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RICHMOND believes its acquisition of four promising midfielders will eventually enable the likes of Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin to expand their roles.
Coach Damien Hardwick and the Tigers' recruiting team went into Thursday night's NAB AFL Draft on the Gold Coast with the prime focus of bolstering midfield depth.
They emerged with four youngsters who can play a variety of midfield roles – three of which will bring pace, something the Tigers need – and a physically developed key forward prospect.
After recruiting mature-aged talent in the past few years, the Tigers were keen to recruit to help release their prime onballers into what could turn out as more creative roles.
Inside midfielder Corey Ellis spearheaded their haul, after being recruited with No.12 overall, and will be joined by outside midfielder Connor Menadue, the versatile Nathan Drummond and small forward Daniel Butler, who in time will also play through the middle.
"It was a focus. The coach was really keen to add some midfield depth to enable some players to play some different roles, and we feel we've addressed that," recruiting manager Francis Jackson told AFL.com.au.
"They're all a little bit different in their own right.
"We're delighted with the combination. We're generally really pleased with the outcome and look forward to these boys coming to Tiger land."
The Tigers passed with their last selection – No.83 – and will focus on rookies next week rather than the pre-season draft.
Selection No.12 – Corey Ellis (Western Jets/PEGS)
Francis Jackson says: "Corey's an elite ball user, an inside midfielder and is a very good decision-maker with great composure. He's a really good competitor. He will enable Trent and Dustin and Brett [Deledio] to perhaps play a little bit of a different role because he's just got fantastic ball use and his kicking efficiency is outstanding. He's a late-year birthday so we think he has a lot of development in him as well and needs to put on a bit of weight at 77kg but athletically and physically, he already competes really well."
Selection No.33 – Connor Menadue (Western Jets/Spotswood)
Francis Jackson says: "Connor is a bit more outside than Corey with terrific speed but also has elite endurance – he's a 10-minute three-kilometre runner. We felt that speed was really important for us. He's also got a bit of work to do physically, his body is very light at 188cm, and he will need to put on a lot of bulk to play at AFL level."
Selection No.52 – Nathan Drummond (Murray Bushrangers/Shepparton Bears)
Francis Jackson says: "Nathan is another with elite speed and can play inside and outside, with endurance. He's a 19-year-old so he came back to the TAC competition and he's physically ready to go. He played for our VFL team for three games this year and trained in our environment so we were able to observe how he adapted and how he took on the challenges presented to him each week - and he was terrific."
Selection No.67 – Daniel Butler (North Ballarat Rebels/Lake Wendouree)
Francis Jackson says: "He's also got elite speed, he played for Vic Country in the carnival as a small forward/defensive forward but also had stints on ball, and we think again he's a little bit different and can provide that defensive pressure. He also brings really good speed as well."
Selection No.77 – Reece McKenzie (Northern Knights/Marcellin)
Francis Jackson says: "He's a tall 197cm key forward who already weighs over 100kg with fantastic hands. He kicked 10 goals in a TAC game, is an outstanding mark and has kicked significant goals at TAC standard. He's [Carlton premiership player] Warren McKenzie's son. He's got a bit of work to do with his conditioning but he has strong ability to mark the ball and provides a point of difference for us – he played for Vic Metro in one carnival game and certainly had an impact."
Selection No.83 – Pass
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The fans' verdict
