Wooden spoon!

[Goldust]

The four teams in the NAB Cup semis didn't make the 8 last year. Three out of the four finished bottom four. I'd say it speaks volumes about the NAB Cup and how much of a glorified practice match schedule it has become.

Spot on, Tugga.

Think the odds on at least Carlton, Kangaroos and Lions finishing bottom four would be pretty damn short.
Thrown in Essendon and I think the bottom four is settled.

But I do worry about losing Simmonds for any length of time other than a week. The back-up options are not too enticing. Knobel, Pattiosn, Graham and Hall ....nasty!!!!!

 

[jackson_rules]

Spot on, Tugga.

Think the odds on at least Carlton, Kangaroos and Lions finishing bottom four would be pretty damn short.
Thrown in Essendon and I think the bottom four is settled.

But I do worry about losing Simmonds for any length of time other than a week. The back-up options are not too enticing. Knobel, Pattiosn, Graham and Hall ....nasty!!!!!

its good that graham in the preseason gets a few hitouts now, would be the first time he played along side richmond players having spent all of last year in coburg reserves

 

[jezza]

Pike is right in a way, because our big men are quite important to us, and that's because our running brigade are still anorexic and therefore unable to do enough. Ideally we'd be like the Dogs were last year with only 4 or 5 key talls needed, but in reality we'll be playing 6 or 7 talls each game because in the end we don't have the strength, stamina or skill to pull off what they did in our runners. Like Weaver said, it's not until these guys get 100 games into them and plenty of preseasons that we will be able to execute the plan we are trying to use and not be so reliant on a couple of key big men.

Bottom 4 seems likely to me at this stage.

 

[Haggard H]

Am I missing something? Richo and Simmonds are out for a few practice matches, and suddenly our big men are decimated for the season? God help us if the media are resorting to Martin Pike for expert comments.

Agree. I think you're all gun-shy, too used to being let down to actually believe that we may be good enough to keep heading up.

We had our fair share of injuries last year, we had 6 games interstate (inc Tassie), we had 9 games at the G, and we played 3 of the top 4 teams twice yet still finished up 11-11. This year we will hopefully have a bit better luck with injuries (despite early indicators), we've got 5 games interstate and 12 at the G - there's no reason why we can't get an extra win or two just out of those small advances alone, plus the gains of a young list with another year under their belts.

We're definitely ahead of Carlton, Kangas and Lions, I reckon we'll be ahead of the Hawks for a couple more years and there's no reason to expect much change from the Bombers with an ageing list. Port may or may not shoot up, Geelong could just as easily implode as improve. We should be ahead of the Pies.

Freo have been head cases for years, up and down and all over the shop. Don't forget Connolly was universally considered gone halfway through last season - give them a couple of injuries to Pav or Sandilands or Bell and they're a very different unit.

Melbourne are the same, unpredictable and relying on too few. Even St Kilda (good skills/bad bodies) and Adelaide (getting seriously old) could take sizeable slides.

Personally I don't think that the Doggies have got much room for improvement over last year. While they had a couple of knees to quality players (Darcy and Murphy), one contributor (Hahn) and two nobodies, they had four or five more players play every game of the season than any other club. Consistency in team selection is a huge benefit and they benefitted more than anyone else.

I'm not saying that we'll therefore finish third behind the Swans and Eagles, but we've really got to start changeing the way we think, which at the moment is, understandably, negative.

 

[Tristagi]

injuries and a couple of games go the wrong way by less than a kick anyone can finish on the bottom..

I don't think Richmond will be in the bottom four, they will not be a great deal better than last season but will improve. I think.. sorry to say it but 9th for the tiges.. They will go close to 8th/7th and will prob sit in the 8 a few times in the year.

 

[santa claws]

i agree with pikey. we have the worst list structure in the league. we have few kp players especially kpd.of the few kpf we do have none are ready or havent shown anything yet. we also have a huge hole in the list age wise. and talent wise.

we have about 24 25 players ages 18 to 22.plenty of these have big question marks about them.but as this group moves into the middle tier some of the structure problems will ease.

we have roughly 10 players aged 23 to 27. no where near enough and not enough quality. p bowden. r hall. c hyde. t knobel. a krakouer. k moore. hardly inspire confidence. throw in pettifer coughlan with 2 knees and all thats left in this area is newman.take out cogs and newman if you delisted the rest they would hardly be missed.

of the seniors left j bowden n brown. d gaspar. k johnson. m richardson. t simmonds. k kingsley. and g tivendale. 2 are duds and the rest have had problems over the yrs.

 

[Jim Jess's Jockstrap]

thats what we need another positve critic

 

[PLSC]

shut up jocky

santa is right you could delist all those blokes between 23-27 and they will not be missed but because of the poor list structure they have to stay

thats why i reckon you could do without 3-4 of those senior players and just bite the bullet and get some hardened 20 year olds into the side but hey if brian royal thinks they "deserve finals" then lets not give a crap about the club and just reward these guys for nothing

 

[jezza]

shut up jocky

santa is right you could delist all those blokes between 23-27 and they will not be missed but because of the poor list structure they have to stay

thats why i reckon you could do without 3-4 of those senior players and just bite the bullet and get some hardened 20 year olds into the side but hey if brian royal thinks they "deserve finals" then lets not give a crap about the club and just reward these guys for nothing

I wouldn't quite go to the extremes that you have, but you are on the right track. We drafted incredibly badly for many many years. That can't be rectified in 3 years of drafting and recruiting. Remember that in general on about 50% of draftees make it, so we still have a ways to go to fix the mistakes of the past, and it's made even worse by the fact that good older players will retire creating even more of a void.

 

[turtle27]

shut up jocky

santa is right you could delist all those blokes between 23-27 and they will not be missed but because of the poor list structure they have to stay

thats why i reckon you could do without 3-4 of those senior players and just bite the bullet and get some hardened 20 year olds into the side but hey if brian royal thinks they "deserve finals" then lets not give a crap about the club and just reward these guys for nothing

I'd put only Richo in that bucket. At least Walace is attempting to fix the list, unfortunately I think it's going to take every month/week/day of his 5 years to do it. Lots of work to do yet.

 

[SolidTiger]

If Richmond loses a lot of the talls this year then it is likely they could finish in the bottom four, but the spoon would be unlikely. The lack of big men on Richmonds list is one of the dissapointments of Richmond in the last few seasons. We have had that weakness for several years and hardly did anything to rectify that. I am afraid that could come back to bite us when our young midfielders mature to their peak and there are no talls to help out.

 

[Tigeritis]

we have roughly 10 players aged 23 to 27. no where near enough and not enough quality. p bowden. r hall. c hyde. t knobel. a krakouer. k moore. hardly inspire confidence. throw in pettifer coughlan with 2 knees and all thats left in this area is newman.take out cogs and newman if you delisted the rest they would hardly be missed.

This part is the biggest worry we have and there are no easy outs. We can regretably expect to see a lot of recyclables come into the team over the next few seasons.

 

[Haggard H]

shut up jocky

just bite the bullet and get some hardened 20 year olds into the side


What, or who, is a 'hardened 20 year old'?

 

[PLSC]

shut up jocky

just bite the bullet and get some hardened 20 year olds into the side


What, or who, is a 'hardened 20 year old'?

top age draft slection, not rejects but more hardened kids who have been playing tac for 2 years or so instead of grabbing the best speedster or vertical jumper from WA

understand?

 

[Haggard H]

The TAC Cup is an Under 18's comp, so theoretically no matter how many years you've been playing in the TAC, the oldest you can be when you come out is 18.

Understand?

The thing is that anyone any good, who has shown any inkling of ability, has been snapped up by someone or another well before they turn 20. If there are any 20 year olds still floating around, then they're either a late bloomer or just no good. And if they are late bloomers then they tend to get put on to rookie lists (ie Cam Howat) rather than using up a good draft pick on someone who wasn't any good at 18 and maybe just fluked one good year in the VFL or country leagues.

 

[PLSC]

The TAC Cup is an Under 18's comp, so theoretically no matter how many years you've been playing in the TAC, the oldest you can be when you come out is 18.

Understand?

The thing is that anyone any good, who has shown any inkling of ability, has been snapped up by someone or another well before they turn 20. If there are any 20 year olds still floating around, then they're either a late bloomer or just no good. And if they are late bloomers then they tend to get put on to rookie lists (ie Cam Howat) rather than using up a good draft pick on someone who wasn't any good at 18 and maybe just fluked one good year in the VFL or country leagues.

every tac side has a couple overrage players, did you miss the part where i said no rejects and duds

what like how we wasted a draft pick on peterson who kickied 5 goals in a wafl match and played in the ruck you cant tell me he had a consistent year the only reason we got him is that he is a good highlight reel

i just think foley needs help in the inside mid role because johnson has lost all attacking influence and tuck is a bench player, thats why id give anything for a jones or someone like that

 

[Tonycam*]

Got a message from Kent today , He gets his plaster off tomorrow , so as much as it most likely wont excite you guys, he should only be about 3 from returning or starting whatever way you want to put it.
Lot of people wont care but it will be good for the side. Trust me

 

[Tonycam*]

Got a message from Kent today , He gets his plaster off tomorrow , so as much as it most likely wont excite you guys, he should only be about 3 from returning or starting whatever way you want to put it.
Lot of people wont care but it will be good for the side. Trust me

Sorry guys ,just reread message . thats next Friday not tomorrow,

 

[Bojangles17]

Any team that loses all its big man stocks would be in trouble.

But there are worse teams than us out there.

agreed , can make a case for a stack of sides...here's one...if Judd and cousins go down ...the eagles will be lucky to make the finals

 

[Weaver]

every tac side has a couple overrage players, did you miss the part where i said no rejects and duds

Only some do, and then often just one. Those overage guys have been undrafted for 2 seasons and in most cases remain undrafted. Only Tyson Goldsack was drafted from amongst the overage guys last season.

 

[rfctigerarmy]

Most of the teams are very even. If any team gets a few injuries it will disrupt their year. We could finish 6th at our best and keep a solid list or finish perhaps even last if we have a horrible run with injuries and bad form. Goes for a lot of teams really.

Personally, I think 1 spot is up for grabs, realistically, and thats 8th. WCE, Syd, Freo, Melb, Bulldogs, Adelaide and St.Kilda will make the 8 more then likely. Leaves teams like Geelong, Richmond, Port, Collingwood and possibly Hawthorn up for that last spot in the 8. It is tough going.

We'll get a good idea after 5 rounds where we are at. They'll be tough matches - every one of them.

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

NOT sure if you caught it on SEN Monday night, but Martin Pike stated that Richmond was the "smokey" in terms of winning the wooden spoon.
Any thoughts ladies and gentlemen.
His reasoning, which is sound is that the Tigers more than any club could ill-afford to lose the services of any of its key big men. Pike says with Richardson and Simmonds already sidelined for the present, one more injury to a big man such as Polak or Schulz would decimate us.
I tend to agree with his philosophy ...though not counting opn Simmo or Richo being njured for any great length of time.
But we lose either or both for any sustained length of time, we are screwed big time!

Bump

I guess Martin Pike was on the money.