Richmond have been forced to re-evaluate their midfield dynamic after being smashed by Carlton’s on-ball unit in Thursday night’s 25-point loss.
That clash was decided at the stoppage, with Carlton winning the clearance count 40-22 and the inside 50 count 64-40, numbers that don’t bode well for the Tigers particularly with Dion Prestia facing a period on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
With Prestia now out, plus the likes of Brandon Ellis and Jack Higgins departing the club in recent off-seasons, Kane Cornes expects a lack of star power and depth on-ball to hold back the Tigers as they look to return to finals in 2022.
“I’m worried about their depth, and I have been for some time,” Cornes said on AFL.com.au’s The Round So Far.
“I didn’t quite get the hype around them in the pre-season, many predicted them to bounce back up the ladder, but they can’t because they don’t have a midfield that can compete with the best eight midfields in the game.
“You see the lack of influence … Prestia gets injured again, he’s played 18 games in the last two years with reoccurrences of soft-tissue injuries.
“Trent Cotchin has been on the decline now for two years to be fair.
“They have a B+ ruckman in Toby Nankervis, but he’s not a (Brodie) Grundy, he’s not a (Max) Gawn.
“They’ve got concerns all over the field, Richmond, but with the likes of (Shane) Edwards at 33 and Graham is a good workhorse, but they don’t have the star power that other midfields do.
“I think that’s going to really trouble them this year.”
While depth was a key pillar behind Richmond’s three premierships in 2017, ’19 and ’20, a raft of retirements and departures in recent years has significantly reduced their quantity of AFL ready players.
AFL Media’s Riley Beveridge believes that concern was highlighted in the club’s VFL practice match thrashing also at the hands of Carlton on Thursday.
“You mention the lack of depth, I wondered down to the VFL practice match on Thursday,
“They (Richmond) were down by 100 points to Carlton at three-quarter time … that was reflective of that lack of depth.”
The Tigers will be looking for a response when they host the Giants in a Round 2 clash at the MCG.