Player Watch #16 Josh Smillie

[THE_GUN]

Smillie will be too good for VFL and pointless having him play VFL

He needs to be played AFL and learn exactly what it takes and whats expected
rated #1 most of 2024 and wanted to be selected at #1 so he is a mentally strong kid that will adapt quickly

2025 is a nothing year and just get games into the kids that have the talent

 

[SplintWhisky]

How sides are named means f all these days and aren’t really conclusive evidence of anything and never actually represents how a side lines up apart from listing the 22 players who will be playing

How many times over the last few years have we seen guys like Mansell named as CHF or FF

"These days" covering 14ish years is a bit of a stretch. I 100% doubt that Dusty was ever an official HB but was a midfielder who hung around that area because his tank wasn't good enough in his first few years. He was constantly under fire for it and then when he changed in 2017 it was the stat that everyone kept talking about with "How Richmond Changed from last year" constantly being talked about in the run up to the finals.

 

[Grrr]

Smillie will be too good for VFL and pointless having him play VFL

He needs to be played AFL and learn exactly what it takes and whats expected
rated #1 most of 2024 and wanted to be selected at #1 so he is a mentally strong kid that will adapt quickly

2025 is a nothing year and just get games into the kids that have the talent

We hope so but until he plays some footy we won't know. 2025 is not a nothing year, it is a year where a whole raft of players will make or break their careers. Fully fit we will be competitive, especially when players like Gibcus come back in.
Vlastuin, Balta, Broad
Brown, Gibcus, Trezise/Smith
HRS, Taranto, Campbell
Bauer, Fawcett or best new tall, Mansell
Lalor, Lynch, MRJ

Nank, Prestia, Ross
McAuliffe, Hopper, Short, Banks, Smillie

That is a not a bad side up and about with a bit of confidence could surprise.
I'm sure the players will be thinking much the same, and with an injection of real class from the new draftees as they get their turn, and improvement from a few others on the rise or coming back from injury, I don't see it as a nothing year at all.

 

[THE_GUN]

We hope so but until he plays some footy we won't know. 2025 is not a nothing year, it is a year where a whole raft of players will make or break their careers. Fully fit we will be competitive, especially when players like Gibcus come back in.
Vlastuin, Balta, Broad
Brown, Gibcus, Trezise/Smith
HRS, Taranto, Campbell
Bauer, Fawcett or best new tall, Mansell
Lalor, Lynch, MRJ

Nank, Prestia, Ross
McAuliffe, Hopper, Short, Banks, Smillie

That is a not a bad side up and about with a bit of confidence could surprise.
I'm sure the players will be thinking much the same, and with an injection of real class from the new draftees as they get their turn, and improvement from a few others on the rise or coming back from injury, I don't see it as a nothing year at all.

Its a nothing year as nothing expected from the team to participate in finals of min wins for the year
Totally about player development and coaches game plans
we could finish 15th or last it means nothing and its all about development next 2-3 years and building a list for success

 

[sregit]

Its a nothing year as nothing expected from the team to participate in finals of min wins for the year
Totally about player development and coaches game plans
we could finish 15th or last it means nothing and its all about development next 2-3 years and building a list for success

You’re correct in that expectations for results in 2025 are very low. Posters are looking at our draft hand and think we are a definite 17/18 lock. Bring on the early draft picks! I do find this attitude a little disturbing as I’m concerned we could end up like North and find ourselves languishing near the bottom for quite sometime. I know we need to build the list, however, with an eye for early picks we may just be building a long term losing culture.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

You’re correct in that expectations for results in 2025 are very low. Posters are looking at our draft hand and think we are a definite 17/18 lock. Bring on the early draft picks! I do find this attitude a little disturbing as I’m concerned we could end up like North and find ourselves languishing near the bottom for quite sometime. I know we need to build the list, however, with an eye for early picks we may just be building a long term losing culture.

We weren't building a long term losing culture when we lost the first 9-10 games under Hardwick 2010. We look a lot worse than we are as a 2 win team that has lost 4 strong players, because:

a) we had a perfect storm of new coaches, mass injuries, & probably a race to the bottom late season 2024, &
b) we have a lot of very talented looking young players, some of whom could impact significantly early on.

 

[THE_GUN]

You’re correct in that expectations for results in 2025 are very low. Posters are looking at our draft hand and think we are a definite 17/18 lock. Bring on the early draft picks! I do find this attitude a little disturbing as I’m concerned we could end up like North and find ourselves languishing near the bottom for quite sometime. I know we need to build the list, however, with an eye for early picks we may just be building a long term losing culture.

I think our rebuild is very different to NorF's
We have some very good leaders and talent still on the list
Lynch , Vlastuin, Prestia , Broad , McIntosh , Nank , Taranto , Hopper and even Short

We also have 11 top 30 picks in the space of 3 years and another 2 top 5 picks coming next year
Also with the cap savings and being Richmond we will get 2 very good free agents in 2 years time

We will be competing again in 3-4 years time

 

[Dr Tigris]

I think our rebuild is very different to NorF's
We have some very good leaders and talent still on the list
Lynch , Vlastuin, Prestia , Broad , McIntosh , Nank , Taranto , Hopper and even Short

We also have 11 top 30 picks in the space of 3 years and another 2 top 5 picks coming next year
Also with the cap savings and being Richmond we will get 2 very good free agents in 2 years time

We will be competing again in 3-4 years time

Plus being able to buy picks from this year. We'll find out how much a first round pick is worth.

Although the teams that are in salary cap trouble are also likely to have picks post 15.

 

[Moppey]

Plus being able to buy picks from this year. We'll find out how much a first round pick is worth.

Although the teams that are in salary cap trouble are also likely to have picks post 15.

NM list is looking scary as far as draft picks go.

They currently have 23 players taken at 27 or lower in the nd. The majority of them are now around 40 50 games at least.

I think they are finally at a point where they can only rise up the ladder.

Imo this century they showed what happens to a club who continually finish mid table.
Imo they have only really bit the bullet and properly bottomed out since 2020 where they have had five bottom 2 finishes in those years. Having suffered the pain they are now ready to rise.
The next few seasons i dont think we are going to enjoy playing them too much.