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PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
Given that there's been a lot of conjencture over the performance of Greg Miller since he came to the club, I thought I would try to do some analysis of his recruiting -
The Good
Scoring Nathan Brown with keen interest shown from many other clubs would be the highlight, we gave up Ben Holland and the pick which turned out to be Kepler Bradley but definitely a coup in my opinion.
Identifying the potential of Shane Tuck despite him seemingly being on the football scrapheap - Frawley did his best to make a mockery of this decision but Wallace has made amends
Giving Richmond what seemed to be first pick in the pick a coach contest with the Dogs and Hawthorn. Still early days and Eade looks to be on a winner but I'm confident Wallace will turn out to be a shrewd choice.
Gaining the services of Troy Simmonds whilst giving up very little - I cannot recall who was in charge of the Fiora over Pavlich decsion but that would have to go down as one of Richmonds biggest recruiting blunders
Having the steel to tell Brad Ottens his days were numbered if he refused to accept a performance based contract, the subsequent trades 12 & 16 were more that fair compensation for a player who looks to past his best
Ushering in a new era of fast running players with skills to match - Deledio, Tambling, Meyer, Raines and Oakley-Nicholls should prove to be the elixir that supporters have been craving since te early eighties. Understandably, patience is required but I would rather cop a few heavy losses under these circumstances than have a future laden with Billy Nichols types. (see also the bad)
The Bad
Giving up pick 4 for Kane Johnson was a mistake given we could have secured the deal with a simple Ben Holland trade. The fact that we missed out on Welll is unfortunate but I won't be too harsh because few people could have predicted Carltons heavy penalties.
Following on from the good, Richmond has set itself back 2 years by recruiting recycled hacks. I'm just glad that the youth policy finally begun in earnest but why did we waste so much time?
Being unable to convince Travis Cloke to join the Tigers - a hard call I know but if Miller was the messiah that some make out then he would have cut a deal involving Jason Cloke or even Cameron for that matter
Overlooking Cameron Wood for Adam Pattison - again I may have to eat my words but many an astute judge has been baffled by this decision. It's also a strange choice given our lack of depth in the ruck area (Friday night proved how valuable a competent tap ruckman really is)
Not chasing a quality young key position player in the last couple of drafts may well come back to haunt us. Without picking on individual selections, my concerns stem from the heavy emphasis of one type of player over the other. I'm happy with all the young guns that we have but with the exception of Deledio, I would trade any one of them for a Lance Franklin, Mitchell Clark or Marcus Drum. Given the need to regenerate an ailing backline, most likely as early as next year, I'm worried that we'll be exposed in this area over the coming years. Let's just hope that Cleve Hughes turns out to be the stroke of luck that we've been screaming out for.
Anyway, just a final note on the game last week, something tells me that this will be the reality check that we need. Few pundits were predicting finals this year so lets forget the implications on our percentage and look forward to the next week. If I was to stick my neck out, I would predict a semi revival mid year and overall improvement similar to the Dogs late last year. Just remember, one game doesn't make a season.
The Good
Scoring Nathan Brown with keen interest shown from many other clubs would be the highlight, we gave up Ben Holland and the pick which turned out to be Kepler Bradley but definitely a coup in my opinion.
Identifying the potential of Shane Tuck despite him seemingly being on the football scrapheap - Frawley did his best to make a mockery of this decision but Wallace has made amends
Giving Richmond what seemed to be first pick in the pick a coach contest with the Dogs and Hawthorn. Still early days and Eade looks to be on a winner but I'm confident Wallace will turn out to be a shrewd choice.
Gaining the services of Troy Simmonds whilst giving up very little - I cannot recall who was in charge of the Fiora over Pavlich decsion but that would have to go down as one of Richmonds biggest recruiting blunders
Having the steel to tell Brad Ottens his days were numbered if he refused to accept a performance based contract, the subsequent trades 12 & 16 were more that fair compensation for a player who looks to past his best
Ushering in a new era of fast running players with skills to match - Deledio, Tambling, Meyer, Raines and Oakley-Nicholls should prove to be the elixir that supporters have been craving since te early eighties. Understandably, patience is required but I would rather cop a few heavy losses under these circumstances than have a future laden with Billy Nichols types. (see also the bad)
The Bad
Giving up pick 4 for Kane Johnson was a mistake given we could have secured the deal with a simple Ben Holland trade. The fact that we missed out on Welll is unfortunate but I won't be too harsh because few people could have predicted Carltons heavy penalties.
Following on from the good, Richmond has set itself back 2 years by recruiting recycled hacks. I'm just glad that the youth policy finally begun in earnest but why did we waste so much time?
Being unable to convince Travis Cloke to join the Tigers - a hard call I know but if Miller was the messiah that some make out then he would have cut a deal involving Jason Cloke or even Cameron for that matter
Overlooking Cameron Wood for Adam Pattison - again I may have to eat my words but many an astute judge has been baffled by this decision. It's also a strange choice given our lack of depth in the ruck area (Friday night proved how valuable a competent tap ruckman really is)
Not chasing a quality young key position player in the last couple of drafts may well come back to haunt us. Without picking on individual selections, my concerns stem from the heavy emphasis of one type of player over the other. I'm happy with all the young guns that we have but with the exception of Deledio, I would trade any one of them for a Lance Franklin, Mitchell Clark or Marcus Drum. Given the need to regenerate an ailing backline, most likely as early as next year, I'm worried that we'll be exposed in this area over the coming years. Let's just hope that Cleve Hughes turns out to be the stroke of luck that we've been screaming out for.
Anyway, just a final note on the game last week, something tells me that this will be the reality check that we need. Few pundits were predicting finals this year so lets forget the implications on our percentage and look forward to the next week. If I was to stick my neck out, I would predict a semi revival mid year and overall improvement similar to the Dogs late last year. Just remember, one game doesn't make a season.