2010 PRE Player of the Year

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

Not Ranked

Troy Taylor (44)

Total Votes 0 (0)
Rounds Played 4 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:NOL
Average Votes/Rounds 0
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) n/a
Best Round (Votes) n/a
Normalised Score (Rank) n/a
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) n/a
Most Votes From n/a

All reports suggested that Troy Taylor slipped in the draft due to his troubled adolescence where he had some issues with the law. The Tigers took a punt on him at pick 51 in the National Draft and unfortunately Troy got involved in another incident in the summer after being drafted. With the legal ramifications of that incident hanging over him for much of the 2010 season, we only got to see him play in 4 games for the season. Troy certainly appears to be a special type of player, tall, athletic and with that intrinsic footy sense. He will need to work on getting his body built up enough to stand up to the rigours of AFL footy and build up his tank a bit, but there certainly appears to be plenty to be excited about in the coming seasons. With his legal situation now resolved, I look forward to seeing Troy strut his stuff in 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

Not Ranked

Ben Griffiths (38)

Total Votes 0 (0)
Rounds Played 5 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:NOL
Average Votes/Rounds 0
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) n/a
Best Round (Votes) n/a
Normalised Score (Rank) n/a
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) n/a
Most Votes From n/a

Richmond’s second pick in the 2010 National Draft, Ben Griffiths was fast tracked into the senior side, to provide a big target in the forward line. Unfortunately, every time he was close to selection it seemed he copped a minor injury, which set him back a few weeks. Ben eventually debuted in the Round 10 win against Port Adelaide in which he took a great mark in the wet to show what he is capable of. Ben went on to play in 5 games for the season before injury to his shoulder meant a premature off-season for him. Amazingly, Ben has yet to play in a loss and has become a bit of a talisman for the side. Of the 6 victories the Tigers recorded this season, Ben played in 5 of them. At 199cm there is great hope that Ben can develop into a dominant full forward in the coming seasons. It will be great to see that continued development in 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

Not Ranked

Jayden Post (37)

Total Votes 0 (4)
Rounds Played 7 (7)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:31
Average Votes/Rounds 0
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) n/a
Best Round (Votes) n/a
Normalised Score (Rank) n/a
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) n/a
Most Votes From n/a

In his second season with the Tigers Jayden Post appeared to struggle and couldn’t cement his place in the senior side. He ended up playing only 7 games for 2010, the same amount that he managed in his debut season. His returns in those matches this season weren’t great either and he appears to have lost a yard of pace. In his defence, he has clearly been working in the gym and has added a substantial amount of bulk to his frame. 2010 may prove to have been an adjustment year for Jayden and his form in the last couple of rounds of the year could be seen to support that conclusion. Post managed to take some great grabs and kick a couple of goals in those matches and also appeared to hold his own playing second ruck. 2011 is important year for Jayden as he endeavours to find a permanent spot in the senior line up.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

=34

Dylan Grimes (48)

Total Votes 1 (0)
Rounds Played 1 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:NOL
Average Votes/Rounds 1.0
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 34 (22)
Best Round (Votes) 22 vs Port Adelaide (1)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.028 (35)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From timYCW#7 (1)

Dylan Grimes was taken by the Tigers in the 2009 Preseason Draft and played most of the season at Coburg. Like his brother at Melbourne, Dylan is a defender and impressed enough to make his debut in the final round of the season against Port Adelaide. In my first (and only) viewing of Dylan, I was impressed. He appears tall and fast, made good decisions in defence and disposed of the ball beautifully. It would appear that there is considerable pressure for spots in the Tiger defence at the moment and Dylan is one of the players that is applying that pressure. I expect him to be much more prominent in 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

=34

Jamie O'Reilly (42)

Total Votes 1 (0)
Rounds Played 3 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:NOL
Average Votes/Rounds 0.3
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 34 (20-22)
Best Round (Votes) 20 vs Carlton (1)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.043 (34)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From mk33 (1)

Richmond’s Irish recruit had never played the game of Aussie Rules before coming over for preseason training at the end of 2009. Selected as an International Rookie, Jamie surprised everyone by quickly adapting to the game and working his way up from the Coburg Reserves to the Coburg Seniors, before amazingly earning a call up to the Richmond side in round 20. As I mentioned earlier, rookie picks are often punts, but International rookies are a far greater punt. There haven’t been too many real success stories from overseas, however Jamie has shown that he is a keen student, he has the physical attributes, he is tough and has the ability to adapt to the game. The jury is still well and truly out, but considering how far he has come in a single season, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to make it. It will interesting to see how his development progresses in 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

=32

Andrew Browne (34)

Total Votes 3 (1)
Rounds Played 4 (1)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:35
Average Votes/Rounds 0.8
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 31 (19)
Best Round (Votes) 18 vs Adelaide (2)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.098 (32)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From KnightersRevenge (2)

After playing a single game in 2009 Andrew Browne managed 4 in his second season at the club. Essentially playing second ruck in most of those games, the big Browne was serviceable in that role. He is certainly a big boy and with a few years development he could prove to be a good ‘bash and crash’ type ruckman. In those few appearances this season he did quite a few nice things and isn’t as awkward as some young ruckman. He also showed that he can kick a goal when required. However, he will need to get more involved around the ground but he has time on his side to develop the tank to fully play that role.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

=32

Troy Simmonds (5)

Total Votes 3 (7)
Rounds Played 7 (11)
Historic Position ’07:30 ’08:9 ’09:28
Average Votes/Rounds 0.4
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 11 (1)
Best Round (Votes) 1 vs Carlton (3)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.057 (33)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From jb03 (2)

After an injury plagued 2009 the Richmond Football Club decided to extend the contract of Troy to provide some leadership and coverage for our developing rucks. Unfortunately, Simmonds wasn’t able to recapture his 2008 form and struggled to impact on matches. After 6 rounds he decided that retirement was the best option and after 197 games at 3 clubs we farewelled him after the round 11 game vs St Kilda. It easy to forget his stellar 2006 season for Richmond when he pushed for All Australian and polled 11 Brownlow votes. Best of luck Snake.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

31

David Gourdis (33)

Total Votes 5 (0)
Rounds Played 3 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08NP ’09NP
Average Votes/Rounds 1.7
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 31 (20-22)
Best Round (Votes) 20 vs Carlton (5)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.214 (28)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From Tigerhart04, Big Cat Lover, arlobill, Streak & Panthera tigris FC (1)

In his 3rd year at Richmond and his 2nd on the rookie list, 2010 shaped up as an important year in the career of The Goo. He hadn’t been able to make his senior debut and closing in on 21 years of age time was running out to make an impression. When he was drafted in 2007 he was selected as a project player with outstanding athletic ability. It wasn’t until this year that he really started to play some consistent, solid footy at full back for the Burgers. This consistency was rewarded and David finally made his debut in the round 20 match versus Carlton. In the few times that I have seen him live what has struck me is his closing speed, which is elite, and his willingness to take the game on and try to run out of defence. He is still lacking in some polish, but at 194cm, his lightning pace and taking into account the improvement this season I wouldn’t be surprised to see him elevated back to the senior list for 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

=28

Adam Thomson (31)

Total Votes 6 (0)
Rounds Played 2 (2)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09NP
Average Votes/Rounds 3.0
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 7 (1)
Best Round (Votes) 1 vs Carlton (6)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.114 (30)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From skybeau, Rambler & MalenyTiger (2)

In my 2009 report I stated that Adam would need to make an impact in 2010 to secure his place in the Richmond side. Dimma gave him first crack at the midfield position left vacant by the injury to Foley but Thomson wasn’t able to take his opportunity and struggled to make an impact. After only 2 games Adam was dropped and couldn’t reclaim his spot for the rest of the season. After only managing 4 games in 2 seasons at Richmond and turning 25 in 2011 it would seem a safe bet that Thomson won’t be on the Richmond list in 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

=28

Tom Hislop (27)

Total Votes 6 (15)
Rounds Played 3 (12)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:26
Average Votes/Rounds 2.0
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 7 (1)
Best Round (Votes) 1 vs Carlton (6)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.114 (30)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From tigertrue & B1 and B2 (2)

Sloppy was another player that was given a chance to make an impact early, but couldn’t rise to the challenge. After playing 12 games in 2009, Tom only managed 3 this season. It is unclear whether he was struggling with an injury, but his season did end prematurely to rectify some problems. There has been a bit of discussion on the boards about Hislop’s future at the Tigers and he does feature prominently in many posters ‘cull list’. However, there has also been talk that the coaching staff like his attitude and aggression and that this season was essentially a write off due to injury. We shouldn’t have to wait too long to find out which is true.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

=28

Richard Tambling (30)

Total Votes 6 (854)
Rounds Played 13 (20)
Historic Position ’07:11 ’08:11 ’09:2
Average Votes/Rounds 0.5
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 13 (1)
Best Round (Votes) 1 vs Carlton & 4 vs Melbourne (2)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.149 (29)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From martyshire (2)

There isn’t another player on the Richmond list that polarises opinion as much as Richard Tambling. However, even his most ardent supporter would concede that he had bitterly disappointing season in 2010. After having surgery in the off-season to treat compartment syndrome, Tambling managed to play only 13 rounds in 2010. A number of commentators on PRE would have said that was a good half dozen more than he deserved, considering his on-field form. To put it bluntly, in some of the matches that I went to this season Richie was downright awful. He didn’t find the ball anywhere near enough for a player of his experience and just didn’t seem to be working hard enough. This felt like such an aberration after appearing to have a breakout year in 2009, so good that he finished second behind Deledio in the PRE Player of the Year. This seemed like a natural progression after consistent improvement from season to season throughout his career. Was he playing injured? Was he played out of position? Did he have off-field issues? Whatever the explanation, it is clear the Tambling needs a big pre-season and needs to be a far bigger contributor in 2011. Unlike some on PRE I can’t see Tambling being traded at the present, but time will tell.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

27

Tyrone Vickery (29)

Total Votes 9 (5)
Rounds Played 14 (9)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:29
Average Votes/Rounds 0.6
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 18 (6-8)
Best Round (Votes) 4 vs Melbourne & 6 vs Geelong (3)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.273 (27)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From mld, Smoking Aces & timYCW#7 (2)

Big Tyrone Vickery managed to play 14 games in 2010 after 9 in his debut 2009 season. Primarily playing as second ruck with stints in the forward line, Vickery’s form was a bit up and down. Unlike some posters on PRE I have plenty of time for a player of Vickery’s size and will give him time to develop into a mobile ruckman. He will need to improve his tank and more importantly, his desire for the contest. In some matches he appeared to be willing to put his body on the line, but against some of the more experienced, bigger ruckman he appeared to avoid too much body contact and gave away quite a few frees in the ruck. Hopefully, as he gets bigger and more mature this development will come naturally.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

26

Jeromey Webberley (46)

Total Votes 15 (0)
Rounds Played 10 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:NOL
Average Votes/Rounds 1.5
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 22 (9-11)
Best Round (Votes) 9 vs Essendon & 17 vs Collingwood (6)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.506 (25)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From tigertrue (3)

One of Richmond’s mature age recruits, Jeromey Webberley came to the club after having a standout season playing footy in Tasmania. Turning 22 during the season, it was expected that Jeromey would be ready to play footy and he managed 10 games this season. He had a reasonably solid start to his career playing as a running defender off halfback and using his big kicks to set up attacking plays. Not a bad debut season, but he will need to try to cement a place in the side in 2011. Not the easiest ask considering the competition for positions in the role he plays.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

25

Mitch Farmer (15)

Total Votes 16 (0)
Rounds Played 17 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:NOL
Average Votes/Rounds 0.9
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 21 (15)
Best Round (Votes) 14 vs Sydney ( 8 )
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.363 (26)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From ihateRICHOhaters (3)

Mitch was traded to Richmond from Port Adelaide in the off-season as part of the deal for Jay Schulz. He only managed to play 3 games in his 2 seasons at Port, so his return of 17 games in 2010 was a great improvement in his career. Mitch played as a small defender and did a pretty good job, not stellar, but solid. He seems to be the sort of player that can get the job done, but will rarely stand out in the voting (hence 16 votes from 17 games). He played good desperate defence at times and did try to provide attack from the backline.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

24

Alex Rance (18)

Total Votes 18 (85)
Rounds Played 10 (15)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:23
Average Votes/Rounds 1.8
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 16 (5)
Best Round (Votes) 5 vs Fremantle (11)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.604 (24)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From Streak (2)

Alex Rance came into his second season at the Tigers and struggled a bit for form early on. His preseason outings were pretty forgettable as he tried to find a place in defence. A number of silly errors and problems with decision making cost the team and he had to wait until round 3 to play his first game of 2010. Again, his form wasn’t great, with the typical Rance problems: decision making and footy smarts. He is a big boy, athletic and fearless, but he certainly needed to work on making good decisions on the field. After spending much of the second half of the season at Coburg he returned to play 3 games at the end of the 2010 season. His form had improved quite a bit at Coburg and that seemed to translate reasonably well at AFL level as he didn’t seem as prone to the errors that characterised his games earlier in the season. Alex still has some work to do to iron out his game, however it would seem that he will continue to develop at the Tigers in 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

23

Dean Polo (14)

Total Votes 20 (101)
Rounds Played 4 (21)
Historic Position ’07:25 ’08:25 ’09:20
Average Votes/Rounds 5.0
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 13 (3)
Best Round (Votes) 6 vs Geelong (13)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.656 (23)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From poppa x (3)

After playing 21 games in 2009, Dean Polo would have been looking to establish himself as a regular in the Richmond starting line-up. However, Dean couldn’t really cement a place and only managed a disappointing 4 appearances at senior level in 2010. Dean played plenty of solid games at Coburg, but just couldn’t make a decent impact when he had his opportunities at AFL level. In his 6th season on an AFL list this doesn’t bode well for his future and he is featured prominently in the predicted delistings. If this does prove to be the case Dean will be a player whose best game turned out to be his first and will mean that of our 5 picks in the top 20 in the 2004 draft, only two will remain.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

22

Andrew Collins (24)

Total Votes 31 (109)
Rounds Played 15 (10)
Historic Position ’07NP ’08NP ’09:18
Average Votes/Rounds 2.1
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 18 (13-16)
Best Round (Votes) 13 vs Brisbane (14)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.830 (22)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From spook, tigertrue & Tiges67 (3)

Andrew ‘Beaker’ Collins had another solid season after making his AFL debut in 2009. Dimma mainly played Collins as a forward this season, a role in which he played some crucial cameos, including coming back on after being KO’ed to win the game against Sydney in round 14. I had never seen Collins as a forward-type, having liked his footy smarts in the midfield or wing, but he has certainly shown that he has some goal sense and can play well under pressure. 2011 will see him try to play out the full 22 rounds of the season at senior level.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

21

Matthew White (35)

Total Votes 38 (186)
Rounds Played 16 (16)
Historic Position ’07:29 ’08:19 ’09:11
Average Votes/Rounds 2.4
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 18 (15-16)
Best Round (Votes) 15 vs Fremantle (19)
Normalised Score (Rank) 0.998 (21)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From happytige, HeadandShin & Streak (4)

Just looking at this 21st place finish for Matty White, his worst result in these polls since 2007, it would be easy to think that he had a poor season. On the contrary, I thought Whitey had his best season to date. Under Dimma, Matt has continued to show his best traits, pace, willingness to take on the play and his trademark guts and determination. However, his brain-fades that have made him a love child of the PRE Darksiders seem to have dropped off a bit this season. Not gone mind you, but certainly improved. Whether he is playing within himself a bit more, or is thriving under a new coaching regime, I see Matty playing an important role in the Dimma gameplan. He is one of the best at running out games and providing pace to break the lines. I would be surprised if that did not continue in 2011.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

20

Luke McGuane (16)

Total Votes 45 (159)
Rounds Played 16 (22)
Historic Position ’07:18 ’08:18 ’09:13
Average Votes/Rounds 2.8
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 6 (2)
Best Round (Votes) 2 vs Western Bulldogs (37)
Normalised Score (Rank) 1.142 (20)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 0 (n/a)
Most Votes From timYCW#7 (4)

Depending on who you speak to Luke is rated as either our most important defender, or a complete liability in the side. I tend to lean more towards the latter assessment, but do think that he is certainly an experienced defender who will give his all. This season was essentially the same for Luke: 100% commitment with plenty of errors and silly free kicks conceded. It would certainly seem that the new coaching panel agrees and would prefer to develop some of our younger KPP in the backline. In doing so, they also tried McGuane out in other positions, especially forward in a few games, with very limited success. I wouldn’t be surprised if Luke is shopped around this trade week with a view to improving our backline, a process that appears to have commenced this season.

 

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PRE Player of the Year 2010
FINAL RANKINGS

19

David Astbury (39)

Total Votes 64 (0)
Rounds Played 17 (0)
Historic Position ’07:NOL ’08:NOL ’09:NOL
Average Votes/Rounds 3.8
Highest Ranking (Round(s)) 15 (4)
Best Round (Votes) 17 vs Collingwood (52)
Normalised Score (Rank) 2.493 (18)
Richmond ‘Brownlow’ Votes (Ranking) 2 (=16)
Most Votes From Baloo & Freezer (4)

Following on from my comments on McGuane, conveniently, we have a player who seems the most likely to play a similar role in the backline. In his first season at the Tigers, Astbury has shown a lot of potential and managed to play 17 games, an outstanding effort for a debutant. Originally played in the forward line, he moved back and instantly looked comfortable in the role. He has also expressed a desire to play as a defender and with his neat skills, good height and willingness to run he certainly shows plenty of promise in the position. As he bulks up over the coming seasons he could well turn out to be an important part of a successful Tigers team.