We are a little bit removed from the glory days of the Richmond Football Club. They’re not so far in the rearview mirror that the glow of three premierships in four years is diminished, but enough time has passed that the natives may be looking forward a little more often than they’re looking backwards.
The club has farewelled a couple of greats following the 2023 season – Trent Cotchin walks into retirement as one of the greatest leaders the club has seen, whilst Jack Riewoldt hung up the boots as the third- highest goal kicker in club history, behind the great Jack Titus, and Matthew Richardson. That is a pair of pillars of the club gone.
With premiership coach, Damien Hardwick, now calling the shots up on the Gold Coast, the nucleus of the golden era is moving on, but what does the current group possess to give Richmond supporters hope?
The return of Tom Lynch, Dusty’s 300th, the brilliance of Shai Bolton – if the Tigers are able to put it all together, the question is how high can they climb this season?
Some have already written them off. Josh Jenkins went real early, stating he believed the Tigers would finish dead last. If that doesn’t light a fire under the proud Tigers, nothing will. Unless, of course, someone with a bit more credibility said it…
Can the Tigers of 2024 come back to bite Jenkins and his ilk on the backside? There are a lot of questions about this club and their list.
It’s that time of year, already.
The break after Christmas and New Year is over. The holidays are finished for AFL players, and the hard stuff starts now. Yes, the teams had been training for well over a month prior to Christmas, but as we head into 2024, the ante is upped and the intensity increases.
This is where premierships are won and lost. This is where improvements are made and lists come together. New faces, new colours, old heads with renewed passion… so much feeds into the making of a contender. And as the days tick down toward to the intra-club clashes, practice games, and eventually the real stuff, questions are raised about each team and how they’re going to perform in 2024.
We don’t do things by halves here, at The Mongrel Punt. When we do a season preview, we go all out to make sure it is the best, most comprehensive coverage you’ll receive. We pride ourselves on it. If you are going to read one season preview for your team, or any team, this series provides it.
The way it works is as follows.
Each club has a minimum of 15 questions asked about the upcoming season, their coaches, their players, and their expectations. The answers are not glossed over. We dive deep on each and every one – some singular answers would normally be long enough for an entire column. The first five questions/answers are free for you to consume. The next 10-14 for each club are for our members, including a special appearance from Mrs Mongrel to throw her two cents in the mix.
Isn’t it a bit early for a season preview? Well, I suppose, but do you know how long it takes to write seven thousand words? That’s 18 x 7,000… gets out the calculator… that’s 126,000 words. The average novel is about 85,000 words, so buckle the hell up with these previews.
Also, if there are any issues that arise after the publication of the preview, they will be covered in standalone articles to act as additions to this preview.
You will not read a deeper season preview than this – I guarantee it. This is where we start the run to the new season and believe me – nobody does it better than The Mongrel.
Enjoy.
WHAT DOES A FIT TOM LYNCH MEAN TO THE TIGERS?
It makes them an infinitely better team. In a nutshell, that’s the answer.
Lynch, when his body cooperates with him, is a powerhouse forward. So many of the big blokes stand in the goal square, one-out, and demand the footy long and high, and you know what happens when they do it? Quite simply, they’re unable to capitalise. They’re unskilled in the art of contested marking, and they’re far too easily moved from the best spot.
In the current AFL climate, there are two blokes that I genuinely back to win their one-on-one contests when they’re shoulder to shoulder with their opponent. One is Tom Hawkins, who is built like a mountain (and was close to being as mobile as one at points in 2023). The other is Tom Lynch.
Lynch not only has great hands, but he has also developed the core strength to hold off an opponent and retain his balance to take a contested mark. If you’re stuck on him deep inside 50 and the ball is coming in at pace, you’re almost a dead man walking. He either pushes off with two hands right into your chest like he is some type of Shaolin monk, or he stands his ground and waits for the ball to come in. All the midfielder has to do is kick it to the side on which Lynch is situated, and you can almost mark down the mark and goal.
There is a damn good reason that Jack Riewoldt played on in 2023. Really, he could have hung them up following the 2022 season and few would have batted an eyelid, but the thought of another season with Lynch drawing fire may have swayed Jack. Sadly, injury restricted Lynch to just four games (averaging 2.25 goals per game, by the way), and that meant that Jack had to do a lot of heavy lifting. It often proved to be too heavy for Jack in his last season.
Time for the weight to go back on the shoulders of Lynch.
In 2022, everyone was rapt to see Charlie Curnow playing the footy we all hoped he could. He was celebrated and acclaimed for his Coleman-winning season.
Most didn’t realise that Tom Lynch averaged more goals per game than Charlie. He just played three fewer.
Wanna talk contested marks?
Lynch averaged 3.26 per game. Max Gawn was the next best, with 2.50. In terms of key forwards, it was Harry McKay, with 2.26. Guys, Lynch is a complete and utter monster!
How about we look at the way a decent Lynch performance in front of goal impacts the Tigers? Yep, let’s do that.
The last time Lynch was able to stay out on the park (2022) and kicked three or more goals in a game, the Richmond record was 10-2. Considering their overall win tally for that season was 13, you can draw your own conclusions.
This should illustrate the difference Lynch makes to this team. He straightens Richmond up, and unlike many teams, he is not just there to provide a target, bring the ball to ground and lock it in for a second chance at goal.
No, he is there to take the mark and kick the damn goal, himself – like a genuine full-forward. So many of the other ‘star’ forwards in the game don’t do that. They call for the ball, they contest, and that’s about it.
A Tom Lynch that plays 20 games adds three wins to the Richmond total just by being out there. He is exactly what this team needed to play finals in 2023, but injury conspired against him and the Tigers fell short. If he gets out on the park in 2024, and plays footy the way Tom Lynch can, I reckon Josh Jenkins might just zip it and realise that with Lynch situated at full forward, the Tigers may just rediscover their bite.
IS THERE ANOTHER LEVEL FOR SHAI BOLTON?
Oh hell, yeah… maybe two levels!
However, whilst I believe Shai can make the step from star to superstar of the game, he has to be more consistent, irrespective of which team the Tigers are playing.
What do I mean by that?
This may not be popular, particularly given Bolton just registered a career best statistical season, but he beat up on the poor teams last year. Went to town on them.
In the four games he played against North Melbourne, West Coast (x2), and Fremantle, Bolton averaged a mammoth 28 disposals and 2.5 goals per game. They’re close to historic numbers, by the way – the last person to average 20 touches and two goals per game was Stevie Johnson, way back in the Geelong glory days.
However, against the top four teams (Collingwood, Brisbane, GWS, and Carlton), things were a little different.
In those games, Bolton travelled at 20.25 disposals, and 0.75 goals per game.
That gap needs to narrow if the Tigers are to do anything in 2024.
Of course, he wasn’t the only bloke beating up on the poor teams (a big hello to Tex Walker and Charlie Curnow) but he is the one in focus, here.
Shai Bolton is exceptionally skilled. He is so well-balanced and dangerous with the footy in hand that he can tear a game open in a matter of moments. But he needs to do that against the top tier teams, as well as just the bottom ones.
Am I calling him a flat track bully?
No, not on your life. What I am saying is that in order to be labelled as a superstar and start carrying this team on his back, as Dustin Martin has before him, Bolton needs to put a couple of good teams to the sword.
At 25, his time to be THE MAN on this team is now.
He is one of the very few players in the league that has the capacity to average 25 touches per game and a goal if his midfield and forward time are split well. He is the player Richmond can start turning to when they need something special. He may have been Robin to Dusty’s Batman for a while, but as Martin drops the mask and begins to taper off… even just a little, it might be time for Bolton to accept the torch from the triple Norm Smith Medallist and put this team on his back for a while.
IS JACOB HOPPER THE KEY TO THE RICHMOND MIDFIELD?
Absolutely.
The acquisition of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper for the 2023 season was supposed to give the Richmond midfield a new lease on life, taking the heat from the ageing legs of Trent Cotchin, Dion Prestia, and Dustin Martin.
It half-worked, with Taranto the standout Tiger of the year, winning the Jack Dyer Medal as the club best and fairest. But Jacob Hopper… well, he did not fare so well.
Hounded by injury and restricted to just 16 games (being subbed off in two of them), Hopper managed 21 touches per game, but his impact with the footy was minimal. Whilst Taranto copped some criticism from a bobblehead in the media, he was working his tail off for the club. Hopper was the disappointment, and Hopper is the one who needs to atone for it in 2024.
Now, I know that last sentence may have put a nose or two out of joint – I realise that Hopper cannot help random injuries, but after two seasons (one with GWS) where he has been nowhere near his best, he needs to re-establish himself as one of the premier inside mids in the game in a hurry.
The Jacob Hopper I loved watching at GWS had some of the cleanest hands in the game. Below his knees, he was a maestro. He basically didn’t double grab – he saw the footy, fought for it, won it, and dished it off all without a moment of uncertainty.
Richmond have not had that version of Hopper thus far, so in many ways, a return to THAT type of form would be like Richmond receiving a brand spanking new recruit.
GWS players don’t receive a lot of fanfare, particularly those who are workmanlike, and it is for this reason that many are unaware of just how potent Hopper can be at his best. As we near the start of the intraclub games, what I am looking for with Hopper is a few word associations.
What I want to read and hear are the words “career-best shape” and “standout”. What I don’t want to hear are the words “restricted” or “managed”. The former would mean the Tigers are about to unleash a talent that can hang with the best inside mids in the game on a weekly basis and emerge victorious. What the latter means is that Tim Taranto will have to continue propping up his buddy and the Richmond midfield for the foreseeable future.
Hopper, at his best, is a 26-disposal, six clearance contested-footy beast.
If the Tigers get anywhere near that from him in 2024, there are a few opposition midfield units that are in for a rude awakening when they play Richmond.
A Hopper/Taranto combination was billed as something great. Due to getting just half of what they expected, it didn’t quite hit the mark with a lot of supporters, but there is more to come. Act One was all Taranto. Maybe it is time for Hopper to steal the show.
IF JOSH GIBCUS GETS BACK, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO THE BACK HALF?
It means the club has a very secure future in terms of their key defence.
Gibcus missing the entirety of the 2024 season was a complete kick in the guts for the Tigers. They lost Lynch at one end and their burgeoning, young key defender at the other. When that occurs, it’s pretty difficult to put together something special.
Gibcus’ 2022 season demonstrated plenty, to me. Whilst his numbers won’t jump off the page at anyone (6.4 one percenters and 4.1 intercepts per game), I always find myself taken in by the way a player amasses those numbers – moments in a rookie campaign can often speak a lot louder than a bunch of numbers, and Gibcus had plenty of moments that made you realise he was going to be a player.
That a bloke of his age has had to endure such a serious hamstring injury is cause for concern. I don’t know about you, but as a 20-year-old, I was as injury free as you can get – not a worry in the world. At 30… that was a bit different, but I digress.
The Tigers and Gibcus, himself, have put the work in to give him every chance to get right for the 2024 season, and whilst I am sure he won’t have a season without hiccups, getting him back out on the park, having him string together stretches of games, and allowing him to re-establish confidence in his body will bode well for this club for the long haul, even if the benefits are not reaped this year..
The Tigers are in a position where they can ease Gibcus back into the fray. With Noah Balta, Nathan Broad, Nick Vlastuin, and Dylan Grimes (just) all still present in the defensive fifty, Gibcus has the support around him to flourish.
If you’ve read my stuff over the journey, you know I love a good story, and whilst Richmond have plenty of them to tell in 2024, it is the return to footy for Josh Gibcus I most want to see unfold.
Fingers crossed he gets a great run at it and his 2024 was worth the pain of 2023.
CAN NOAH BALTA SUCCESSFULLY BALANCE DEFENCE WITH ATTACK?
I’d love to say yes… I really would, as if he does, he has the potential to become the best full back in the league. However, as it stands, there were far too many occasions where Noah got a little overexcited in 2023, darted out of defence, made a mistake, and then watched the footy sail back inside 50, over his head, to land with his direct opponent.
Once in a while, you take that – it is the price you play for the benefits of having an attacking player in a defensive role, but with Balta, when you combine it with the fact he loses contact with his opponent as he focuses on the incoming footy, things get a little compounded. One mistake – hey, it happens. A series of similar ones?
We may have an issue.
Balta is a specimen – one of those types of blokes that just ticks every box. Does he attack the footy hard? Hell yes, he does. Does he have the strength to match it with the big boys? Again, yes, indeed. Can he take off and leave a key forward in his wake on turnover? Yep, and he does at every opportunity.
So, what’s the issue?
Well, the issue is that, at times, Noah does not know his limitations, and it gets him in trouble. As a result, it also gets the Tigers in trouble. This happens often enough that I wonder whether Adem Yze is considering whether he can use Balta in another role in 2024? Even just at times to allow him to run and be free… a bit like a wild horse.
Whilst Balta’s forays into the forward line in the past have not been overly successful, he was doing so in a setup that included dominant key forwards that commanded the footy almost every time. Yes, two of them, in Riewoldt and Lynch, were the main targets for great reasons, but with Jack now gone, could there be an option to swing Balta forward more often to create a mismatch, or at the very least, provide additional aerial support for Lynch, Samson Ryan, and Jacob Koschitzke?
One thing I will not question is Balta’s attack on the footy, He hits is full chested, and if he is picking up a head of steam, I would hate to be the poor sap dropping into the hole in front of him.
The Tigers, as mentioned in the Gibcus section, have the players to cover the absence of Balta if Yze opts to use him forward. I didn’t add Tylar Young in that section, but I am adding him, here. He is a good one, and will continue to surprise in 2024.
The league hasn’t had a true swingman in a while. Last season, we saw Harrison Petty go forward and snag six for the Dees – could Balta be used in a similar role? Or will he knuckle down, keep that contact with his direct opponent, and start using those physical gifts to make life for key forwards bloody tough?
Either way, he remains one of the Tigers with the most questions about him in 2024.
I look forward to seeing how they’re answered.
This concludes the free section of our preview. The next two-thirds are for our members. You’re welcome to join. You can get all this type of stuff, and the rest of the article below, all season…
As mentioned above, the first five questions are free – the next 14-15 are for our members. Yep, I believe my work is worth twenty-five cents per day. If you don’t, that’s fine. You’re welcome to join and keep reading
