Player Watch Joe Richards

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cityslick1 said:
From my Dec 2022 training notes / post… without trying to put the mozz on him for future games:

“Joe Richards - Looks nice and clean, zippy, and reliable. Doesn’t do much wrong and I just hope that he has more development in him, and hasn’t flatlined yet. Just so that he can genuinely stake a claim for a spot in the team, and have a career, instead of peaking already and watching other kids progress. I guarantee he will provide moments of magic in the VFL though, and will replicate them if given the chance in the seniors, as he just has that thing where opposition players will underestimate him - along with spectators - until he pulls off a great assist or goal, and you find yourself doing a double take, then look back to the field and he is humbly receiving high fives from teammates, who have big smiles on their faces. Bookmark this…”
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Did you write this last night and attach that date? :) ;)
 
VinnieB said:
Big call given he has just played his 1st AFL game and was excellent.

I can’t recall McCreery playing a game equal to that over his 50 odd game career.

Certainly haven’t seen Schultz do it this season.

If Richards can at least hold that level, McCreery is going to need to find a new position.
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We saw a glimpse of McCreery in the midfield just recently. Im hoping he finds his spot there , as we need grunt in there along with some wheels to complement Naicos and De Goey. Pretty electric midfield if Beau can work it out in there.

Edit: Add Jaicos and Bailey Smith on the wings and im loving it
 

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Bianconeri said:
I struggle to see him in our list next season
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What didn’t you like aboit his performance that makes you think he’s still a delist candidate.

Richards has now added flexibility to our midfield, by now allowing McCreery and Scultz to play more mid minutes.
Given the aging profile within that group then this flexibility is important.
 
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Put his body on the line a couple of times and got crunched by some bigger bodies, Still popped up with the pill. Decision making A+, Execution A+, Composure A+.

Thank you Ben Reid.:):thumbsu:
 
Horaceg said:
Fly does love seeing guys like Joe getting opportunity and making the most of it. We have a few of these stories, it was pretty special the way the team got around after that goal he kicked, Sullivan the week before.

Who knows maybe even Kyle Martin could have been motivated under Fly.
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Fly bangs on about 'connection' endlessly, and there is no other side in the comp that gets around a bloke kicking his first snag like the pies boys do. It's a pleasure to watch.
 
swoop42 said:
Not sure what his PA average is in the VFL but he averages just over 2 tackles a game so 6 yesterday was a great result.

Looking at his VFL stats and I had forgotten that he didn't play between rounds 5 to 13 so in fairness his development was hindered last season.

Didn't we play him across half back at times also?
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Plus, he was stepping up from playing local footy in the country, albeit in a very strong competition (which he was carving up).

It was always going to take him time, and as you rightly mentioned, he suffered a nasty injury last year so was always going to battle to get any momentum into his season. We're seeing a much stronger and rounded version of what he can produce this season.

He might just be one of those types that adapts to a higher level of footy quicker than others.
 

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Two years ago, Joe Richards was working as a teacher at a special education school in Wangaratta and figuring his AFL dream was gone. Then Collingwood drafted him.

On Sunday, at the age of 24, he made his debut and, like Lachie Sullivan the week before, arrived in the game a bit like Mike Hussey arrived in Test cricket – having spent so long at a level below he knew his own game inside out and knew he would be OK at the next one up.


That Richards got drafted at all was in no small part down to Ben Reid, the 2010 Collingwood premiership defender, who badgered the Magpies’ recruiters to take a serious look at the talented small forward he was coaching at Wangaratta. Actually, that’s not right. He told them to take him.
For Sunday’s game, Richards got 30 tickets for friends and family from Wangaratta to make the trip.

Reid got 40.


The retired popular defender’s name still clearly carries weight at Collingwood.
There were multiple buses going up and down the Hume Highway on Sunday carrying Richards’ entourage.
“There was definitely a stage where I didn’t think it was going to happen. Between the age of 18 and say 22 it sort of goes out of your mind. And then, yeah, when you’re in talks and those sorts of things with clubs, that starts to spike up again,” he said.


“I have had to wait a little while [to be drafted] and even when you get into the system it takes a while. I suppose I also came into a successful club with lots of good players, so you sort have got to bide your time and wait for your turn. And, yeah, when it’s your turn, you have got to make the most of it.”
Which he did.
Richards was the highest-ranked pressure player on the ground, kicked a goal – he could have had a few, including one with his first kick – and was involved in three score assists.
“I went into quarter-time thinking I’ve wasted a couple of opportunities here. And I was just waiting for the next one, which lucky enough came in the second quarter,” he said.
They were not easy shots.


More impressive was that he was very clean with his hands, showed great vision to hit up Fin Macrae with one weighted kick going inside 50, and had poise.

Down a few through injury, all players had a lot of game time. Richards was cramping in both legs at the boundary on the siren.

He was the second mature-aged debutant for Collingwood in successive weeks after Lachie Sullivan’s debut last week. And he was just as impressive as the former Footscray VFL captain in adapting to the game.

Reid was convinced Richards would make it. He rang Collingwood in 2021 and told them to look at him. Then he rang them again in 2022 and insisted.


“I just said this guy is so good [on] both sides of his body,” Reid said.
“He’s a one touch player. He’s a footballer. He’s the best I’ve seen in the Ovens and Murray League. In terms of the way he can just make things happen in a split second, I mean, Fin Macrae probably owes him three beers [for goals he created for him].
“He’s just a real footballer, he makes the right decisions. Nothing fazes him. When he was with us, we played him on the ball and I said, ‘Just go and get the footy’. There were a few structures but he was so good you’d say, ‘Go out and play’.”
But it was a little more complicated at Collingwood.

“You look at Bobby Hill, [Brent] Daniels at GWS – there are these little, little guys but they all have this footy IQ that’s through the roof and that’s what Joe’s got,” Reid added.
“I remember after his first six months he rang me and said: ‘It’s structures. It’s all about structures’. We just worked that out.”
Richards figured he had the ability to play, he just didn’t know how to play the way Collingwood played.
When he arrived at the Magpies his new coach Craig McRae saw what Reid saw in him, but also thought he was a way off AFL level.

“This year, it’s been like: ‘OK, this guy looks too good for VFL … he looks ready to play AFL’,” McRae said.



“But we’ve got a pretty good array of small forwards – Beau McCreery, Lachie Schultz and Bobby Hill. It’s hard to go past those guys but all of a sudden opportunities present, and now you go ‘OK, we’ve got one more that can do all the things that we need when we need them’.

“He gets his chance and he was the highest [rated] pressure player on the ground. In your first game! And he set up many goals, kicked his own, [and was] unlucky not to get a couple. [He’s] just really clean – same with Sullivan, [he] looks really clean, Harvey Harrison [is] really clean at ground level and in-tune with the game.

“We have a development player of the month, and he won that in April for doing all the things that make you want to get better every day. You don’t fluke this stuff. You can hope that you play well, then sometimes you come in with great belief because you’ve done the work.”
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www.theage.com.au

From Wangaratta with love: Joe Richards on his long road to a Magpies debut

From teaching special education in Wangaratta, to starring for the AFL’s reigning premiers – Joe Richards has taken the long road to the AFL.
www.theage.com.au www.theage.com.au
 
I must admit that I wanted to slap Ben Reid last year when he suggested Joe, now I want to marry him
 
I just hope IF he has a quiet game against the crows off that game against West Coast imo would still deserve a 3rd game

Also knowing big footy if he has a stinker most will turn on him
 
I think Joe can rest assured that he will be pulling on the jumper for the seniors again next week, and I'm sure he will acquit himself well enough for an extended period at senior level. He will match up well against the Crows and they do not concern me, particularly at the MCG. I'm predicting another resounding win for the Pies and a continuation of successful outings from our latest additions to the team, bringing a welcome reprieve for the coaching staff not needing to make a call on the likes of Elliot, JDG, Checkers, et al.
 
Big Bryza said:
Fly bangs on about 'connection' endlessly, and there is no other side in the comp that gets around a bloke kicking his first snag like the pies boys do. It's a pleasure to watch.
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Watch the replay of the goal again and the reaction of WHE from behind the goals. He goes off on a Papley like run of pure joy arms raised like he’d just kicked a goal to win the GF as he races to Joe to congratulate him.

We have a real team.
 
Kirby said:
Watch the replay of the goal again and the reaction of WHE from behind the goals. He goes off on a Papley like run of pure joy arms raised like he’d just kicked a goal to win the GF as he races to Joe to congratulate him.

We have a real team.
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I love the hyphen. He’s such a pies nuffie still even as a player.
 
Kirby said:
Watch the replay of the goal again and the reaction of WHE from behind the goals. He goes off on a Papley like run of pure joy arms raised like he’d just kicked a goal to win the GF as he races to Joe to congratulate him.

We have a real team.
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Not relevant to this thread, but Leggy also had a ripper reaction just like that when Darcy Moore made a crucial tackle about 65m out from the Eagles goal. You just love to see it
 
JuniorB said:
Joe's got an excellent footy brain - he is quick thinking and has the skills to execute.
Fin's third goal was set up by a great pass from Joe.
More please!
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That kick was 10/10.

From my seat I had the perfect view of it - his body language, facial expression, and the way the ball moved in the air from Joe's boot to Fin's hands.

It was the kick of an AFL player in his prime, not a first gamer.

What a fantastic surprise this debut performance was yesterday
 
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