The Blair "Which?" Project | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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The Blair "Which?" Project

They won't give away alot.
They are still recovering from the picks they lost for Kelly
If they finish bottom or thereabouts, you can put money on the fact that the cartel running the AFL would give them additional picks and ridiculous compensation if some player leaving nominally qualifies for it. Won't get their first pick, but they still might have very decent trade currency to play with.
 
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THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN THAT CAN SAVE THE WEST COASTERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 12 Time Trade Week Champion Himself !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


View attachment 21696

You Know it Makes Sense West Coast .............................
Perfect fit for them. A dodo is very similar to a weagle after all, so he'd simply slot right in.
 
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A bit of talk on the Taranto/Hopper threads. Probably more pertinent here.

Blair deserves so much kudos for putting the dynasty list together. Picked the eyes out of other clubs with outstanding acquisitions like Houli, Grigg, Caddy and not least Tom Lynch. Also managed the salary cap and oversaw some excellent drafting.

But with that credit should also mean criticism when list decisions don't turn out positive. Right now recent decisions have a real chance of tarnishing his legacy ILO.

Taranto/Hopper for picks 9, 12, 19, 31 (and 7 year deals) at a time it's looking more and more like we needed to invest in the draft could be era defining choices. And yes they seemed to look good at the time to try and buck a full rebuild - But Blair is paid very well to (and have responsibility for) knowing where we are at on the premiership clock. Get it wrong and there are very big consequences. And in our case those consequences are starting to look massive.

It's not just those two though. The only other player from other clubs recently is Koschitzke, which is also looking doubtful.

Compare that to Collingwood and Derek Hine in recent years - Howe, Markov, Hill, Crisp, Mitchell, Cameron, Lipinski all premiership players. Plus some very gutsy calls to ship out players that in effect free'd up the salary cap to get some of them in and enabled a flag.

Unfortunately on current evidence he's (and others) are leaving Blair for dead in list management stakes ATM.
 
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The Taranto/Hopper trade whilst Cotch Riewoldt we’re still there together with other premiership stars was IMO Dimma last throw of the dice for another flag
Once the writing was on the wall he hissed off
 
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The Taranto/Hopper trade whilst Cotch Riewoldt we’re still there together with other premiership stars was IMO Dimma last throw of the dice for another flag
Once the writing was on the wall he hissed off

Have read that a bit.

It wasnt Dimmas call. He might agree or suggest players. But Its not his role or responsibility.

Its not his signature that goes on the players contract.

It was and is Blair's.

100%.
 
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A bit of talk on the Taranto/Hopper threads. Probably more pertinent here.

Blair deserves so much kudos for putting the dynasty list together. Picked the eyes out of other clubs with outstanding acquisitions like Houli, Grigg, Caddy and not least Tom Lynch. Also managed the salary cap and oversaw some excellent drafting.

But with that credit should also mean criticism when list decisions don't turn out positive. Right now recent decisions have a real chance of tarnishing his legacy ILO.

Taranto/Hopper for picks 9, 12, 19, 31 (and 7 year deals) at a time it's looking more and more like we needed to invest in the draft could be era defining choices. And yes they seemed to look good at the time to try and buck a full rebuild - But Blair is paid very well to (and have responsibility for) knowing where we are at on the premiership clock. Get it wrong and there are very big consequences. And in our case those consequences are starting to look massive.

It's not just those two though. The only other player from other clubs recently is Koschitzke, which is also looking doubtful.

Compare that to Collingwood and Derek Hine in recent years - Howe, Markov, Hill, Crisp, Mitchell, Cameron, Lipinski all premiership players. Plus some very gutsy calls to ship out players that in effect free'd up the salary cap to get some of them in and enabled a flag.

Unfortunately on current evidence he's (and others) are leaving Blair for dead in list management stakes ATM.
Turn it up Mate. Making that call far too early in the piece. So far, yep, doesn’t look that great but plenty of time to vindicate the acquisitions.
And, he’s managed to get us a pretty decent draft hand for what Matt Clarke believes is a strong draft this year. We will trade out picks to Academy and FS clubs, and hopefully land another 1-2 first or second round selections.
Our list will be judged by the new coach and Blair and decisions made at years end. I think it’s in better shape than many media clowns believe.
 
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I
Have read that a bit.

It wasnt Dimmas call. He might agree or suggest players. But Its not his role or responsibility.

Its not his signature that goes on the players contract.

It was and is Blair's.

100%.
Leysy I think you are underestimating the influence Hardwick had. He is on record stating he wanted a replica of the last dance.
 
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Have read that a bit.

It wasnt Dimmas call. He might agree or suggest players. But Its not his role or responsibility.

Its not his signature that goes on the players contract.

It was and is Blair's.

100%.
There's no way the club would go get two players a coach didn't want. Hartley may have his signature, but those contracts had Dimma's blessing. Folks thought Hartley was a dud with the Grigg, Houli, era too especially in the early days.

As for the two Taranto is a pass. It's the Hopper pick which was maybe too much, at this point in time. Remember Geelong also wanted these guys. the club that many on here admire frustratingly and that seem to rise faster than Hey-zus when they dip.

It's a list build, they aren't by themselves the icing on the cake. Let's see what things look like half way through the year. Could be an Autobahn style pile-up or some shrewd acquisitions.
 
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I agree it looks like Blair has misjudged where we were on the premiership clock and the quality of our draftees coming through. It also looks like he has misjudged how well Hopper and Taranto work in combination.
 
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A bit of talk on the Taranto/Hopper threads. Probably more pertinent here.

Blair deserves so much kudos for putting the dynasty list together. Picked the eyes out of other clubs with outstanding acquisitions like Houli, Grigg, Caddy and not least Tom Lynch. Also managed the salary cap and oversaw some excellent drafting.

But with that credit should also mean criticism when list decisions don't turn out positive. Right now recent decisions have a real chance of tarnishing his legacy ILO.

Taranto/Hopper for picks 9, 12, 19, 31 (and 7 year deals) at a time it's looking more and more like we needed to invest in the draft could be era defining choices. And yes they seemed to look good at the time to try and buck a full rebuild - But Blair is paid very well to (and have responsibility for) knowing where we are at on the premiership clock. Get it wrong and there are very big consequences. And in our case those consequences are starting to look massive.

It's not just those two though. The only other player from other clubs recently is Koschitzke, which is also looking doubtful.

Compare that to Collingwood and Derek Hine in recent years - Howe, Markov, Hill, Crisp, Mitchell, Cameron, Lipinski all premiership players. Plus some very gutsy calls to ship out players that in effect free'd up the salary cap to get some of them in and enabled a flag.

Unfortunately on current evidence he's (and others) are leaving Blair for dead in list management stakes ATM.
Agree. I would also add that we have not been aggressive enough with list turnover in recent years. There are multiple players at our club that are not AFL standard yet we persist.

In that period we have neglected the rookie draft which not too long ago was a source of some excellent role players for us. Funny how we took two players in the 2022 rookie draft (Campbell and Young) and both were in the side on Saturday.

Anyway, list management needs to improve.
 
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