Richmond’s recruiting manager Matthew Clarke provides a summary of the new players the Tigers picked up in the 2018 AFL national and rookie drafts . . .
Riley Collier-Dawkins, pick 20 overall, national draft
“He’s a big boy, he’s got some good speed, good power, can win his own footy, win clearance, power out. We think he’s got a lot of upside . . . he hasn’t had a lot of time in the pathway. He’s got some work to do with his running, and he knows that. We think he can make significant improvement quickly . . . Really excited to have him. As much as we’ve got some smaller guys that are pretty good players, someone of that size, that can go into the centre bounce and have an effect at clearance, is really important for us. So he adds to a really good mix with Dustin (Martin) and Trent (Cotchin) and ‘Cads’ (Josh Caddy), who’ll probably go through there as well at some point (in season 2019) . . . He’s a bubbly sort of personality, raised in a great family. Fits the mix really well from what character type we look for. So we’re really excited about what he can offer . . . We had a number of boys rating around that pick (No. 20) and Riley rated quite highly. You never want to be one of those guys that says, ‘Oh, gee, I couldn’t believe he was there at our pick’, but we probably had him rated a little bit higher than that. So we’re really excited to get him where we did.”
VIDEO: Pick 20, Riley Collier-Dawkins
Jack Ross, pick 43 overall, national draft
“Jack’s another big, strong, powerful, inside mid. He’s got some good speed, he’s strong, wins clearance, he’s got nice hands. He can do a lot of things. He’s had some injury history the last few pre-seasons, so he hasn’t been able to get out on the park and do a really strong pre-season and get his running up where he wants it to be. But we’re really confident that he’s the right type of character that’s going to buy into the program and improve quickly as well.”
Fraser Turner, pick 58 overall, national draft
“He was the youngest player picked, so has significant upside. Terrific endurance athlete, works really hard, and he’s one of those guys that’s always there when the ball’s starting to move on the outside . . . power-running into space and running on and getting the footy again. So (he has) real upside and adds to our running mix.”
Luke English, pick 62 overall, national draft
“Luke’s another inside-outside sort of mid, great character, great work-rate, both on and off the field, ability to win his own footy, pressure, tackle . . . he does all those things you like. So a little bit of a theme with the players we picked late – Fraser (Turner) and Luke – with their running ability. We think they’re athletically capable to give themselves a chance to go further.”
Jake Aarts, pick 16 overall, rookie draft
“’Aartsy’s’ one that’s really brought into the (Richmond VFL) program. Craig McRae (Richmond VFL coach) has been a massive fan of what he’s been able to do and how he improves, on and off the field. He’s really reliable and gets the job done. He’s improved his speed and power, he can kick goals, and pressure . . . He deserves a chance. It doesn’t matter where you fit on the national or the rookie list now, you can get a chance to play if the coaches are happy what you’re doing.”
