The evolution taking place at Richmond is further underlined by the number of new faces in the Tiger team for the 2011 season-opener against Carlton, compared to the Round 1, 2010 side that lost to the Blues by 56 points.
Check out the Richmond team for Round 1
There are a total of 10 players, selected for tomorrow night’s clash, who did not appear in the corresponding match last year - debutants Reece Conca, Jake Batchelor and Brad Helbig, AFL club recruits Shaun Grigg (Carlton) and Bachar Houli (Essendon), along with Alex Rance, David Astbury, Matthew White, Angus Graham and Nathan Foley.
Out of last year’s opening round line-up are Ben Cousins and Troy Simmonds, who have both retired, Richard Tambling, now with Adelaide, delisted pair Relton Roberts and Adam Thomson, plus Kel Moore (injured), Mitch Farmer (injured), Tom Hislop (injured), Ben Nason and Will Thursfield.
If you wind the clock back a further 12 months, to Round 1 of the 2009 season, there are only nine Richmond players from that game (which the Tigers lost by 83 points), who will take their place in the side tomorrow night - Brett Deledio, Shane Edwards, Nathan Foley, Daniel Jackson, Luke McGuane, Mitch Morton, Chris Newman, Jack Riewoldt and Matthew White.
Joel Bowden, Nathan Brown, Ben Cousins, Jordan McMahon, Andrew Raines, Matthew Richardson, Jay Schulz, Troy Simmonds and Richard Tambling have since departed Tigerland, while Andrew Browne (who debuted that night), Kel Moore, Will Thursfield and Shane Tuck have missed selection first-up in the 2011 season.
