Richmond
Coach – Adem Yze
2023 –
Points For – 11th
Points Against – 13th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
1 – Tim Taranto
2 – Dustin Martin
3 – Shai Bolton
4 – Nick Vlastuin
5 – Daniel Rioli
2023 Rising Star Noms
Nil
Ins – Oliver Hayes-Brown, Jacob Koschitzke, Liam Fawcett, Kane Mcauliffe, Sam Naismith
Outs – Kaelan Bradtke, Jason Castagna, Trent Cotchin, Bigoa Nyuon, Jack Reiwoldt, Ivan Soldo, Robbie Tarrant
My Prediction
They stayed up for so long that it felt good to see them finally have father time kick them right in the butt. They risked it all and gave up their first round draft picks for one last shot at using their generational talent for a shot at a premiership. It did not work out, it didn’t fail West Coast style but it wasn’t much better.
The backline is not their issue, Grimes has been a good performer for a long time and Balta despite maybe not living up to expectations last year is still an immense talent who gives them intercept marking and drive. They will be hoping for Gibcus to make an impact this year. Broad and Short give them more experience and good ball use off the backline along with Rioli who has found his home back there.
The midfield reads better than it performs. Prestia is a shadow of himself and has trouble staying on the park. Ross and McIntosh are ok but both rated higher than their output and have been happy to operate in the shadows of better players. Taranto came across and won their BnF. He was very good unlike Hopper who came across and was the same player we saw at GWS.
The forward line was terrible last year, they went from being the highest scoring attack to 11th in one year. In large part this was due to the injuries to Lynch which left Reiwoldt who was as cooked as you can be. They bring in Koschitzke who hasn’t been able to perform regularly for Hawthorn. The small forwards are set with Baker, Martin and Bolton. All of who will need to rotate through the centre at different stages.
Nankervis is a good ruck, he is hard to get excited about, he is ok. They have then brought in Sam Naismith who is even less exciting and they will be hoping isn’t needed to play too many minutes. The coach we don’t know too well, he has been around a while and deserves his shot. It will be interesting to see what he brings, the Tigers historically aren’t a forgiving fanbase.
When you look at what a team did last year to predict what is coming this year you want to see some sort of improvement in their list. The only real improvement is Lynch coming back from injury. They are a weaker team than last year with a couple of young players who may step up but not enough for them to actually challenge. Their only hope is a time machine, being that is pretty unlikely, I think they will finish in the 12-15 range.
