Firstly there are no guarantees. So many things have to go right. You have nail the draft, coaching, fitness staff and whether you have the misfortune that Geelong did of being very good but having to compete against a dynasty team that just happened to be better. It's like capturing lightening in a bottle.
However, we don't have the cheat academies they do up north and we are competing against 17 (soon to be 18) other clubs. All with first and second rounders, all being drawn (not withstanding the cheat academies) from the same draft pool. We had three premierships in four years, if we win another premiership in the next decade or even two, the champagne socialists who run the AFL would mark that down as a fail. The way they've set things up we've had our entitled quota of success for the next half century.
Steady as she goes means bottom of the table and then mid-table mediocrity for God knows how many years. Personally I want to be brave. If we can get an expansion club level draft hand by trading players that will not be part of our next premiership, then we should do it. Unlike the expansion clubs which started from scratch, we'd still have an seasoned core of professionals to work with. So I don't buy the comparison that we would be doomed to follow in their footsteps. Was never a fan of giving away two years of draft picks for both Taranto and Hopper, but now they are here, let's use their experienced mature bodies to advantage.
Again no guarantees. There never is. But sorry I don't find the argument that if we trade out say two or three experienced players for first rounders, we'd be losing by say 80 points instead of 60 points per week much of a selling point. I'll take an extra 20 points with a raft of the top juniors in the country over 60 points with arguably the worst collection of sub-23 year olds in the league. Personally I am not convinced that would necessarily happen, but still that's what I prefer.
Ultimately we need to understand we are not special, we are just one of 17 other clubs and that is the metric. Every club will aspire to at the very least incremental natural improvement. We can't just become better within ourselves, we have to become better than them. That is not just improving, that's leap frogging. Now I understand some will say, well why us, why Richmond, why now? Well, unlike other clubs we have a unique set of circumstances where the draft planets have aligned. A club in the west with a lot of first rounders (who would probably offer an additional one next year) are entering a premiership window, and we just happen to have two western Australian boys they would like. And another club up north which happens to be coached by Damien Hardwick, is particularly interested in one of our players, and which again happens to have draft picks to burn. This is not an opportunity that occurs every year. This is a serious crossroads moment
So I want us to be brave. If we fail so be it. Just like we failed when we got Taranto and Hopper to try and pinch another premiership at the end of our dynasty. If it happens it happens. But honestly with our list and the subpar quality of our youth I don't see another way. And if this draft is as even and as good as people are saying, up to pick 25, with both midfielders and talls, we should go for it. It's time to try to build the next dynasty.
