PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum

It seems the general concensus here is that our list is improving, although the honourable claw often states we have no real list management strategies in place.

With that in mind, I thought I'd have a look at the way our list is being shaped and compare that to some contemporary powerhouse teams. I've used the Lions team from '02 and last year's Eagles team as the testing material. Both these teams have had sustained success (3+ consecutive years in the finals) so obviously they had/have the combination right.

I've tried to break it down more into types of players than actual positional line-ups as I feel with rotations it is very hard to have a set-in-stone lineup these days. Players in italics are the backups in each catagory.

Obviously, catagorizing players is a little subjective and not always black and white, so please feel free to point out the mistakes and ommissions I'm sure I've made.

Brisbane 2002:

Key Defenders - 3 (Leppitsch, Michael, White, Shattock)
Key Forwards (including shorter players used primarily as marking targets in the forward line) - 3 (Lynch, Brown, Bradshaw)
Small Forwards - 1 (McRae)
Rucks - 2 (Charman, McDonald, Keating)
Inside Midfielders (including taggers) - 5 (Voss, Power, Hart, Ashcroft, B.Scott)
Outside Midfielders (including hff'ers) - 5 (Akermanis, Headland, Lappin, Black, Pike, McGrath)
Medium Defenders - 3 (Notting, Johnson, C. Scott, Copeland)


West Coast 2005:

Key Defenders - 3 (Glass, Hunter, B. Jones, Gaspar)
Key Forwards - 2/3 (Lynch, Staker, Hansen, Graham)
Small Forwards - 1/2 (Matera, Sampi)
Rucks - 2 (Cox, Gardiner, Seaby)
Inside Midfielders - 5 (Judd, Kerr, Fletcher, Braun, Selwood, Adkins, Morton)
Outside Midfielders - 5 (Cousins, Stenglein, Embley, Banfield, Chick, R. Jones, Rosa)
Medium Defenders - 3 (Wirrpunda, Nicoski, Butler, Wooden, Waters)


Trying to use this template and starting with the 2004 draft, here's a look at Richmond's structure and progression after Greg Miller arrived:

Team for 2003:

Key Defenders - 3 (Gaspar, A. Kellaway, D. Kellaway, Vardy)
Key Forwards - 3 (Richardson, Holland, Pettifer, Schulz)
Small Forwards - 1 (Krakouer, McGrath)
Rucks - 2 (Stafford, Ottens, Hall)
Inside Midfielders - 5 (Coughlan, Johnson, King, Fleming, Chaffey, Nicholls, Dragacevic)
Outside Midfielders - 5 (Tivendale, Cameron, Campbell, Fiora, Biddiscombe, Houlihan, Hilton, Hyde, Mills, Blumfield, Rodan)
Medium Defenders - 3 (Bowden, Newman, Zantuck)

Players traded/delisted/retired: Cameron, Holland, McGrath, King, Mills, Vardy, Biddiscombe
Players added: Brown, Marsh, Fletcher, Gilmore, Roach, Morrison, Jackson, Hartigan, Raines, Tuck, Archibald, Foley, Weller


Team for 2004

Key Defenders - 3 (Gaspar, A. Kellaway, D. Kellaway, Hall, Morrison)
Key Forwards - 2/3 (Richardson, Pettifer, Schulz)
Small Forwards - 1 (Krakouer)
Rucks - 2 (Stafford, Ottens, Marsh)
Inside Midfielders - 5 (Coughlan, Johnson, Fleming, Nicholls, Fletcher, Dragacevic, Tuck)
Outside Midfielders - 5 (Brown, Tivendale, Campbell, Fiora, Houlihan, Hilton, Hyde, Blumfield, Rodan)
Medium Defenders - 3 (Bowden, Zantuck, Newman, Jackson)

Wallace arrives

Players traded/delisted/retired: Ottens, Fiora, Marsh, Fletcher, Nicholls, Fleming, Dragacevic, Zantuck, Houlihan, Blumfield, D. Kellaway, Weller (thanks DDT)
Players added: Simmonds, Knobel, Graham, Deledio, Tambling, Meyer, Pattison, Polo, McGuane, Limbach, Thursfield,


Team for 2005

Key Defenders - 3 (Gaspar, A. Kellaway, Hall, Graham, Thursfield)
Key Forwards - 3 (Richardson, Schulz, Pettifer, Morrison, Pattison)
Small Forwards - 1 (Krakouer)
Rucks - 2 (Simmonds, Stafford, Knobel)
Inside Midfielders - 5 (Coughlan, Johnson, Tuck, Chaffey, Hartigan, Foley)
Outside Midfielders - 5 (Brown, Tivendale, Campbell, Deledio, Hyde, Hilton, Tambling, Rodan, Meyer)
Medium Defenders - 3 (Bowden, Newman, Jackson, Roach, Raines)

Players traded/delisted/retired: Graham, Campbell, Hilton, Morrison, Archibald, Gilmore
Players added: P. Bowden, Oakley-Nicholls, Hughes, Casserley, White, Graham, Humm, Howat


Team for 2006

Key Defenders - 3 (Gaspar, A. Kellaway, Schulz, Hall, Thursfield, McGuane, Moore)
Key Forwards - 3 (Richardson, P. Bowden, Pettifer, Hughes, Pattison, Limbach)
Small Forwards - 1 (Krakouer)
Rucks - 2 (Simmonds, Stafford, Knobel, Graham)
Inside Midfielders - 5 (Coughlan, Johnson, Tuck, Foley, Hartigan, Polo, Humm, White, Chaffey)
Outside Midfielders - 5 (Brown, Tivendale, Deledio, Hyde, Tambling, Oakley-Nicholls, Rodan, Meyer, Casserley)
Medium Defenders - 3 (Bowden, Newman, Raines, Roach)

So do we have the mix right? Obviously before Miller arrived the team had terrible balance, with no depth at all and very little skill through the midfield. I think it's clear to see that there is a plan in place now and the definition of our list has improved dramatically. We now have depth at most positions (albeit a little young in areas, but you can't work miracles in 3 years) and emerging players with skill in the midfield.

To me though, this year's draft will provide the clearest evidence as to which direction Miller and Wallace are taking this team. IMO our standout needs are at both key positions with Kellaway, Gaspar and Richo all in the twilight of their careers. To maintain depth and quality in these positions I thinks we have to use (at least) our two highest picks this year on Key Position players including a specialist tall defender. The midfield can be topped up using later picks. We also probably need to draft a ruckman later in the draft or in the rookie draft depending on Angus Graham's development with Stafford likely to retire this year and Simmonds moving into the twilight of his career soon.

I'm interested to hear others opinions on what Miller and Wallace are likely to do and whether or not you think we are headed in the right direction.