones to help nab GWS mids Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper.
The Tigers already look top-four bound next year, and what is to say in 2025, when Dustin Martin’s $1.3 million falls off their books, they won’t go out and find another Tom Lynch-style free agent to succeed him.

So Richmond are the big winners already from the trade period.

Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper are set to join the Tigers. Picture: Phil Hillyard

And yet surely by the time the Roos are handed a suite of picks from their special assistance request, the AFL will have recognised the extraordinary equalisation challenge the league is facing.
Whether it is a priority selection before the No.1 overall draft selection or a suite of early mid-first-round or end-of-first-round picks, the league will be fully aware of the dangers of doing too little.

The draft and salary cap are supposed to create a boom-bust cycle, but on current draft position the Roos will take picks one and 55 to the draft after a two-win year and Richmond will add Hopper and Taranto and also try to draft a developing young tall.

​

Richmond’s Best 22 In Round 1 2023​

FB: Robbie Tarrant, Noah Balta, Nathan Broad
HB: Nick Vlastuin, Dylan Grimes, Daniel Rioli
C: Jayden Short, Tim Taranto, Kamdyn McIntosh
HB: Shai Bolton, Jack Riewoldt, Maurice Rioli
F: Dustin Martin, Tom Lynch, Noah Cumberland
R: Toby Nankervis, Dion Prestia, Jacob Hopper
INT: Liam Baker, Ben Miller, Marlion Pickett, Trent Cotchin, Tyler Sonsie
EMERG: Josh Gibcus, Jack Ross, Jack Graham, Hugo Ralphsmith


The AFL will have to think seriously about the Roos securing a pre-draft priority pick to secure the best two kids in the land if they actually want them to improve quickly enough to be competitive as the vast TV rights deal kicks in for 2025.
After all, the AFL is nothing if it is not a money-making organisation and it will be desperate for nine competitive games in coming years before Tasmania enters the competition as early as 2026.

Not only are Gold Coast and GWS gutted by established clubs on a yearly basis —Hopper and Taranto join Suns star Izak Rankine in moving back to traditional teams — the old national draft mechanism just doesn’t work like it used to.
Richmond win the 2017 flag and 12 months later add Gold Coast free agent Lynch.

Then they prey on the Giants salary cap weakness — created by the lack of COLA and huge rival offers for established stars — to drag out Taranto and Hopper.

Jack Riewoldt is staying at Richmond on a cut-price deal. Picture: Getty Images)

Hopper wants to come to the bright lights of Richmond and who could blame him after he played in front of crowds of 9010, 7772 and 7338 in three of his last five GWS games.

Some of the Giants’ salary cap issues are self-inflicted, but as the AFL considers North Melbourne’s priority pick submission in Grand Final week Richmond’s trade heist will surely weigh heavily on the minds of the AFL.

DETAIL IN TIGERS’ HOPPER OFFER CATS REFUSED TO MATCH

Greater Western Sydney star Jacob Hopper has chosen Richmond as his preferred trade destination with the emerging star keen to join the Tigers on a seven-year deal.
Hopper is set to be part of an astonishing trade double act that will see the Tigers recharge their midfield with Hopper hopeful GWS will grant him a trade request to join his mate Tim Taranto.

Geelong had been a strong suitor for Hopper, who is a GWS academy player growing up in the small Riverine town of Leeton but boarded in Ballarat while at St Patrick’s College.

But the Tigers are believed to have pitched a more lucrative deal and have also offered seven seasons, which the Cats were not prepared to match.
The Cats will now plan their next move and are still keen on GWS teammate Tanner Bruhn, unwilling to significantly up their offer given they pay players in fairly strict bands to ensure fairness across the list.

Jacob Hopper is hoping to join Richmond during the trade period. Picture: Getty Images
Hopper headed overseas on Thursday morning and before that his management firm Connors Sports informed the Cats that if he moved the Tigers would be his likely home instead of them.

But unlike the uncontracted Taranto Hopper has a deal through to 2023 so Richmond will have to stump up a significant deal involving multiple picks or he will remain at GWS.

Richmond has long believed it could secure one of the Giants midfielders given the tight salary cap that GWS is trying to rectify this year.
But to secure both Taranto and Hopper will immediately put the Tigers back in as premiership contenders if it can orchestrate trades for the pair.
It seems likely Richmond will have to hand over most of picks 12, 19, 30 and next year’s future first-rounder for the pair and potentially throw in a player like ruckman Ivan Soldo.

GWS will ask for two first rounders for Taranto but the market for experienced mids of his quality in recent years has normally been two first-rounders with a second-rounder handed back.

What will Richmond need to give up in trades for Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto?​

Picks 12, 19 and a future-first
Picks 12, 19, a future-first and player
Picks 12 and 19
Pick 12 and a future first-round pick
Another combination of players/picks

Richmond believes Taranto’s vast tank will allow him to play as a more defensive mid who wins key stoppages but then can two-way run and allow Shai Bolton and Dustin Martin to play a more offensive role.
Hopper, a former No. 7 draft pick, had his 2022 season ruined by a knee injury but last year averaged 26 disposals, 98 ranking points, 12 contested possessions and 6.3 stoppages a game.

At only 25 the Tigers will believe they can get 150 exceptional games from him and keep their premiership window wide open.
For Geelong the decision is a setback but the emergence of Max Holmes and Tom Atkins as an inside midfielder means they will not be short of midfield options.
Bruhn, a number 12 draft pick at GWS, has interest from Hawthorn, North Melbourne and the Cats but has plenty of time to decide his future.

Jacob Hopper wants to be traded to Richmond.

So, is the basic take-away from this article that the AFL have to do more to cripple Richmond and to punish us for making the most of our opportunities?

Because it sure sounds to me like Ralph thinks it a bad thing that we get reward for being a well run club and that Norf aren't getting enough reward for their massive incompetence.

Maybe the new rule should be that whatever club manages to finish last gets handed the Premiership Cup?

 

[Greggy]

So the media have already established their Richmond narrative for next year.

 

[Morro]

Graham is clearly our best defensive mid and has to play.. too many attacking mids can be dangerous th other way, IMO that’s what undid th demons th last few games.
Happy to be proven wrong tho


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Both Taranto and Hopper are defensive as *, more than make up for Graham and his 12 possessions and 8 tackles.

Gimme the GWS boys combines 60 posessions and 12 tackles anyday

 

[smasha]

I hope the AFL don't eff us over for yet another time.
Already cost the club millions this year with the third umpire rort.

 

[Dr Tigris]

I think a lot of people are going down the wrong path with short on a wing. I get that it seems like a good spot for him with his skills. But KMac and Pickett are both hard as a cats head, very good overhead (shorts actually pretty decent overhead but gives away a lot of height) and great one on one or being outnumbered.

Agree. We have 2 hard nuts on the wings. Which is unusual. They are hard runners with decent skills, especially Marlion. But what they do is add grit across the ground and often force the oppo to play through the middle, which are set up for. Unlike the traditional wing set up, great runners and kicks but often non-contested players, we have gone for great runner but with a focus on toughness and contests. Sort of stretches out our contested ability, maybe to partly compensate for our shallow inside mids stocks (until this trade period of course). It's a very interesting way to play the midfield how we are set up.

 

[Dr Tigris]

So, is the basic take-away from this article that the AFL have to do more to cripple Richmond and to punish us for making the most of our opportunities?

Because it sure sounds to me like Ralph thinks it a bad thing that we get reward for being a well run club and that Norf aren't getting enough reward for their massive incompetence.

Maybe the new rule should be that whatever club manages to finish last gets handed the Premiership Cup?

What I take from that article is that if you start with all clubs should be able to contend in any period of time (say within a decade as a guess) then the smarter clubs have set themselves up with a self-reinforcing system of success and culture leading to more talent signing for less, and so staying on top. These clubs plan a long way ahead, and don't overpay for B graders.

This means that 10 or more clubs are fighting for a contending list, but have a lesser ability to build that long term sustainable high end quality.

On this board we might say 'become more professional and careful in what you do', but the journos and AFL tend to try and force the outcome. Sugar hits are great today, but end up leaving you with overpaid spuds over time, and a management structure and strategy that reinforces trying to get magic fixes. So you get journos pointing at genuine problems and saying 'the AFL can fix this by giving more to the worst run clubs'. North created their own list problems by annihilating their senior leadership. GWS have simply recruited way too many of the same type of player (A grade mids), paying them too much and have ended up with major cap issues and a uncompetitive team. The Weagles basically ran their list into the ground without rejuvenating it, poor list management. All these teams did it to themselves.

The solution is be smarter and more patient. Not give more toys to the stupid kids.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

He's pretty much nailed our best 22, the only problem being a 5 man interchange bench (1 of them could be the medisub I spose)

But boy oh boy, some of the assumptions are downright wrong......For instance "some of the salary cap woes are self inflicted" !! How about all of the woes are self inflicted. And how about this.......
"Not only are Gold Coast and GWS gutted by established clubs on a yearly basis —Hopper and Taranto join Suns star Izak Rankine in moving back to traditional teams — the old national draft mechanism just doesn’t work like it used to.
Richmond win the 2017 flag and 12 months later add Gold Coast free agent Lynch" Where the * is the talk about Cameron and what SOS did?

But this one is the cream on the cake......

"And yet surely by the time the Roos are handed a suite of picks from their special assistance request, the AFL will have recognised the extraordinary equalisation challenge the league is facing.
Whether it is a priority selection before the No.1 overall draft selection or a suite of early mid-first-round or end-of-first-round picks, the league will be fully aware of the dangers of doing too little.

The draft and salary cap are supposed to create a boom-bust cycle, but on current draft position the Roos will take picks one and 55 to the draft after a two-win year and Richmond will add Hopper and Taranto and also try to draft a developing young tall."

The Roos current draft situation has come from them trading out their future picks last year, the most valuable being 19 for CCJ. Surely we should be congratulated for being able to manage our TPP's so we can actually bring in those type of players? Not to mention that we'll be left with just a pick in the 80's and no 1st rounder next year.

Like I've said in other threads, the whole of the AFL are scared shitless that we'll be a dominant force for years to come.

2 x HB lines is an interesting tactic.

 

[Dr Tigris]

Both Taranto and Hopper are defensive as *, more than make up for Graham and his 12 possessions and 8 tackles.

Gimme the GWS boys combines 60 posessions and 12 tackles anyday

Do you know what Graham's role is?

He plays the hard running contest after contest role where his impact is measured by much harder he makes it for the opposition and how much mroe space our players get. When he misses a game we lose a lot of structure.

He is also playing the Lambo role now. I hope TT and Hopper aren't playing that.

 

[lvt06]

Richmond PRAYING on these clubs and their salary cap issues

Yet Geelong got Cameron from ??? Oh yep that is right....
The Cats will now plan their next move and are still keen on GWS teammate Tanner Bruhn, unwilling to significantly up their offer given they pay players in fairly strict bands to ensure fairness across the list.

So the cats next move is for a player from ??? oh yep, GWS.

Crazy reporting LOL

 

[Morro]

Do you know what Graham's role is?

He plays the hard running contest after contest role where his impact is measured by much harder he makes it for the opposition and how much mroe space our players get. When he misses a game we lose a lot of structure.

He is also playing the Lambo role now. I hope TT and Hopper aren't playing that.

If Grahams role is to run around and get 12 touches and a handful of tackles then yes he is nailing it.

I am sorry, but I just dont rate him as much as others and I believe with the addition of 2 A grade mids, we will see others pushed into Grahams role who can be more effective as a complete player.

 

[Dr Tigris]

If Grahams role is to run around and get 12 touches and a handful of tackles then yes he is nailing it.

I am sorry, but I just dont rate him as much as others and I believe with the addition of 2 A grade mids, we will see others pushed into Grahams role who can be more effective as a complete player.

Fair enough. I disagree.

But Taranto and Hopper will transform our team, so it'll be interesting to see what happens to Graham.

 

[Morro]

Fair enough. I disagree.

But Taranto and Hopper will transform our team, so it'll be interesting to see what happens to Graham.

This we agree on.

 

[Dr Tigris]

This we agree on.

Oppo supporters and most of the 'experts' don't seem to realise how good the rest of the Tigers are given how shallow our midfield was in 2022. we were #1 for scoring, 4th best % and our midfield was often smashed. That meant our defense often was under huge pressure all game.

Change the midfield to a winning one and the rest of the team should perform even better. Or maybe the team is so used to losing the midfield we'll play like crap .

When we win the midfield battle we win the game. Looking forward to 2023

 

[Calcium Man]

Oppo supporters and most of the 'experts' don't seem to realise how good the rest of the Tigers are given how shallow our midfield was in 2022. we were #1 for scoring, 4th best % and our midfield was often smashed. That meant our defense often was under huge pressure all game.

Change the midfield to a winning one and the rest of the team should perform even better. Or maybe the team is so used to losing the midfield we'll play like crap .

When we win the midfield battle we win the game. Looking forward to 2023

It’s funny when I read it like that. Shedda has long been my favourite player but his decline and lambert’s absence make you realise how vital he was to our midfield in the premiership years.

 

[Dr Tigris]

It’s funny when I read it like that. Shedda has long been my favourite player but his decline and lambert’s absence make you realise how vital he was to our midfield in the premiership years.

A few years ago we had a lot of players to send through the middle. Shedda was elite at clearances and making stuff happen, as well as the defensive side.

2022 when all mids were fit we had a really solid contested side and could win that contest. Lose graham, Prestia etc and we just fall right off.

Next year we will hopefully have a really deep midfield that cna go with anyone and allow the rest of the team to cut loose.

 

[Freddy Swift]

Richmond PRAYING on these clubs and their salary cap issues

Yet Geelong got Cameron from ??? Oh yep that is right....
The Cats will now plan their next move and are still keen on GWS teammate Tanner Bruhn, unwilling to significantly up their offer given they pay players in fairly strict bands to ensure fairness across the list.

So the cats next move is for a player from ??? oh yep, GWS.

Crazy reporting LOL

Just bloody annoys me that they portray the Tigers as the big bad boys taking players from other sides, but when the Cats do it, it is ignored or called ‘astute list management’.

 

[smurfin]

This feels a lot like the Brandon Ellis compo narrative. A media up in arms so the AFL override their own rules.

Priority picks punishes every team (as do compo picks), especially those actually at the bottom and should never be used again. And history suggest they don’t really help (GC, Dees, Blues etc.), off field stability, culture and development have made us cats and swans successful.

The Dees and Lions despite all their picks never put it together until the AFL hand picked the dees ceo and coach forcing some stability, and did something similar at the Lions.
Even then it’s still takes years for that to filter down to the list and performance.

There always has to be losers in a competition but these equalisation narrative seems he’ll bent on awarding a premiership to each club once every 18 years.

What annoyed me about the Brando compensation is that he wasn't a failed early pick whose value had dropped.
He was pick 15 and even with hindsight was actually the best player available at that pick.
The player immediately after him were:
Tom Sheridan
Clay Smith
Brad MacKenzie
Eliot Kavanagh (lol)
Hayden Crozier
Josh Bootsma
Murray Newman
Henry Schade
Seb Ross
Todd Elton

Apart from Seb Ross & Hayden Crozier, I don't even remember who any of those players are?
So in a Harry Hindsight "redo the 2011 draft", Brandon would still be rated as a late first rounder and would have been when he left.
* those crying media guys who thought end of first round was too generous.

 

[Tackle Bag]

Do you know what Graham's role is?

He plays the hard running contest after contest role where his impact is measured by much harder he makes it for the opposition and how much mroe space our players get. When he misses a game we lose a lot of structure.

He is also playing the Lambo role now. I hope TT and Hopper aren't playing that.

I think you will see Taranto playing that role at times, and no doubt winning more contests. His defensive work is a strength

 

[muzhogg]

The solution is be smarter and more patient. Not give more toys to the stupid kids.

Absolutely spot on! Can't imagine anybody putting it any better.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

Hopper and Taranto training the house down yet?