The inclusion of three talented players can revolutionise a club.
The aggressive recruitment of Prestia, Nankervis and Caddy in the off-season of 2016, preceded the emancipating premiership that proved Richmond was only needing a slight push to become the dominant force in the football universe.
In 2018, Port jagged Rozee, Butters and Duursma. And despite their youth (and in the case of Dusty’s heir, an ongoing injury concern) they contributed 25% of the goals kicked in a low scoring preliminary final in 2020, when their team was just 6 behinds shy of the World Beating, History Making Premiers.
In 2020, the Sydney Tom Papley Loners recruited some friends to not just hang around him, but demote almost every other player in the starting 18 down the batting order by three. Those recruits in no particular order are: Gulden, Campbell & McDonald.
In round three 2021, the revolutionised and undefeated Tom Papley Loners & Friends play off against the undefeated World Beating, History Making Premiers. And the reason why this is such a fascinating game is because Campbell, McDonald and Gulden have more upside than Rozee, Butters and Duursma. And this is round three when World Beating, History Making Premiers don’t need to be fully wound up to sell memberships in a covid economy.
This is our first game of relevance on Saturday. We might need to flex some muscle.