Richmond priority pick 2026

[BigVic]

With the Tigers 0-6 to start 2026 and at the foot of the table as well as odds-on to win the wooden spoon for the 2nd time in 3 years, talks about Richmond getting a priority pick to speed up their rebuild before Tasmania comes in

They won a flag not long ago in the COVID season the decline.

 

[Former Decathlete]

3 flags in last decade.
No PP.

Maybe their lazy recruitment staff need to look further afield than just Haileybury College?

 

[Obeanie1]

The 5 bottom sides will all get an end of 1st Compo PP with the new bidding rules.

Thats what the Eagles got last year as its assistance.

If they need extra rookie spots sure, not much of a drama there.

 

[stallon]

What was the line again?

"ThEy DiD It To ThEmSeLvEs"

They probably need to be shit 1 more year to match how long it took the AFL to give the Eagles one, but it is what it is.
If the AFL is strong theyll say no and make the Tigers wait another year and struggle with Tassy

This is only the Tigers 3rd year at the bottom.
Took the Eagles 4 years
Took North 4 I believe too

Wce only got one to bend the FA rules at the end of the day

 

[BigVic]

I am expecting a lean few years for them who won 3 flags in 4 years not too long ago

 

[Former Decathlete]

What was the line again?

"ThEy DiD It To ThEmSeLvEs"

They probably need to be shit 1 more year to match how long it took the AFL to give the Eagles one, but it is what it is.
If the AFL is strong theyll say no and make the Tigers wait another year and struggle with Tassy

This is only the Tigers 3rd year at the bottom.
Took the Eagles 4 years
Took North 4 I believe too

Wce only got one to bend the FA rules at the end of the day

Well you did it to yourselves because you kept blaming injuries thinking your old cooked players were going to somehow turn back time.

And Richmond did it deliberately..Was a planned scorched earth rebuild.

The bigger story is there simply aren't enough good players to fill 19 teams.

This is a big problem for the AFL but good news if you are a 17yo because it's never been easier to be drafted

 

[SA HAWK]

No they chose to trade out experienced players.

 

[RUNVS]

Richmond were dumb enough to completely tank their list by trading out established players for draft picks, so Richmond very much did this to themselves.

 

[Quinz]

Whatever you did as a poor team is the wrong move.

Whatever you did as a successful team is the right move.

Sometimes, they're the same move.

 

[RUNVS]

Whatever you did as a poor team is the wrong move.

Whatever you did as a successful team is the right move.

Sometimes, they're the same move.

Out of interest though, has a team which is about to enter a rebuild, and who then trades out a number of their better players for good draft picks ever actually succeeded?

I think both North Melbourne and Melbourne did it in the past and it failed miserably, so much so that both clubs had to go back and bring in more experienced players to help their younger guys. Bad teams need experienced players to help the younger guys develop.

 

[PhatBoy]

I have a fundamental dislike of priority picks anyway but especially if a team with recent success decides to essentially sell off almost all of its assets for a raft of relatively high draft picks and that decision hasn’t reaped the benefits they hoped it would.

That was a huge, huge risk that backfired. Same as when Melbourne actually deliberately centred their plan around trying to lose games to build draft picks etc.

At least with North they got to where they ended up after a prolonged period of trying as hard as they could to swim against the tide and mired in mediocrity until it finally just gave way and the backside just fell out of the team and its results and they ended up where they ended up.

 

[RUNVS]

I have a fundamental dislike of priority picks anyway but especially if a team with recent success decides to essentially sell off almost all of its assets for a raft of relatively high draft picks and that decision hasn’t reaped the benefits they hoped it would.

That was a huge, huge risk that backfired. Same as when Melbourne actually deliberately centred their plan around trying to lose games to build draft picks etc.

At least with North they got to where they ended up after a prolonged period of trying as hard as they could to swim against the tide and mired in mediocrity until it finally just gave way and the backside just fell out of the team and its results and they ended up where they ended up.

I think North tried a similar strategy back in 2016 or 2017 from memory, though for them it was mostly about kicking out older players who still had a year or two left in them and trying to focus on their youth. Brent Harvey was still playing good football in his final season when Brad Scott dropped him off at the RSPCA.

 

[BigVic]

North took a decade to recover. Brisbane gut their list after their first run and paid their price

For Richmond they sold the farm to get Taranto and Hopper back in 2022 shortly after making the finals

 

[BigVic]

I have a fundamental dislike of priority picks anyway but especially if a team with recent success decides to essentially sell off almost all of its assets for a raft of relatively high draft picks and that decision hasn’t reaped the benefits they hoped it would.

That was a huge, huge risk that backfired. Same as when Melbourne actually deliberately centred their plan around trying to lose games to build draft picks etc.

At least with North they got to where they ended up after a prolonged period of trying as hard as they could to swim against the tide and mired in mediocrity until it finally just gave way and the backside just fell out of the team and its results and they ended up where they ended up.

West Coast traded up for Kelly to come home a year after winning the flag. One final appearance since in a COVID-shortened season and none since.

Old enough to remember that Melbourne v Richmond game in 2009 that Melbourne tanked that game to get a higher draft pick

 

[PhatBoy]

I think North tried a similar strategy back in 2016 or 2017 from memory, though for them it was mostly about kicking out older players who still had a year or two left in them and trying to focus on their youth. Brent Harvey was still playing good football in his final season when Brad Scott dropped him off at the RSPCA.

I’m not an expert as I don’t follow them that closely but they seemed to phase them out over a longer period and they still managed to win 10 or 11 games in 2019 and phased them out over a number of seasons. They had players like Goldstein, Higgins, Tarrant, Cunnington etc still around by that stage.

They had squeezed the lemon as dry as they really could without going close to a flag.

For all that I don’t really agree with them getting a priority pick either

 

[stallon]

Well you did it to yourselves because you kept blaming injuries thinking your old cooked players were going to somehow turn back time.

And Richmond did it deliberately..Was a planned scorched earth rebuild.

The bigger story is there simply aren't enough good players to fill 19 teams.

This is a big problem for the AFL but good news if you are a 17yo because it's never been easier to be drafted

Every club that becomes shit did it to themselves lmao

Even if our good old players didnt get injured, we still had no high picks coming through due to being a good side for so long.

Unfortunately in WA its a bit more awkward to tell players to look elsewhere to generate picks, youre not telling them to ask the 9 other clubs in driving distance, youre telling them to more than likely uproot their life and move to vic of all places

 

[stallon]

Out of interest though, has a team which is about to enter a rebuild, and who then trades out a number of their better players for good draft picks ever actually succeeded?

I think both North Melbourne and Melbourne did it in the past and it failed miserably, so much so that both clubs had to go back and bring in more experienced players to help their younger guys. Bad teams need experienced players to help the younger guys develop.

I do think that its getting new experienced players, not the same comfortable guys of the last successful period who are seeing out their retirement, that makes a big difference.

 

[joe444]

They already get to play at their Cheat Home Ground where they get home away finals. Worst away record among the recent premiers, plus only won flags when Wayne Campbell became umpires' boss and changed the rules to suit them.

I'd move them to Etihad where the real priority pick cases play.

 

[stallon]

West Coast traded up for Kelly to come home a year after winning the flag. One final appearance since in a COVID-shortened season and none since.

Old enough to remember that Melbourne v Richmond game in 2009 that Melbourne tanked that game to get a higher draft pick

What good side that is still in the premiership window, with the midfield being the weakness, doesnt trade a couple of late first rounders for an AA midfielder?

Every club makes that same move.
Yeo, Gov, Darling, Gaff, etc were in their 20s still playing great footy, they just all got injured the moment Kelly arrived lol

 

[RUNVS]

I do think that its getting new experienced players, not the same comfortable guys of the last successful period who are seeing out their retirement, that makes a big difference.

That is true to a certain extent.

I just keep thinking back to the first thing Paul Roos did when he took control of Melbourne. He saw that the list was too young, too inexperienced. It meant that the young players were not given a chance to develop as they were thrown into the water and expected to swim immediately. They had no older players to protect them and teach them.

That is why Roos brought in Bernie Vince and Daniel Cross. Neither were going to be in Melbourne's next flag run, and I am sure there were more than a few people who thought bringing them in was a bad decision because of that fact, but both were brought in to set training standards and to help protect the younger players in games so they did have a chance to develop and not have the entire weight of the team on their shoulders from minute one.

The reason clubs like Geelong in the past were good at developing youth was because those young players were brought into a team where they could just be side characters for the first year or two, slowly developing and getting better before eventually being able to take on more important roles within the team.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Depends on their season this year. If they win 2 games or less yes they should get one. Regardless what you think of them and their decisions, it is unfair for every team who only gets to place them once, because some teams play them twice.

 

[Sphynx]

Come back in 2 years.

They have won 1 spoon.

 

[Obeanie1]

Well you did it to yourselves because you kept blaming injuries thinking your old cooked players were going to somehow turn back time.

And Richmond did it deliberately..Was a planned scorched earth rebuild.

The bigger story is there simply aren't enough good players to fill 19 teams.

This is a big problem for the AFL but good news if you are a 17yo because it's never been easier to be drafted

Did the Eagles push out multiple best 23 players before it hit rock botttom?

No, they didnt.

They held on a bit longer hoping the injuries will stop.

By pushing out and letting go so many mature players the Tigers made this bed they are sleeping in.

So which club did it right?

No-one knows yet.

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Every club that becomes shit did it to themselves lmao

Even if our good old players didnt get injured, we still had no high picks coming through due to being a good side for so long.

Unfortunately in WA its a bit more awkward to tell players to look elsewhere to generate picks, youre not telling them to ask the 9 other clubs in driving distance, youre telling them to more than likely uproot their life and move to vic of all places

Yet your club can bring in 3 double premiership players, Baker, Graham, Starcevich in the prime years while at the bottom of the ladder because they're from W.A and there is only 2 teams they can come home to.

Something North would have loved to do 3 years ago when we had good kids but about 2 players over 27 that were AFL quality.

Swings and roundabouts

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Richmond won't be expecting priority picks. We have a huge amount of latent young talent, it is just that most of it is sitting on the sidelines injured....Gibcus, Smillie, Cumming, Hotton, Armstrong, Sims, Alger have not been able to play due to injury related issues. Young talent is not lacking on our list, so being given priority to more young talent is at best way premature.

We will get pick 1 this year, which will be a lot more valuable than a normal pick 1, with 2 clubs absolutely desperate to get into a position to get hold of the pick. So at this years draft we will be the house.

Where Richmond will have felt a bit short changed is in the 2025 draft where we held the natural picks 2 & 3 that got shunted back to 7 & 8 on draft night. But all clubs bar Brisbane, Gold Coast & West Coast suffered from that in one way or another.

Other clubs are entitled to expect that the situation should be allowed to play out for a couple more years at least so it can be seen how the list is developing.

Richmond can get a more clear picture of its immediate list needs now. The club needs to trade for a mature ruck to complement Nankervis and eventually take over, and that will be a priority in the next year or two. And decent quality players in the free agent age group 26-28 should be a priority. The club should be in the position with its salary cap to secure some of these players.

What would no doubt help the club is if the AFL introduce the proposed end of rd 1 compensation for failed bids on players in the top 5. This would likely get the Tigers an extra end of rd 1 pick around 20 which could be decent currency to trade for a fringe ruckman for example. No more than that needs to be done until we assess how all our young draftees come through their catastrophic injuries. The two that we actually have playing well right now, Lalor and Grlj look brilliant players both offensively and defensively.