1 of the problems with the article is he clearly decided to write an article about how we could struggle then found reasons to back his view.
nothing he writes is wrong per say (except the hawthorn comparison) but all is arguable.
and this is wrong, twice in the 1 sentence:
"Richmond have invested in recent drafts, namely 2021 when they selected four players inside the first 30 picks. Midfielder Tyler Sonsie (No.30) appears the pick of the bunch."
"Besides second-year players Sonsie and Josh Gibcus, there is not any other player under the age of 22 to be that excited about."- I doubt he has ever seen guys like Banks, Brown and Clarke play, and if he wanted to write a puff piece he could included Cumberland, Rioli and Ralphsmith as exciting prospects.
"Richmond’s success in 2023 will again rely on a core group of players in the 28-to-33 age bracket. Chronic injuries have repeatedly struck down this crew." He is ignoring Bolton, Balta, Baker, DRioli, Short, Hopper, Taranto and Graham as pretty important players. Yes, if all our 28+ struggle with injury we will struggle, but name a side that wont.
"It is an injury crisis the club cannot ignore. The fragility of Dion Prestia, Dustin Martin, Dylan Grimes, Nick Vlastuin, Jayden Short, Noah Balta, Tom Lynch, Jack Graham, Ivan Soldo, Trent Cotchin and Gibcus is troubling."
How are the likes of Gibcus, Soldo, Short and Balta frail? Yes all have had had injuries, but who in the AFL hasnt. Short hasnt missed a game since 2019 FFS.
"even allowing former captain Cotchin to play on when it was apparent his time in the game is up." You can argue Cotchin should have retired, but equally you can argue he was right to play on.
"It will not be his worry if it all blows up; Hardwick is entering his 14th year as Richmond coach and, with three premierships to his name, he will probably be coaching at another club if this list-management strategy fails.
Like Mitchell at Hawthorn, it will be the new coach’s job to mop up the mess at Punt Road."- Again Cornes has totally misread our strategy. We have continued to add young players to our list since Hardwick came, even since we stated winning premierships.