Welcome to Sydney Uni, Xavier Richards!

[grimlock]

Little Ted.

 

[S120]

Let's hope he will keep the unusually large forehead and funny gait of the Richards clan in Sydney for many years to come.

 

[strauchanie59]

Cal Twomey thinks Xavier very unlucky to miss out both drafts this and last years. Reckon, IMO, could play AFL in the next season or two. But his best is brilliant and his worst is terrible.

 

[Superstar swan]

I imagine he will have to show a lot more consistency than most draftees to get his shot at the seniors

 

[vonn]

MINI TED! THIS DRAFT PERIOD IS SO CUTE IM DYING WE GOT TWO LITTLE BROS ARGHHHHHHHH

It's actually adorable how cute Sydney are with this draft.

 

[Bonz]

Small writeup I did on what I thought of Xavier's draft chances.

He did show a great deal of improvement in the TAC Cup this year though, And he had a few great shut down games during the year.

Main issue I have with him is his consistency, He conceded 8 goals whilst playing on Tim Membrey (Slightly ironic ) (And could also be just due down to Membrey's class and form during the finals series)

But it is slightly less known that Richards actually held Membrey to only one goal only a few weeks beforehand...

He is certainly more athletic than his brother and a bit quicker off the mark... But he really struggles with his concentration and lets a lot of small things really get to him, If he wants to make it even at VFL level (Where I think he played one or two games for the Zebra's this year) he really needs to work on his focus and be a bit less emotional on the field... He lets too much get to him.

Solid without being a spectacular kick, Pretty versatile (Can be thrown up forward), Needs to put on a fair bit of weight.

I think he wouldn't be the worst rookie prospect out there... Would certainly be a project though, Needs to work on his body positioning, Focus, And general reading of the play before he goes anywhere though.

 

[ShaySwannies]

Welcome Xavier, if he turns out to be half the defender Teddy is we've got ourselves a bargain

 

[swansfan51]

if he turns out to be half the defender Teddy is we've got ourselves a bargain

If he was 97cm and 46kg I don't think he'd be defending much of anything

 

[RUNVS]

If he was 97cm and 46kg I don't think he'd be defending much of anything

He could headbutt the opposition players in the genitals

 

[grimlock]

Kinnear Beatson

Pick 29: Xavier Richards

Beatson says: Xavier's shown that he can play at both ends of the ground. He split his year playing in the TAC Cup with the Sandringham Dragons, but also played some games with the Sandringham Zebras in the VFL. With Xavier, we were looking for a key position player and he is keen to come up here and have a run. He's got work to do as all rookies and draftees do, but all the boys we've taken we believe have good heads on their shoulders, they're intelligent young kids, they're fit and we're confident they'll apply themselves really well.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

If he was 97cm and 46kg I don't think he'd be defending much of anything

Except the indefensible.

 

[GotTheGoodes]

What I just posted in Brandon Jacks thread:

Very happy with this and Xaviers selections. Unlike most young lads moving to an AFL club, having a family member or very very close friend also at the club will mean their actual value is more IMO. They have a far greater support network than most young rookies have along with the ability for the coaches to use thier brother in the development process (i.e. "Kizza, how is the best way of getting Brandon to do X?" etc etc). And I've always felt players from sporting families are often more likely to eventually pull it all together and perform to a high level more-so than non-sporting family players.

I see Xavier as a better quality player atm than Brandon and actually believe we were lucky to get him. As Bonza mentioned his best seems to be worthy of gametime however his worst seems to be utterly pathetic. And As I mentioned in another thread on these lads, I love the selections which have that slight bit of risk about them. It's the idea that if we can extract the "best" and eliminate the "worst" he will be a ridiculously good player worth far far more than we picked him up for. Then again his "best" could have been a fluke never to be replicated again. That's the risk. And I think it's well worth it.

 

[baja]

What school did Xavier attend?

 

[Cadsky]

If any team can bring this block up to AFL standard its us. Im glad we took a chance on him. Btw anyone got a pic of the two Rich bros?

 

[Membling]

But does that mean we have no more:

 

[J_Moore]

If any team can bring this block up to AFL standard its us. Im glad we took a chance on him. Btw anyone got a pic of the two Rich bros?

 

[Membling]

Xavier looks bigger. Also his nickname should be professor or Charles

 

[vonn]

But does that mean we have no more:

That's the cutest thing I've ever seeeenn

 

[grimlock]

This thread needs more love.

2015 NEAFL
Xavier RICHARDS
12 NEAFL games
9.5 kicks
2.9 handballs
4.7 marks
1.5 tackles
0.3 clearances
0.8 inside 50s
3.4 rebound 50s
2 goals
4 NEAFL MVP votes
53.92 DT points

 

[Superstar swan]

Excited to see him play again. His body looks more mature since his debut. A strong performance will ease some of our concerns

 

[The King!]

Im happy to see him play

I have not been impressed yet even slightly the few times i have seen him, but its nice to see what a young key defender can do, let hope he plays well

 

[Tedeski]

Mistakes made by young players are better than mistakes made by older players as they can learn from them.

 

[The King!]

Grim is right needs more love

We need to develop key defenders and cant get upset when they get a go

I actually hope he plays a few weeks, lets see if he is up to it

 

[Tedeski]

What's important is that is that he understands the team defence & what his role is.
He can't be any worse than Ted has been of late but the experience will be in valuable should we need to call on him come finals.

 

[Millky95]

Full game too maybe?