That’s pretty much the message a lot of Richmond fans have been relaying around the internet this week after the club’s seventh loss in eight games.
There aren’t too many players on the list that have escaped criticism during the past month, which just goes to show how passionate and success starved we are as Richmond supporters.
The first half against Geelong was nothing short of a disgrace. For an AFL team to kick one goal in a half of football is just another embarrassment to add to the Gold Coast loss two weeks ago.
However, to basically break even with Geelong in the second half is something to be positive about, as we have shown time and time again that we can go down by 100+ point margins if we are out of the game early.
While Geelong most likely eased their foot off the peddle in the second half, it was good to see the team at least fight it out until the end, which was one of the main positives I took out of the first half of the season.
Coming up to the end of the season now, it is a time where the focus begins to turn to the off-season movements rather than the on-field play, but it’s also a time where supporters need to be realistic and level headed with what they wish the club to do.
A favourite pastime of a few Richmond fans is to list all the players they want gone at the end of the year. Sometimes this list can reach to as many as 10-12 senior listed players which is madness, especially this year, and I’ll explain why.
It’s no secret that this year’s National Draft pool will be quite shallow in terms of depth of talent, while conversely the 2012 National Draft has been dubbed another “SuperDraft”, with a great deal of talent on offer.
So while you always have to relieve your list of players who aren’t taking the club anywhere, I think Richmond has to be smart about the way they do their cuts this off-season, because if you cut back a quarter of your list this year, who is there to cut back next year when we will actually want to utilise as many picks as we can?
When I say this I’m not advocating keeping players on the list who just can’t make it at AFL level, but what I am saying is that you need to have a plan in place for years to come and not just the here and now.
Another thing the some supporters fail to take into account is the contract status of players at the club. If a player still has one or two years left on his contract, cutting him off the list completely just leaves you with a hole in your pocket given you have to pay out the rest of that player’s wage.
This would be a terrible move by the Richmond especially given we need to bring in more talent through trades and such, but we can’t do that if we haven’t got the money to pay these new players because we are still paying out old ones.
Realistically I’d say five or six cuts off the senior list would be enough at the end of this year, with the microscope on 8-10 players the following year.
It is a gradual process that we as a club are undertaking at the moment, and I’m confident the right decisions will be made come the end of the year. We need to think of the future beyond the next 12 months, otherwise we may be found up a creek without a paddle.
Go Tiges!
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