Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says he wants to hold on to his small core of experienced top-line players, despite admitting the need to add to his Tiger list.
Following the team’s final round 113-point humiliation at the hands of the Sydney Swans at the SCG, Hardwick put on a brave face, commending the Swans’ emphatic securing of the minor premiership, and pointing out that his side was vulnerable given the decision to play several first and second-year players with an eye to the future.
But it is at the top end of the market that most Tigers fans wonder how the post-season musical chairs might play out.
Asked if the Tigers’ more experienced players might be part of the trade activity, Hardwick said: "It’s a difficult question because those guys are really, really good players. We are where we are - we don’t have a lot of really, really good players. So those players, as far as I’m concerned, will be staying."
Nonetheless, Hardwick said, the club would "obviously" be active in the trade period.
"Once again, it’s a competitive industry. We’ve got to put our best foot forward and try and get some quality players to our football club.
"(It’s about) what’s available out there. From our point of view, list management decisions will be made over the course of the next month or so. We’ve got to improve our list, improve our talent, there’s no doubt about that. But so are 17 other clubs at the same time."
"It’s been a disappointing year - it’s what you learn from the year that’s important. Look at any sporting club, any organisation, there’s always a kick in the backside at some stage, and this is our kick in the backside."
Hardwick said Richmond had "put all our eggs into 2017" after the round 15 loss to Port Adelaide, after which they realised they would not play finals football this year.
It was risky, especially against some top sides late in the season. However, it was the right thing to do, the coach maintained.
"We put some talent out there that’s not ready. We readily acknowledge that," he said.
"For us to get better, those players have got to understand what’s required to play at the AFL level. I think in the last five or six weeks, we’ve played three out of the top four sides, which was always going to be a challenge, but we decided to take this pathway.
"The last six weeks has always been about trying to find out about players. I think we had seven first or second year players that we were trying to find a little bit about.
"Mabior Chol, was he ready? No he wasn’t. We knew that but it’s going to be a good stepping stone for ‘Mabs’ to actually understand what it takes to play the rigours of AFL footy.
"That was the whole exercise going forward. Callum Moore exactly the same."
"We played a side tonight that was playing for something … but we were probably looking more for season 2017 more so than the result tonight."
