The Tigers won because of their depth.

[Tzatziki_Man]

Trent Cotchin played a blinder in the middle and Ivan Maric was important in the ruck, but the Tigers won because of their depth.

- Mark Robinson, Herald Sun.

They won it in the midfield. On a day when the Tigers most needed him to stand tall, Cotchin did exactly that with 34 disposals and six clearances.

Jackson also did it in that understated way that he always does it, with 22 disposals, seven tackles and seven clearances.

Dustin Martin was also damaging with his 30 disposals and six inside-50s, but more so when he went forward.

Yet there was a handful of others in the midfield who joined in to ensure the Tigers won the area of the ground Fremantle tries to turn into a battle of attrition.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tigers-deliver-the-dream-20130721-2qcb3.html#ixzz2Zl6XSvcd

Matt Murnane, The Age

They 'pantsed' us around the stoppages ... at the end of the day (we were) beaten in the midfield."

Ross Lyon, Fremantle Coach.

“With the depth that we’ve got now, it’s exciting times . . .”

Brandon Ellis, Richmond Player.


We have depth.

What. The. ****.

For someone that's followed this club before I knew how to poo on a toilet, I can't comprehend depth. We've had great players, up and comers, but even 1995 and 2001, we have weak links in the team and struggled. If we lost Cotchin or Deledio, I would be confident that we could still hold our own, it wouldn't be ideal, but we're a good team now, no longer a team with some good players. We need another forward for Jack Riewoldt though, that may be our achilles heel.

 

[tigs2010]

I still believe we are quite shit.

 

[Nostradumbass]

[. We need another forward for Jack Riewoldt though, that may be our achilles heel.

That will be sorted in the trade period.

 

[RichoLedio]

That will be sorted in the trade period.

Yay

 

[thecotch]

Not sure what depth they're on about. If they look at coburg, apart from McBean as a potential, there's not a lot of exciting things happening at the minute. Coburg are a basket case. We have knights and grimes to come back and Tuck is probably going to retire.

 

[mcuzzy]

Not sure what depth they're on about. If they look at coburg, apart from McBean as a potential, there's not a lot of exciting things happening at the minute. Coburg are a basket case. We have knights and grimes to come back and Tuck is probably going to retire.

Not exactly stars, but players that can come in and do a reasonable job if need be.

- Batchelor
- Dea
- Arseberry
- McGuane
- Nahas
- Lonergan
- Stephenson
- Arnot

Hard to tell which ones are rotational or not so I probably left a few out

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Not sure what depth they're on about. If they look at coburg, apart from McBean as a potential, there's not a lot of exciting things happening at the minute. Coburg are a basket case. We have knights and grimes to come back and Tuck is probably going to retire.

In a way, I agree with this in terms of promising youngsters who can come into the side. However, given the core of our team is predominantly quite young, we can afford to not have lots of youngsters pressing for a spot in the seniors. As long as we have solid depth options who can come in and do a role for the side, that's all that should matter IMO.

 

[SumTingWong]

That will be sorted in the trade period.

Is this a Doozy I see before me?

 

[RunningBounce]

Not exactly stars, but players that can come in and do a reasonable job if need be.

- Batchelor
- Dea
- Arseberry
- McGuane
- Nahas
- Lonergan
- Stephenson
- Arnot

Hard to tell which ones are rotational or not so I probably left a few out

I agree. They aren't stars, and I wouldn't want to see all of that list playing in the same Richmond team, but happy to have every one of them competing for a spot.

I reckon the depth the media are talking about is the quality of our last player(s) picked in the 22. Tuck was 23rd man and would be a walk up start at ten (or more) other clubs, IMO.

Last year, the 22nd player picked was often Post. It might have been Foley or Vlaustin on Sunday. BIG step up in quality.

 

[Hank Heavenly]

Depth = Finals
Finals = Balls Deep
Balls Deep = Premiership Contender

Logical isn't it??

 

[RFC_Official]

Is this a Doozy I see before me?

DOOZY ALERT

 

[SumTingWong]

DOOZY ALERT

Holy cow!!! It's official now Makes me almost as excited as playing finals

 

[Nostradumbass]

There's nothing to really get excited about at Coburg IMO apart from McBean. Maybe a run against GWS for him if we've secured a finals spot by then?

 

[Hank Heavenly]

There's nothing to really get excited about at Coburg IMO apart from McBean. Maybe a run against GWS for him if we've secured a finals spot by then?

Normally I would say yes to this... but I would like to think we would be preparing for our first finals campaign in 12 years, and getting our best 22 on the park and firing TOGETHER would be more important than 1 game for a kid who it appears will get plenty of game time next year.

If he earns the spot and there is a need for him in the team, always a yes.

 

[ScallyWag1]

Saw our injury list today, it's quite small.

I think our depth is a real worry. We have done a great job in building a relatively deep 22-25. But once you drop past that we've got very few AFL quality players IMHO.

Still a ways to go yet for 'depth'.

 

[Mr Magic]

- Mark Robinson, Herald Sun.


Matt Murnane, The Age

Ross Lyon, Fremantle Coach.

Brandon Ellis, Richmond Player.


We have depth.

What. The. ****.

For someone that's followed this club before I knew how to poo on a toilet, I can't comprehend depth. We've had great players, up and comers, but even 1995 and 2001, we have weak links in the team and struggled. If we lost Cotchin or Deledio, I would be confident that we could still hold our own, it wouldn't be ideal, but we're a good team now, no longer a team with some good players. We need another forward for Jack Riewoldt though, that may be our achilles heel.

I think we won because of our polish. We have a bit more class over the full list whereas Freo is more workmanlike IMO like the Saints less the stars

 

[SA TIGER]

Depth or not, consider ourselves fortunate on the injury front.

 

[TigerTime88]

Hate to state the obvious but I think they meant midfield depth in our starting 22...eg. rotations throughout the game.

Not depth playing down at Coburg...

 

[JR82]

I still believe we are quite shit.

are you perhaps looking at your DP when u say that?

 

[Livonski]

Saw our injury list today, it's quite small.

I think our depth is a real worry. We have done a great job in building a relatively deep 22-25. But once you drop past that we've got very few AFL quality players IMHO.

Still a ways to go yet for 'depth'.

The problem there Wag is if I'm number 26 and capable of playing AFL seniors, I'm looking for a trade somewhere else. You can't maintain genuine depth at that level. It's why you have McGuanes, Big Os, Lonergans. No currency elsewhere but you can't have too many of them as it reduces your develop kids numbers.

 

[tigs2010]

are you perhaps looking at your DP when u say that?

Oi batted better than the batsman.

 

[Rancid_Beasties]

It has already been said but the evenness of quality in our best 22 is getting pretty good, particularly if you disregard the best 4 players - probably cotchin, riewoldt, deledio, martin - and look at players 5 to 22.

From 23-34 (noting that most teams in premiership years seem to play around 34 players in a season) we are pretty weak. As mentioned by mcuzzy above we are talking about:

- Batchelor
- Dea
- Astbury
- McGuane
- Nahas
- Lonergan
- Stephenson
- Arnot

I'd add
- Tuck
- Helbig
- A.Edwards
- Griffiths

There's 12 guys (23 to 34) that represent our true depth and it doesn't instill me with confidence. In all honesty, moving into 2014 I'm only really keen to keep batchelor (still think he has the weapons to develop into a best 22 player), dea (as a basketball convert, could still have some development) and arnot (has shown a bit when given a chance). The rest I wouldn't be fussed if we delisted or kept for another year, save for helbig who I am not sure is up to it. If we had the injury list of fremantle we would possibly be bottom 4, rather than where we are now!

 

[Dr Tigris]

The depth from 25-25 is usually pretty poor in most clubs. These days the player pool is fairly shallow over 18 clubs. And the salary cap means it is hard to pay guys that aren't first 22 decent $. Our depth there isn't great. But I wonder what will happen when we have our own team. I'd like to see some more mature guys playing in the 2s to show the way - essentially as development coaches. And quite often gusy click about 22-24 years old. We have a few youinger players kicking around that show a bit, then aren't quite there. Give them 2 more years and we might have great depth. But if the coaching staff reckon, out they go. All I'm saying is that our whopel squad is young and given how deopth is improving each year I'd expect our depth in the 2s to be good in a couple of years, if we keep following the same plan.

 

[JR82]

Oi batted better than the batsman.

i was referring to the other team guys in the background

 

[Wallaby]

On Monday's I sometimes go onto other team's boards and read what their supporters think of their players. Particularly after they lose. EVERY team has players who 'Should Never Wear Our Jumper Again'. EVERY team has players who are 'Not AFL Footballers'. In the 1980 Grand Final, we had Daryl Freame and Stephen Mount in our team.

In our current side, most opposition supporters laugh at us playing Jake King. Petterd was dumped from one of the worst teams going around. Maric was a 'Trier, but surplus to requirements'. Morris was 'Never good enough to be drafted'. Thise guys do their jobs.

The key is - you have some playmakers, some creators, and some who do a specific job. The not-so-good - well, they become the back flankers, the taggers and the defensive forwards. Do your job - do it right. Do it in the way your team mates expect. Do it if you come into the team for your first game in a month or so. This is coaching. This is list management, this is team structure and gameplan. Depth is a function of these.

Anybody can coach Gary Ablett. Good coaches can coach duds to be useful contributors.