We should be playing finals and we aren’t. Season is a fail.
However there are enough positive for us all to strap back in for another ride in 2019 and hope that we can finally actually make the destination.
I believe the playing list is as strong as it has been for 20 years and there should be no more excuses. Even our midfield ‘depth’ is starting to get up there with the top teams. It is easy to focus on the really bad losses this year (hello FC) but the bigger concern is that we lost to all the top 4 and we lost consistently at the MCG. You can be pretty confident that we should be able to snag those wins against lower teams next year BUT have we got the game plan to beat the top teams??
Our weakness is coaching. Tactical game day coaching. So far we have brought in Rutten… and we got rid of Neeld… but Woosha remains in the job so that is the biggest question next year. If we get the coaching right, then this team is more than capable of top 4.
I can’t be happy about a season where we miss the finals, but I am happy with the second half of the season and the win last night was fantastic to watch. I have enjoyed watching several games this year and I am pretty optimistic about our future.
It’s a funny feeling - despite missing finals, I am the mos bullish I’ve been about our list in a long time. After Dreamtime we’ve lost 3 games (and 4 since round 8) - by a collective total of 30 points - all to teams in top 4.
I don’t necessarily think we need to add much to our midfield - I think guys like Langford and Parish are ready to take (and are already taking the next step). But an A-grade talent like Gaff or Shiel certainly wouldn’t hurt.
One point - there seems to be a lot of assuming that we will have a full list to choose from next year and that some players will struggle to make it in. But this doesn’t reflect the unfortunate reality that we have injuries every year, and we surely will next year. In fact, aside fom Joe practically not playing and Fanta. Or having any continuity (who are admittedly in our top 5 players) our injury list this year has not been that bad - we’ve had a full midfield to select for most of it. So those knocking down the door next year should get their chance.
Given the depth of the hole we dug, I thought the recovery was admirable. I’m presuming the public messaging of “we didn’t change anything really, we all just tried harder” isn’t true and we actually made important changes. If the consistency we showed from round 9 onward is our new normal, then it was probably worth it. I guess we’ll find out if it stuck next year.
I would have liked to see more of the kids over the course of the year, just half a dozen games each for all the names you’d expect. Obviously poorly timed injuries played a part, but almost all of our midfield depth is basically untried at AFL level.
All I have to say is What is a record since Mark Neeld was shown the door? and how many on here think it is pure coincidence? How much did him leaving have an effect on the way we played early vs later in the year.
I hate arrogance. Arrogance is not pride. Pride is self-respect and determination to be worthy of respect. Arrogance is disrespect for others.
We have to have pride in our selves and our performances. But we have to respect our opponents and their ability, and play at the standard to beat them.
I thought everyone picking us for top 6 or 4 was off their rocker, based on who we’d lost, who we had coming through, and the positions most of them played.
People are just ignoring how many new faces we pushed through midfield, the most important, and hardest, position to play. It doesn’t all click over one off season.
EDIT:
that was the weak area for 6-8 weeks, until hitting some sort of turning point just before the Carlton game, then improving reasonably steadily from there.
In those early weeks we tried McGrath for the first time as a mid. Langford. Stringer, Smith obviously. Guelfi. Mutch. Clarke somewhere in there.
They’ve all been successes to different degrees, but (bar smith) there’s been some roadbumps, too.
My point is, it was obvious this rejuvenation was going to happen, after 10 years of effectively Watson2Stanton. And it was equally obvious it wasn’t going to be insta-flag with maybe 3-4 new faces in there in every game.
Why should I be extra disappointed that I seem to have actually got something right?
Richmond lost 3 straight last year. The softcocks like barnz and nino would’ve thrown the towel in then and there, and would’ve decried any positive talk until about 2 minutes left in the grand final.
Absolutely agree. I didn’t think we’d finish in the eight and am not disappointed in the season. What is the big deal about finishing in the eight? Couldn’t care less if we finish 7th or 8th in stead of 10th or 11th.
Worsfold is playing the long game. He waited on Francis, waited on Lang, gave games to Ridley, Redman, Guelphi, Francis, Mutch and Clarke. He wants us ready to have a serious crack. We will, without a doubt, head into next season in far better shape than we did this.
From our top 5 goal kickers this year compared to last it’s a 100 goal differential give or take. Start of the year was horrible. Two biggest issues of the season.
Skills and decisioning also an issue but with confidence can improve or with more focus over preseason. Gameplan and pressure seemed to be at the front of their mind. If this becomes natural we can start focusing on other things.
We won the same amount of games as last year which isn’t too bad considering our start. 10/14 wins was a good finish to the season.
Midfield and ruck in it’s entirety improved greatly.
Defence slipped at times but our best defensive performances improved on last year. This should become more consistent next year.
All youngsters improved and should progress again.
We lost some experience and replaced with youth. I saw great improvement overall but lacked consistency.
We are much more competitive than we’ve been for quite some time. Spots next year will be competitive as will our output.
Would’ve been temptation to try and replace some of Jobe’s clearances with flawed, but ready to go, players like Rockliff or Miles. Neither has had any impact this year.
I don’t think Blitz places enough emphasis on the turnover +/- line.
The one stat Richmond are clear number one in the AFL is turnovers created. That’s where so many games are run and won.
The second half of the year makes the first half all that much more hard to swallow.
I’m not gonna call it a wasted year if it means that it is the start of building up to something… but this team has to take another step forward.
They need to learn to make better decisions and have better execution under pressure. There are still far too many periods where everyone becomes turnover prone and it plays right into the hands of sides like the Pies who seem to just thrive on it. We gotta start using the ball better in those tight slogs. Both Collingwood losses this year seem symptomatic of the problem at large… we work hard for little progress and then a stupid, cheap skill error leads to cheap goals at the other end and the momentum snowballs. That goes hand in hand with some atrocious goal kicking. That game where we kicked 20-something points… ugh…
And further to that point, these guys need to develop a killer instinct. When you are four, five goals up - go for the damn throat and learn how to mentally break a side. They never seem to reach a point once they are up comfortably where they feel the need to keep pressing… sometimes they get away with it, but it is not a confident strategy going forward.
I love the kids we have. All the imports from last year have worked out. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t make the eight next year, providing we carry this form into next year and figure out a way to produce it for complete games, regardless of whom we are playing against.
