Tiger_Of_Old
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Richmond is the champion of list architects – using a mix of rookies, clever drafting and a group of stars to build a team that would dominate the competition. This is how they turned the players no one wanted into one of the AFL’s most feared dynasties.
Rookie-rich Richmond says the secret to the draft is to study a prospect’s best football.
“Look at what they can really do,” long-time recruiter Francis Jackson said.
“They’re probably rookies because they have a deficiency in another area, but you go back and look at the positive aspect of their profile, and not focus on the negative.
“We have a list of deficiencies that are improvable and another list that are not improvable.
“An improvable one might be kicking efficiency. We had an issue with Dylan’s (Grimes) original kick, but he’s improved, improved, improved and modified.”
Kicking efficiency can be “significantly improved” – often by simply taking safer options – whereas some qualities only shift “marginally”.
“That’s generally speed and contested footy – the ability to halve contests or win contested ball,” Jackson said.
“There’s always outliers, but you should look at what the individual can do – not what they can’t do.”
There is a reason Jackson talks with distinction.
Under Tigers talent boss Blair Hartley and scouts Matthew Clarke, Richard Taylor and Jackson, an experienced team which Will Thursfield joined in 2018, no club has extracted diamonds from the rough like Richmond.
Between taking Grimes in the 2009 pre-season draft and Marlion Pickett in the 2019 mid-season rookie draft there have been more than a dozen success stories.
There were 76 players selected before Grimes, who will play on Patrick Dangerfield in the Grand Final, but that doesn’t mean the Tigers ranked him that late in the night.
“Sometimes you mightn’t take someone because you know you can get them later, depending on how many interviews they’ve had and what the situation is,” Jackson said.
“We knew we’d get Dylan in that pre-season draft. The way he’s continually worked on his game and improved year on year, particularly since Alex (Rance) retired, is a credit to him.”
Richmond’s Grand Final line-up will feature rookies Jayden Short, Jason Castagna, Kane Lambert, Liam Baker and Pickett, while ruckman Ivan Soldo is injured, Mabior Chol and Jake Aarts are likely to be emergencies and Sydney Stack is suspended.
Throw in Grimes and late national draft picks Nathan Broad, Jack Graham, plus 2017 premiership forward and St Kilda barometer Dan Butler, and the Tigers are on the verge of a dynasty built from the draft’s dumpster.
CHERRY ON TOP
Free agent Tom Lynch attracts headlines after walking from the bottom of the ladder to the top, but he is the cherry rather than the cake.
Close to a dozen blue-collar bolters that nobody else wanted have featured this October, and Broad and Lambert are Jackson’s favourite picks.
Combined, they were eligible for 10 national drafts and 1450 players were selected before Richmond finally pulled the trigger on them.
“They’d been knocked back, both of them, and persevered and persevered and persevered,” Jackson said.
“Sometimes you certainly can see players play too much, because you look for their weaknesses rather than focusing on their strengths.
“(Broad) was one of our more memorable interviews I recall, because he didn’t play under-18 carnival footy and I think he had a bit of a good time as a youngster,” Jackson said.
“Then he knuckled down to his footy at Swan Districts. He played reserve grade footy for two years after his 18s, and then had a good senior year.
“It’s been a Cinderella story for Nathan. He was very forthright and very honest, which we like.
“Everyone’s different and comes through different pathways to play, but he knuckled down and has played in two premierships.”
Denis Pagan coached Lambert in the TAC Cup and dubbed him a “right-footed Anthony Stevens”.
But it took a VFL final where Lambert had 14 clearances, 14 inside 50s and kicked four goals (169 SuperCoach points) five years later to force Richmond’s hand.
Lambert was the pick of a mighty bunch. How is this for one haul?
In 2014 the Tigers snared Butler at No. 67 in the national draft and then went Short, Castagna, Lambert and Soldo as rookies.
The other 17 clubs collectively found Jeremy Finlayson (GWS), Jack Sinclair (St Kilda), Reilly O’Brien (Adelaide) and Adam Saad (Gold Coast) and the Tigers went tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
They didn’t just pick the eyes out of the draft, but the nose and mouth as well.
TIP OF ICEBERG
Coach Damien Hardwick knew that when the football world came for him in 2016.
The Tigers started 1-6 and, after three-straight finals appearances, smashed into the wall.
There were calls to sack the coach and put every Tiger up for trade as a lengthy rebuild seemingly loomed.
“People only see the top of the iceberg, they only see the 22 players we put out there on a weekly basis,” Hardwick said at the time.
“They don’t see what’s under the water, and we’re really excited about the prospect of some of these young kids coming through.
“Our last two drafts we’ve been really pleased with.”
Back then, unless you lived at Punt Rd, Broad meant an Ashes villain, Lambert was a pop star from the US and Dustin Martin couldn’t afford a butler even if he wanted one.
But like chief executive Brendon Gale’s bold forecast on Footy Classified, Hardwick’s 2016 interview has aged as well as Jennifer Lopez.
“Clearly, we get these kids at different developmental stages,” Jackson said.
“Our development coaches have been outstanding at recognising the areas these kids need to improve on and persevering with them.
“Craig McRae and Ryan Ferguson have had a significant impact on these players, it’s a credit to them.”
The Herald Sun asked Hardwick about his iceberg analogy minutes after the 2017 premiership.
“I knew we had some talent down there that wasn’t quite ready,” he said with a grin.
“There’s a guy by the name of Francis Jackson that probably doesn’t get the plaudits he deserves.
“He’s been an incredible support to me, he drafted all these kids working in conjunction with Blair and Matthew Clarke.
“A coach is only as good as the talent that he has, and he built the list.
“We copped a lot of whacks along the way, but I hope Francis sleeps well tonight.”
FRANCIS JACKSON ON THE GOLDEN CHOICES
2009
Dylan Grimes, 29 (Pre-season draft)
— 2017 and 2019 premiership player, will play 2020 Grand Final
“We liked Dylan because of his speed and his ability to lock down on an opponent. Plus his versatility – because of his size and his speed he could play on talls and smalls.“
2014
DAN BUTLER, 24 (No. 67, national draft)
— 2017 premiership player, now starring at St Kilda
“He had an up-and-down carnival, he played back a little, and we thought he could play forward with his speed, and his work ethic was just terrific.
“Not a football family, so after the draft I knew I had to go and see his family, because they had little comprehension of what lay ahead.
“I got off the plane from the Gold Coast and drove straight to his house the other side of Ballarat and sat down with his mum and dad and his little brother, who is a strong chance to get picked next year.
“I explained to them that Dan would actually be a full-time footballer.
“His mum or his dad said, ‘What? You mean he won’t work, he’ll just play football?’ The parents had little comprehension of what the footy world was like.
“He’s a terrific kid so it’s really gratifying to see him kick on with the season he’s had, and hopefully he can continue that.”
Jayden Short, 24 (No. 11, rookie draft)
— 2019 premiership player, will play 2020 Grand Final
“He was physically immature. But for someone of his physique to kick the footy like he did was a real positive, and he was just early in his developmental stage.
“It’s just his timing and his ability to kick the footy with such depth. When given the opportunity we knew he could develop physically, which he’s done, and then combine with his skill level.”
Jason Castagna, 24 (No. 29, rookie draft)
— 2017 and 2019 premiership player, will play 2020 Grand Final
“His skill level was a bit inconsistent, but his physical attributes were terrific, and he had genuine speed and really good attack on the ball.
“We’ve seen him work really hard on his skill level, and to get to where he has is just a credit to him.
“He’s got those Richmond qualities we really admire and his ability to persevere and work through everything has been terrific.”
Kane Lambert, 28 (No. 46, rookie draft)
— 2017 and 2019 premiership player, will play 2020 Grand Final
“We just felt he deserved a chance given what he’d achieved.
“He didn’t have significant physical attributes, but his footy nous and ability to work 100 per cent, and he certainly had great endurance.
“To see what Kane’s achieved – he finished third in the best-and-fairest in 2017 and second in 2018.
“He’s just an outstanding individual who leaves no stone unturned to be the best he can.”
Ivan Soldo, 24 (No. 68, rookie draft)
— 2019 premiership player, suffered knee injury in Round 17
“He was a big, raw unit who had some physical attributes of a ruckman, but he had to do an enormous amount of work to trim down physically and then understand the game and learn the skills.
“He lost a significant amount of weight, trimmed right down, hit the gym and became physically stronger – but he also had a really steely determination, which ruckmen need to succeed because it’s a tough gig playing in the ruck.”
2015
Nathan Broad, 27 (No. 67, national draft)
— 2017 and 2019 premiership player, will play 2020 Grand Final
“He’s a player that did have physical attributes – his height at around 190cm, he had terrific speed, he tested super well for repeat speed and he had really good physical attributes to play modern footy.”
Mabior Chol, 23 (No. 30, rookie draft)
— Likely to be an emergency for 2020 Grand Final
“We just saw his athletic prowess and his ability to do special things and we probably wanted him to do the bread and butter things a little bit better.
“Everyone’s seen his athleticism and his ability to jump and run and carry the footy.
“It takes a lot of time for those kids to bridge the gap and he’s slowly bridging the gap. But he’s only scratched the surface because his best is terrific.
“He had a highlights reel. We always do a package for our website of highlights and sometimes they’re hard to find, but for him it was simple.”
2017
Liam Baker, 22 (No. 18, rookie draft)
— 2019 premiership player, will play 2020 Grand Final
“We nearly took him in his draft year (2016). Liam’s strength is his footy intellect, he makes great decisions and again, sometimes you’re dealt with ordinary cards physically.
“He doesn’t have great athletic traits or size, but his footy IQ is fantastic and he’s a really tough competitor. He can halve contests and he can use the footy really well.
“We always do projected positions and we didn’t think he was a defender. Maybe he’s got Caleb Daniel a little to thank for that.”
2018
JAKE AARTS, 25 (No. 16 rookie draft)
— Likely to be an emergency for 2020 Grand Final
“His toughness and competitiveness and ability to finish goals was a standout feature, and again Craig McRae did a fabulous job with him.”
Sydney Stack, 20 (Pre-season supplemental selection)
— Suspended until Rd 5, 2021 due to COVID-19 breach
“I watched him play in the 16s, but I first met Sydney on the tour of AIS tour of New Zealand.
“He was late to New Zealand, he had an issue, and when I was actually interviewing I kept thinking, ‘Wow, the things this kid has gone through in life are significant’.
“And to Sydney’s credit he just answered every question I asked honestly and he just left a lasting impression that his honesty and ability to own up for some of the errors of his ways was just a terrific characteristic for a kid.
“He’d made plenty of blues along the way and he was the first to admit it.
“What we liked about him was his genuine toughness and his ability to compete.
“Clubs work so hard to build their brand and culture, and Sydney was a risk – but the person who needs to take the credit here is Dimma.
“When Sydney moved into Dimma’s house to live after we picked him, I don’t think too many coaches would do that.
“He’s got his own family and kids, so it was a life-changing moment for Sydney, despite his latest indiscretion. Hopefully he can overcome that, he’s overcome lots of things in his life.”
2019
Marlion Pickett, 28 (Mid-season rookie draft)
— 2019 premiership player, will play 2020 Grand Final
“You can’t underestimate perseverance and the ability to fulfil your dream.
“Marlion just kept plugging away at South Fremantle playing good, tough footy. His determination and will to win, and the way he’s embraced Richmond, culture has been fabulous.
“Last year he broke his thumb during the year, he had setback after setback and he played good VFL finals footy and credit to the coaching staff for picking a debutant in a Grand Final.”
