I don't think the drafting of players has been an issue. The real issue to me is that the players themselves are so inconsistent. They can play, a number of them have shown that, but they fail to deliver their best on a weekly basis.
Now some of the trade players that has clearly failed, but then what do you do sack 10 players in one year and try the draft, or pick up say 6 in the draft and 4 trades? Richmond have tried that path, for some it worked for others it didn't.
Simmonds was a trade and he looked the goods, until he got a major injury, Knobel also a trade as a back up ruck, major injury same season, left just young Pattison to handle the ruckwork and to me anyway he did a damn fine job of it given that he was not a ruck in the first place.
Richmond could get rid of 10 or more players at this seasons end, however Gold Coast will get all the good draft picks plus any uncontracted AFL players as well. That leaves RFC will bugger all room to move, other than to drill, drill, drill, exercise, exercise, exercise the players into the ground pre season 2010. If that means that the playing list only get 4 weeks off instead of the usual 8 weeks off, so be it, that is an additional 4 weeks to get their fitness right up, an additonal 4 weeks just to focus on disposal skill's and tackling before they even start up training with game plans etc.
To be honest being ex military, I'd grab them all on 1 October 2009, take them over to WA, put them into greens, put 50Kg packs on them, reduce the amount of food and water they get over a long period and make them march thru the Stirling Ranges, in 40C plus heat, on ground that is nothing short of horrible. Throw in some really hard team exercises like 6 man teams having to carry 200kg logs for 5Km up and down hills, carrying 2 X 20 litre Jerry Cans full of water plus a 50Kg pack, and all sorts of other good old military type courses. Force them to bond together by throwing them extremely tough mental and physical exercises. A couple of weeks of that, its amazing how quickly people jell together, even those that don't like each other, will do things together because its a team challenge. The ones that can't handle the exercises mentally, you've got your chickens, drop them before December 2009 from the playing list. Believe me, there is nothing worse than thinking an exercise is all over only to be told keep going this is your next checkpoint, that is how you find out whether a person has it in them to go that one step further than the other fellow.
That folks is what I believe Richmond Football Club's football department needs to do as utmost priority, find out who in the playing group mentally can handle anything thrown at them either as an individual or in a team setting. The ones that can't too damn bad I don't give a cuss who they are or what they are paid, they get the chop and the club moves forward without them being baggage.
Once you know which players will handle the mental side of things, then you start on the physical buildup whilst working on basic skills eg: kicking, handballing, tackling, then you do your game plan's and drill drill drill, if that means more time on the track pre season than any other team so be it, the playing list has a job to do which is win games and better yet win a premiership.
Its time the Richmond Football Club got REAL and its for sure that its time the Playing Group GOT ITS ACT TOGETHER, if they can't won't or don't then they should be tossed out of the Club, other young draft picks or rookies should be given the opportunity instead. Until this club starts to put some enormous mental pressure on the players during the pre seasons then we'll be where we are now, a wanabee club with pretentions of grandure.
I don't want a Club that is a wanabee club, I want a Club that eats other teams alive.
