Our Midfield

[Morro]

This is meant to be a talls draft this year isn't it? Maybe we're hoping the top ten will be all talls letting us grab the creamiest midfielders in the crop.

Its always a midfielders draft though with a few talls

 

[NZ_Tiger]

This is meant to be a talls draft this year isn't it? Maybe we're hoping the top ten will be all talls letting us grab the creamiest midfielders in the crop.

It’s always a talls draft and the draft starts as a super draft, then mid season we will be told it’s a really thin draft and the month before the draft they will say there’s plenty of talent to be had, party on.


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[juss]

One of the biggest stuff ups so far has been when Ross showed some early career promise as a potential inside mid, he should have been beefed up to 88-90kg inside contested player in the Tom Mitchell type mold.

Instead we decided to slim him down and try and make him an outside runner and wing

There are times I genuinely shake my head at some of the decisions.

 

[Drunken Wookie]

One of the biggest stuff ups so far has been when Ross showed some early career promise as a potential inside mid, he should have been beefed up to 88-90kg inside contested player in the Tom Mitchell type mold.

Instead we decided to slim him down and try and make him an outside runner and wing

There are times I genuinely shake my head at some of the decisions.

Only argument for it I can conceive of is Dimma couldn't fit him into the Premiership midfield at the time but really wanted him in the 22.
Why he needed to become Skeletor and play solely on a wing to do that I can't explain.

 

[Noidnadroj]

Dunstan, Hewitt and Greenwood were all free agents or unrestricted access so would have cost ZERO trade capital, Lipinski was pick 43.

We could have got any of these guys for around $400 - $450k, we offered Coleman Jones and Chol contracts that weren't taken up, we could have used that money for one of these players.

The club decided to back in Prestia and Cotchin, and I assume play some of the younger guys, but seem to not want to stick the young guys in. In hindsight this will end up being a bad call in my opinion,.

Luckily we have 3 flags to ease the pain, so I'm not particularly stressed about it but certainly think we could have handled it better from a list management perspective

C’mon …. Dunstan is 27yo. Hewett 26yo. Greenwood 30yo. Why on earth would we give up salary cap and midfield development opportunities to players who won’t be there when hopefully contending again from 2026 onwards.

If Cotchin, Prestia, Edwards etc… fall away and don’t have us contending I sure as hell know those 3 guys were not taking us to the promised land.

It seems everyone is spewing we didn’t follow the Hawks post dynasty strategy of list top-ups galore…


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[Maurice Mitchell]

Far from it,

Do you take notice of other clubs injuries? We are by far one of the better ones and have been for years. We had a very good run during our flag years, doesnt mean our injury management is sh*t now.

I think you’ll find both in ‘19 and ‘20 we had plenty of injuries; fortunately for us they all returned in time for a finals run.

From the Richmond site in 2019:

Richmond has regained the services of six Tigers from the injury list for Sunday's match against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.

Captain Trent Cotchin (general soreness) and previous stand-in skipper Shane Edwards (hamstring tendonitis) head the inclusions, alongside David Astbury (hamstring), Kane Lambert (Achilles), Jayden Short (elbow) and Ivan Soldo (illness).

KAYO Stream every Richmond game with your Kayo 14-day free trial

Short will make his long-awaited return after suffering a dislocated elbow in Round 3, while Lambert returns after missing the past four games with an Achilles injury.

In addition to the six players off the injury list, Shai Bolton returns to the side after producing a scintillating performance in the VFL Tigers’ win against Coburg before the bye, finishing with 36 disposals, nine clearances, five tackles and a goal.

WHAT'S YOUR FINAL 5? Attend any five of our last seven games at the 'G

They replace Daniel Butler, Jack Higgins, Connor Menadue, Noah Balta, Ryan Garthwaite, Patrick Naish and Liam Baker, who have all been omitted.

Richmond’s four emergencies for Sunday’s match are Naish, Baker, Menadue and Butler.

Richmond's Round 15 team

B David Astbury, Nathan Broad, Dylan Grimes
HB Bachar Houli, Nick Vlastuin, Sydney Stack
C Kamdyn McIntosh, Dion Prestia, Jason Castagna
HF Daniel Rioli, Shai Bolton, Kane Lambert
F Shane Edwards, Josh Caddy, Tom Lynch
Foll Ivan Soldo , Trent Cotchin , Dustin Martin
I/C Jayden Short, Jack Graham, Brandon Ellis, Mabior Chol

In: Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards, David Astbury, Jayden Short, Kane Lambert, Shai Bolton, Ivan Soldo
Out: Daniel Butler, Jack Higgins, Connor Menadue, Noah Balta, Ryan Garthwaite, Patrick Naish, Liam Baker

 

[Maurice Mitchell]

Only argument for it I can conceive of is Dimma couldn't fit him into the Premiership midfield at the time but really wanted him in the 22.
Why he needed to become Skeletor and play solely on a wing to do that I can't explain.

I’m sure that’s right and if Pickett didn’t star in the VFL GF then Ross would be a Premiership player.

Who knows how much that would have boosted his career.

 

[Mr Unbelievable]

Not to derail this thread but that lanky pr1ck took contested mark after contested mark. He may have only kicked the 3 but he created many more through his contests.

It's been a great ride. I'm in my 50's and have seen the worst of the club. I never thought I would experience these last few years. I also had my daughter (yeah yeah I'm an old dirty b@stard) born in '17 and I've said all along she brought the good luck with her.

As a footnote, I have another due May this year. I expect the same 3 flags from my next born!

Never stop big fella … if each brings 3 flags

 

[banzai]

C’mon …. Dunstan is 27yo. Hewett 26yo. Greenwood 30yo. Why on earth would we give up salary cap and midfield development opportunities to players who won’t be there when hopefully contending again from 2026 onwards.

If Cotchin, Prestia, Edwards etc… fall away and don’t have us contending I sure as hell know those 3 guys were not taking us to the promised land.

It seems everyone is spewing we didn’t follow the Hawks post dynasty strategy of list top-ups galore…


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This exactly, we need to be targeting 2026 and well beyond. Do what we can this year but then its over.

People want to trade picks for Green to replace Cotch. But we also need to replace Riewoldt, Edwards and soon to be Dusty, Lynch, Prestia, Lambert, Grimes etc We replaced Astbury with Tarrant, who we also need a replacement for as well.

Now none of those guns above became premiership quality until they were on the list for about 8 or more years. Thats how far off we will be. Just hit the draft and dont trade for anyone or look for Free agents, until we have a young list that is rising up the ladder.

Any one or two players we bring in, no matter how good they are wont compensate for about 12 guns all past their prime and declining at once.

 

[sregit]

This is meant to be a talls draft this year isn't it? Maybe we're hoping the top ten will be all talls letting us grab the creamiest midfielders in the crop.

I know our midfield is the problem, however, I think we should rejuvenate the goal to goal line first and focus on getting a more youthful set of KP players in place. If we purely focus on midfielders by the time we build the onball brigade our talls such as Jack, Lynch ,grimes etc will all be at the end. There is no doubt we need to enhance our midfield but this will be useless if we do not get a new set of gun KP types. Gibcus is a great acquisition. Midfielders can be picked up a lot easier than talls. We can go to free agency and draft in 3 or 4 years and be primed to win a couple more flags. Let the rebuild begin!
Don't let this year go to waste, introduce youth but gradually. Don't panic and play all the youth at once, for those younger players need to be part of a competitive unit, not a losing culture.

 

[sregit]

This exactly, we need to be targeting 2026 and well beyond. Do what we can this year but then its over.

People want to trade picks for Green to replace Cotch. But we also need to replace Riewoldt, Edwards and soon to be Dusty, Lynch, Prestia, Lambert, Grimes etc We replaced Astbury with Tarrant, who we also need a replacement for as well.

Now none of those guns above became premiership quality until they were on the list for about 8 or more years. Thats how far off we will be. Just hit the draft and dont trade for anyone or look for Free agents, until we have a young list that is rising up the ladder.

Any one or two players we bring in, no matter how good they are wont compensate for about 12 guns all past their prime and declining at once.

Your spot on. Hit the draft for 3 or 4 years, then we'll have the cash to go out and recruit the cream to have another go at a few flags.

 

[tropicaltiger]

possible answer

 

[wegetpumped]

I'll give you a clap for the attempt

Only problem is we have won 2 flags out of the 3 years your talking about

Yeah, so what the injuries were there ohh you forget cause we won the flags.2 years running we have been riddled with injuries and this season starts off the same.

 

[wegetpumped]

Some of you blokes should not comment without knowing what you're talking about. Rioli is spot on.




You cannot be serious?! Again, think before typing!



Exactly.

Some of you blokes are embarrassing yourselves with your comments. Either stay off BF when drinking or engage the brain when typing.

We won 3 flags in 4 years. Should have been 4 in 4 if not for a lanky American pr1ck who played one of the all time greatest finals in the history of the game (and done nothing prior or since). The rules have been designed to bring clubs back to the fold. This is exactly what is happening right now. The next few years will showcase (or not) how good a club we are.

In the meantime, I may need to stay out of the Tigers board for my own sanity.

Thank f for that miracles do happen.

 

[Grrr]

Time for a mini rebuild in our midfleld. Last week Dusty and Cotch were our only strong mids. Dusty never gets down and dirty and Cotch is not a high possession player.So the players we asked to get our hands on the ball first were:

Graham - rarely gets his hands on the ball first. Very low contest possession and clearance player. When was the last time you saw Graham burst forward from a centre bounce for example.
Edwards - not a first hands on player, more a release player when the ball comes to him, which is great in a strong midfield but no good if they have the ball.
Bolton - much like Edwards but has great break away power, so if we have the ball he is damaging. If we don't, not so.
Baker - great little scrapper, but not a midfielder, just too small.
Aarts - a scrapper and that is it. Just locks in the ball because he is always on his hands and knees. Too small also.

GWS has a stronger midfield than Carltons, minus Cripps. If we don't match them at the coalface then they will win the clearances in a canter.

Cotchin can rest forward more, as Hardwick suggested in an interview a few weeks ago, but as he had nobody hard enough to go in there last week, he had to play all game in there.
Martin can stay in the guts, he was pretty good overall.
Ross is at least a player who can get the ball in tight and strong enough to dish it out. He has played inside mids since a kid, so he knows the caper.
Pickett can go through the midfield as well. Hard as a cats head. Was very good on the weekend on the wing, but time to add some heat in the middle.
Stack can go to his wing. If not Stack then Hugo.

Probably can't go more than that as there won't be more than 3 changes, probably 2 as Aarts won't be dropped.
But at least there is a bit more weight in the packs and a bit more natural ball hunting,

 

[NZ_Tiger]

Time for a mini rebuild in our midfleld. Last week Dusty and Cotch were our only strong mids. Dusty never gets down and dirty and Cotch is not a high possession player.So the players we asked to get our hands on the ball first were:

Graham - rarely gets his hands on the ball first. Very low contest possession and clearance player. When was the last time you saw Graham burst forward from a centre bounce for example.
Edwards - not a first hands on player, more a release player when the ball comes to him, which is great in a strong midfield but no good if they have the ball.
Bolton - much like Edwards but has great break away power, so if we have the ball he is damaging. If we don't, not so.
Baker - great little scrapper, but not a midfielder, just too small.
Aarts - a scrapper and that is it. Just locks in the ball because he is always on his hands and knees. Too small also.

GWS has a stronger midfield than Carltons, minus Cripps. If we don't match them at the coalface then they will win the clearances in a canter.

Cotchin can rest forward more, as Hardwick suggested in an interview a few weeks ago, but as he had nobody hard enough to go in there last week, he had to play all game in there.
Martin can stay in the guts, he was pretty good overall.
Ross is at least a player who can get the ball in tight and strong enough to dish it out. He has played inside mids since a kid, so he knows the caper.
Pickett can go through the midfield as well. Hard as a cats head. Was very good on the weekend on the wing, but time to add some heat in the middle.
Stack can go to his wing. If not Stack then Hugo.

Probably can't go more than that as there won't be more than 3 changes, probably 2 as Aarts won't be dropped.
But at least there is a bit more weight in the packs and a bit more natural ball hunting,

I sometimes wonder what goes on in a coaches box. Watching goals get kicked straight out of the middle, and persisting with the same under sized midfield set up you would have thought someone would of asked what the hell was going on.

We lost the game in the middle in half a quarter, you can pretty much lay the loss at the feet of Cotchin, Baker, Aarts and Soldo. Clearly they weren’t up to what was being asked, the big question is why were they in there in the first place? Aarts has never been a midfielder, Baker is a pinch hitter, Cotchin had been there all game with little impact.

Seemed weird that we would move Pickett and Ross in to help out, Baker and Aarts can both play wing.


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[Roksman]

 

[Grrr]

I sometimes wonder what goes on in a coaches box. Watching goals get kicked straight out of the middle, and persisting with the same under sized midfield set up you would have thought someone would of asked what the hell was going on.

We lost the game in the middle in half a quarter, you can pretty much lay the loss at the feet of Cotchin, Baker, Aarts and Soldo. Clearly they weren’t up to what was being asked, the big question is why were they in there in the first place? Aarts has never been a midfielder, Baker is a pinch hitter, Cotchin had been there all game with little impact.

Seemed weird that we would move Pickett and Ross in to help out, Baker and Aarts can both play wing.


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One thing, Hardwick is very set in his ways, which is good and has been good, but the last half a year of football has not been good for us, no matter how hard we hope things turn around... and I think they can turn around, although I think GWS's midfield is one fo the best in the business, so it is unlikely this week. Stranger things.

 

[Noidnadroj]

I sometimes wonder what goes on in a coaches box. Watching goals get kicked straight out of the middle, and persisting with the same under sized midfield set up you would have thought someone would of asked what the hell was going on.

We lost the game in the middle in half a quarter, you can pretty much lay the loss at the feet of Cotchin, Baker, Aarts and Soldo. Clearly they weren’t up to what was being asked, the big question is why were they in there in the first place? Aarts has never been a midfielder, Baker is a pinch hitter, Cotchin had been there all game with little impact.

Seemed weird that we would move Pickett and Ross in to help out, Baker and Aarts can both play wing.


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Why were they there in the first place ..? Maybe because we were up by 20-points 3 minutes into the last quarter.


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[Grrr]

Why were they there in the first place ..? Maybe because we were up by 20-points 3 minutes into the last quarter.


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Well it wasn't due to our midfield, who were spanked. We won hit outs yet clearances 40 to 22, contested possessions 135/114, Inside 50's 64 /40.
We won the clangers handsomely, 79/59.

I would say our rebound from 50, 50/29 had a lot to do with the 3/4 scores, our backline was pretty good. Maybe we scored in transition well as is our way. But they had a 4 midfielders with over 28 possessions, we had Dusty at 21, Ross 20 & Pickett 18 (we controlled the wings), then Bolton 16 (mostly forward), Cotchin 16, Graham/Baker/Arts 14.

With stats like that I'm not sure how we were in it, Carlton maybe are not that good except their midfield.

 

[Marcel Proust]

Cripps will pwn many teams if he stays fit

 

[Rioli2Rioli]

To be fair you've got no idea what your talking about.

Its the continual reoccurrence of injuries to key players due to mismanagement of their rehab that I am referring to. If you note when Rob Innes left and our performance before and after that point you'd understand my point

Ohh dear !!!

Look who is talking about having no idea , You have got to be the 2nd worst poster here after our very own legend ding dong moppy

 

[Lord of the Wings]

Ohh dear !!!

Look who is talking about having no idea , You have got to be the 2nd worst poster here after our very own legend ding dong moppy

I hear Dusty is retiring because he does’t like u?

 

[Spanish_Fly]

C’mon …. Dunstan is 27yo. Hewett 26yo. Greenwood 30yo. Why on earth would we give up salary cap and midfield development opportunities to players who won’t be there when hopefully contending again from 2026 onwards.

If Cotchin, Prestia, Edwards etc… fall away and don’t have us contending I sure as hell know those 3 guys were not taking us to the promised land.

It seems everyone is spewing we didn’t follow the Hawks post dynasty strategy of list top-ups galore…


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List top ups galore, lol, we are talking about 1 player. I guess it depends whether the club thinks we were still in the window to contend for a flag this year or are we developing players? If we are still in contention then it would make sense to sure up our area of concern with a low cost option. If not and we are developing for the next flag then probably not.

I assume given we brought in Tarrant and didn't play any of the kids round 1 that the club thought we were still in contention. Some people on here like to have a very black or white view on these matters, bringing in one middle aged player is not throwing our future development out the window. I may be wrong but I dont think we have one centre square midfielder in the 24-28 yo range, bringing in a low cost option in this age bracket would have been prudent from an immediate and middle term view IMO.

 

[Rioli2Rioli]

I hear Dusty is retiring because he does’t like u?

You hear jack sh!t