Richmond’s General Manager of Football, Dan Richardson, has underlined the importance of the Tigers continuing to invest in early National Draft picks.
This drafting doctrine has reaped handsome dividends for Richmond over the past decade, with the likes of Brett Deledio, Jack Riewoldt, Trent Cotchin, Ty Vickery, Dustin Martin, Reece Conca, Brandon Ellis, Nick Vlastuin, Ben Lennon and Corey Ellis landing at Punt Road and exerting a significant influence through their respective, considerable football talent.
Tigers big on player retention
The Tigers are confident the pick 12 they have in the forthcoming 2015 National Draft, will likewise develop into a first-class performer at the game’s highest level.
“First-round picks are the future of any football club,” Richardson said on Richmond’s official podcast ‘Talking Tigers’.
“People talk about Hawthorn, over the last few years, topping up with talent from other clubs. But they’d built that list through the draft, through gaining picks.
“That’s the future of your club.
“I know it’s hard for people out there to see that, when at this point in time it only seems like a pick and there’s not a player attached to it.
“But then, in a year or two’s time, when you attach a player to that pick, you realise how important they are. . . They’re crucial.
“You won’t get them all right, but we think, certainly in the last few years, our track record of picking the right players has been pretty solid.”
Richardson explained Richmond’s philosophy going into the 2015 National Draft . . .
“You tend to pick best player when it comes to an early pick, a first round pick. But, having said that, there are a couple of small forwards around that range that might come into consideration,” he said.
“We feel probably that the first 15 picks, there’s a pretty good level of talent there.
“After that, there are still some good players around, but maybe not quite as much depth as last year’s draft, where we picked up five players.
“That’s why it was really important to hold on to pick 12.
“We’re confident that we’ll get a good player at pick 12.”
