RICHMOND
2007 in brief
Played: 22
Won: 3
Lost: 18
Drew: 1
Finished: 16th
Played every game (22)
Kayne Pettifer
Shane Tuck
Andrew Raines
Nathan Foley
Kane Johnson
Matthew Richardson
Joel Bowden
Chris Newman
Graham Polak
AFL debuts
R4, No.10: Shane Edwards (16)
R4, No.46: Jake King (19)
R9, No. 8: Jack Riewoldt (8)
R17, No. 39: Daniel Connors (4)
R18, No. 44: Angus Graham (2)
Best and Fairest Award
1 Matthew Richardson - 214
2 Nathan Foley - 213
3 Shane Tuck - 181
4 Joel Bowden - 176
5 Brett Deledio - 161
Leading goalkickers
Matthew Richardson - 53
Kayne Pettifer - 37
Brett Deledio - 21
Nathan Brown - 21
Richard Tambling - 17
All-Australians
Nil
Departures
Retired: Darren Gaspar, Ray Hall, Kent Kingsley, Trent Knobel
Traded: Ben Hudson (Western Bulldogs), Martin Mattner (Sydney), John Meesen (Melbourne)
Delisted: Patrick Bowden, Brent Hartigan, Andrew Krakouer, Carl Peterson, Tasman Clingan (rookie)
2008 in brief
President: Gary March
Chief Executive: Steven Wright
Coach: Terry Wallace
Captains: Kane Johnson
Coaching staff: Terry Wallace (senior), Brian Royal (director of coaching), David King (assistant), Jade Rawlings (Coburg Tigers, VFL)
Arrivals
Father-Son selection: –
Trade: Jordan McMahon (Bulldogs), Mitch Morton (West Coast)
Rookie elevation: Angus Graham, Jake King
Scholarship elevation: -
NAB AFL Draft: Trent Cotchin (2, Northern Knights, VMFL), Alex Rance (18, Swan Districts, WAFL), Dean Putt (51, Calder Cannons, VMFL).
International rookie selection: –
Non-registered for three years selection: –
NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft: – David Gourdis (1, Subiaco, WAFL)
NAB AFL Rookie Draft: Clayton Collard (Fremantle), Jarrod Silvester (Coburg), Tristan Cartledge (Essendon), Cameron Howat (Richmond)
The year ahead
The Tigers are in the gun straight away. Many have predicted another unsuccessful year and the natives at Punt Rd are getting restless in anticipation of improvement.
The crucial first five rounds of the season are all at the MCG, which will help them. Unfortunately three of those games are against finalists from last year. If the Tigers can snatch a surprise win in the early weeks they might get the momentum rolling.
The first match against Carlton could go either way, and one suspects that the side that loses this one might be in for another long year.
Premiership readiness
Even the most one-eyed Richmond fan would think a flag in 2008 is highly unlikely at best.
Plenty of sides have come from nowhere to make the top eight and the Tigers could be this year’s surprise packet.
Terry Wallace is entering the fourth of his five-year contract and he has had long enough to build the playing list from the ground up. A top-eight finish would be a successful year and a top-10 finish would be acceptable, but anything lower than that and big questions will have to be asked.
Who to watch
Brett Deledio has done just about anything you could ask of a number one draft pick. A NAB Rising Star win, 62 games in the bank and a top-five finish in last year’s best and fairest are all big achievements for a man who has not even turned 21.
But he is yet to have a year that puts him up in the top bracket of AFL players. Few doubt that he will reach that bracket, it has just been a question of when. This might be the season.
Predicted ladder finish
14th. They should improve and may even surprise, but it might be a while yet before they are contenders.
Betting:
Premiership $71
From the club:
“It’s nearly impossible to judge where we’re going to finish up. But we’ve got everyone on the park except Trent Cotchin, which is vastly different to where we were this time last year. It might be unrealistic to expect to go all the way but you look at the Cats, Kangaroos and Power last year and they all made huge improvements. There is no reason we can’t do that too.”
David King, assistant coach
The final word
The dubious idea of a premiership clock would suggest that the Tigers are well overdue to come good. But quite a few pieces of the puzzle need to fall into place before success is on the agenda. A tall forward to complement Matthew Richardson, a batch of experienced on-ballers and a tight defence are all things that the Tigers need to be contenders.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
