Do Richmond seriously think they've got a pay system similar to Geelong? Geelong's top 5 of Selwood, Dangerfield, Taylor, Enright and Hawkins stood up when the game needed to be won on Sunday. Richmond's top 5 (bar Rance) went MIA yet I'd bet the Richmond group would be paid far more coin. If you followed the Geelong pay model where you get paid based on actual output you'd be lucky to fill half the cap.
I can't find the article where it was mentioned, but
c.2013 the players were addressed and told (salary) sacrifices need to be made to achieve team success, which goes for prospective recruits also. Geelong was held up as an example.
No real argument with your post. I'd argue that our top players are performing most weeks, but the support cast isn't strong enough to allow them to be matchwinners on a regular basis.
My suspicion is that we've overpaid to keep our top players. Martin will have his hand out for an increase and who can blame him? I don't buy that Deledio signed on for 500K when GWS was throwing $1m at him. Also suspect this salary structure is chiefly responsible for the failure to acquire the players we need. Our hat's been in the ring, we've been playing finals, but no fish to show for it.
Only Matt White among required players has elected to leave under Hardwick's tenure, and even then the decision came down to length of contract. It's such a happy club, but now a harsh spotlight needs to be trained on points of failure. Far from convinced that "AFL approved" Dan Richardson is the great negotiator the club promotes him as.
Go back to the NAB Cup match v Port when Hardwick panicked and wanted to call the game off after a spate of injuries. He
knew the list was stretched entering the season. The club has failed him in not bolstering the top or middle tiers in the past two years.
All of the above needs to be balanced with the fact we were down on our arses when Hardwick began. To come from absolute rock bottom at the beginning of 2010 to finals in 2013 while fielding Gold Coast-aged teams in the face of compromised drafts, was a stupendous effort. It wasn't too long ago that the Bulldogs cited Richmond as an example they wanted to follow. But since the EF loss to Carlton we've more or less stagnated prior to tumbling in 2016. The loss of momentum coincided with Gale eyeing off Demetriou's job and the 'compromise' choice of president. Honesty and transparency has been replaced by spin. The external review must be brutally honest and the admin needs to recapture the energy they had when they began in late 2009, or get out.