Not particularly relevant to the midfield makeup, but sure.
Noā¦
Their best player, the best player in the AFL, is a contested ball winning big bodied midfielder.
Ive always thought thats more of a game style thing, not that they dont have players capable of winning contested ball. Btw has anyone found any reliable source for contested possession differential? I certainly havenāt. I think the reason people are obsessed with it here is because Essendon often looks like they are getting beaten in the contest all over the ground, even in the air.
Id like both, or either one of them. Richmond is incredible in most other areas and other good teams are great in the contest.
Thanks 
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Oh, absolutely.
They could easily have held onto Miles, Hunt, Conca, and put Caddy and Martin through there all the time.
But they havenāt.
Theyāve made a conscious decision not to do that, not to stack their midfield with grunts.
Sorry just re read the thread and realised why my comment would seem misplaced.
The point I was trying to make was that Richmond can get away with not having heaps of contested players in the middle of the ground (if they could add more Iād bet that certainly like too), because they have some of the best contested players in the league at other ends, in particular having the best contested player in the comp.
Do we have the personnel in key position players to copy the Richmond model? Certainly not. Hooker and Hurley are close to cooked at the defensive end, and the jury is certainly out with Stewart, Stringer and 2MP at the forward end. Nor do we have the runners that can provide the defensive cover.
The other point I was trying to make but poorly wrote it was that Richmond are a low disposal team in general, so given this, their contested disposal and uncontested disposal differential numbers would be down anyway, not necessarily as a result of them being a poor contested side
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To do it well? No. Structureās shizen, both ends. Absolutely with you there.
But we donāt have the personnel to do anything well, right now. Thatās just where our list is at.
So, based on that, and particularly seeing as itās Feb and our next chance to significantly improve the list is 9 months away: so bloody what?
Iām not being snarky. Iām trying to explain a genuine point, that you guys havenāt really thought through.
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That is why I think weāll finish bottom four. Maybe 13th at best if we have a good run with injuries and we get teams on their off days.
To think it was not long time ago that I thought weād peak this year with Daniher, Fantasia, McGrath, etc etcā¦ sigh
In terms of the starting point of this discussion of you saying that you donāt understand Blitzās obsession with bigger body mids given that Richmond donāt seem to recruit them, it seems to ignore the fact that they already have the best big bodied mid in the comp in Dusty, as well as Cotchin who would also be a better contested player than anyone on our list. Of course it would make sense for Richmond to complement these guys with the faster guys.
@Tyler and I have also made the point that Richmond can also cover for their lack of overall contested ball winners in the midfield, because they have them at the other ends of the ground. So as a result when they loose clearance count (which Richmond generally do) itās covered by the strengths of their defensive line.
In contrast to Richmond we seemingly have all the smaller faster guys in the midfield that Richmond are now recruiting, but donāt have the bigger unit to complement them and round out our midfield.
When we already had Parish, Merrett and McGrath, we decided to double down and add Smith and Shiel to that mix, while also failing to add Stringer there. Thatās why a lot of Blitz is saying that we need a different look in the midfield to round us out more and then say itās unlikely that someone like Ham can make it for us (I think the discussion about Ham started this discussion). As @Killer_Mike said, Bolton works for Richmond because he adds a different look to their mix. Meanwhile a one dimensional mid in Miles, probably canāt work Dusty and Cotchin in there.
The club also seems to think this is an issue in the recent off season as well, hence they have chased Caldwell (who while not big, is meant to be a good contested player and models his game on Selwood) and of course Dunkley.
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What do you mean by Iām suggesting you stop trying? Legit question.
Looking back through the thread, it looks like you first raise this point in response to a comment by @Tyler:
I think @Tyler explains his point well, and explains it further in his follow up post:
I see you also said this:
I also want to highlight that this isnāt necessarily true (of course because they already have Dusty on their team) but also because in 2018 Richmond used their first and second round picks on two ābig bodied midsā in Collier-Dawkins and Ross. Even in Richmondās write-up about Ross they even directly refer to him as a ābig-bodied midā.
This shows that Richmond are still recruiting these types of mids - probably looking ahead to days when Cotchin isnāt around anymore.
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Yes, both of those two playing every game prove Richmond are stacking the midfield with inside grunts.
Great point.
Impermanence - nothing stays the same.
Crikey!! I thought you said:
Impotence - nothing stays the same.
Bet it gave you a fright??? Nothing like a bit of impotence.
ftfy
Iād have thought the real lesson from Richmond is that development is key, and not to decide that a year playing VFL is indicative that a kid is no good. Shai Bolton a case in point.
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When watching some of the footage available, this bloke played pretty well too. Looks to have got some size on him.
Very positive signs.
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Balta as well.
so bloody true!