Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney has noticed several tactical shifts that have occurred since interim coach Andrew McQualter has taken over at Richmond.
With Damien Hardwick stepping away from the role after Round 10, McQualter has led the Tigers to a 3-1 record across his first four games in charge.
Cooney believes that has come off the back of reversing several moves Hardwick was trying to pull off earlier in the season with several senior players moving into less critical roles
“Damien Hardwick committed to up-skilling different players in new positions,” Cooney told SEN The Run Home.
“(Jayden) Short as a sort of sweeping midfielder, (Liam) Baker going to half back, (Trent) Cotchin was playing more forward than mid, Dustin Martin pretty much as a permanent forward, (Maurice) Rioli Jr as that connecting forward up the ground Junior as that connecting forward up the ground.
“But McQualter has reverted all the positions back.
“Martin is back in the midfield, Cotchin pure mid, Short has gone to half back, Baker's back to that half forward ground ball role, Rioli Jr is in the forward pocket as that high-pressure player.
“It's worked for the last three weeks and it’s the reason why they've had their wins.”
Cooney also had a raft of statistics to back up the shifts he’s noticed with a pair of veterans seeing their numbers spike in the last month.
“Looking at centre bounce attendances, Cotchin from Round 1 to 11 his highest centre bounce rate was 42 per cent against the Bulldogs (in Round 4),” Cooney said.
“But McQualter takes over and he’s gone 68 per cent in the centre bounce in Round 12, 54 per cent the next week for 28 disposals and seven clearances and then last week 70 per cent for 29 disposals.
“Jayden Short has gone the other way.
“Dustin Martin, we know is playing in the midfield now permanently, he had his first 30-plus disposal game since Round 5, 2021 and in back-to-back games has had eight inside fifties.”
While what McQualter is doing is clearly working with the Tigers roaring back into the finals race, Cooney questioned whether his moves will hurt the club in the long run.
Given that Hardwick was trying to develop younger players in the roles that senior players have since taken under McQualter, Cooney pondered whether the Tigers will be worse off for it in 2024.
“He's coaching for the now and trying to win whilst they're still in the frame of playing finals,” Cooney said.
“But is it the right thing to be doing? Pushing the kids to the periphery and putting the more mature players back into those prime roles for the now.
“Is it the right thing to do for the future? That’s given that it could cost 15 or 16 games worth of development the younger guys Damien Hardwick had committed to playing more prime roles.
“We're not thinking that Richmond can win a premiership this year, are we?”
Richmond are taking the week off in Round 15 with the bye with McQualter’s fifth game in charge coming against Brisbane at the Gabba next Thursday.