Kane Cornes believes 2024 could be the year Shai Bolton becomes potentially the best player in the AFL?
Bolton had a steady 2023 season coming off his breakout All-Australian performance the year prior.
“In 2022 I saw him as absolutely a top 10 player in the league, maybe pushing top five with what he’s got and his numbers were amazing – 400 touches and 41 goals in 2022,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“Whilst his numbers were really good last year, it was more possessions and less impact.
“He’s 25 now, entering his prime, and what he is capable of is being the best player in the game.
“Is he going to get there? I don’t know, and it changes all the time from week to week and the best player in the game is a difference of opinion, but he should be in that conversation by the end of this year.”
Bolton kicked four goals and was one of Richmond’s very best in Sunday’s practice match win over Melbourne.
“He was terrific yesterday, he’s a nightmare matchup and he’s got the tricks to go on-ball and impact at centre bounce, drift forward, get over the back, kick goals off the ground – but too often last year I thought he just drifted for seven or eight minutes,” Cornes continued.
“Some more consistency will be critical for him for reaching those heights, that I think he’s capable of.”
Nathan Buckley puts the potential flat spot in Bolton’s growth as a player down to the instability at Tigerland last year, following the departure of Damien Hardwick.
“Last year was the first year I thought he was frustrated as a player – and whether that’s midfield time versus forward time, whether that was the win-loss ratio, whether that was the changeover of coach and the instability,” Buckley said.
“There was a few reasons why there was a drop off for him last year. Five or six pre-seasons in you start to build that depth of cardiovascular strength.
“He’s a ballistic player, he does amazing things … he’s just one of the players you love to go and watch play the game.”
The Tigers played Melbourne in a scratch match on Sunday afternoon and Cornes’ “gentle” takeaway from the early look at both teams centres around the importance of Toby Nankervis to Richmond in 2024.
The skipper missed the match with foot soreness, but is considered likely to play in Opening Round.
“In nine seasons (Nankervis) has played 20 games just three times and 15 last year. Samson Ryan is a likely type, but he’s not ready to be their number one ruck just yet,” Cornes said.
“We saw that yesterday when Melbourne kicked the first five, Max Gawn dominated at the centre bounce and also went forward and tested him there.
“Ryan’s just not ready to ruck. I know they’ve got Sam Naismith, not sure he’s the option either. So the availability of Nankervis as captain and as a ruckman is really significant for the Tigers.”
Ryan, 23, has played 15 career games for Richmond – 14 of which came in 2023.
He averaged seven disposals, 12.2 hit-outs and 1.1 clearances per game.
Naismith was picked up out of the VFL, following a strong season at Port Melbourne. The 31-year-old struggled with injuries during his time at Sydney, managing just 30 games.
