Kane Cornes wants to see Richmond’s future on display for the good for the club going forward.
The Tigers traded away a number of key draft picks to get Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper in from GWS in the 2022 trade period, costing them the opportunity to invest in last year’s and this year’s drafts.
However, they did have a handy haul in the 2021 draft which delivered them five selections inside the top 30 - Josh Gibcus (Pick 9), Tom Brown (Pick 17), Tyler Sonsie (Pick 28), Sam Banks (Pick 29) and Judson Clarke (Pick 30).
As the Tigers enter a new era under Adem Yze, the time is right to start blooding these third-year players for the future of the club, according to Cornes.
He assessed what the quintet have produced between them so far while urging the Tigers to get them playing regular senior footy, Gibcus aside after the gut-wrenching knee injury he sustained in the loss to Carlton on Thursday night.
“With where they are at, I just want to see some youth,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“We all remember 2021, they're spruiking the five players that they selected inside 30 of the draft. They were heavily invested in the draft and took five players inside 30, which sounds nice.
“It sounds like you've invested in the draft, but this is what's happened with those players:
Josh Gibcus
“We’ll start with Gibcus, Pick 9, clearly the guy can play. It was a good pick. Injury has let him down, 18 games in his first year and looked good.
“Nothing last year and now he's not going to play this year. It’s unfortunate and nothing you can do about that. I think it was a good pick.
Tom Brown
“Pick 17, Tom Brown. He's played one AFL game, he’s played lots of VFL football.
“Don't know a whole lot about him, 26 games in the VFL but hardly sighted at AFL level.
Tyler Sonsie
“Tyler Sonsie, he was picked at 28 in that draft.
“He played seven games in his first year, only three last year, had some suspension and some injury worries.
Sam Banks and Judson Clarke
“Sam Banks was picked at 29 in that draft. Six games last year, played in Opening Round, then was dropped.
“Judson Clarke was picked at 30, played three games in his first year, 13 last year, not playing at the moment.
“That's 53 games from five players in two and a bit seasons when you told us this was a big draft haul.”
Cornes would rather see Richmond develop some of these young guys rather than continue to give games to experienced premiership players such as Kamdyn McIntosh, Marlion Pickett and Nathan Broad.
It is the younger section of the playing list that he wants to see on display in order to brighten the future of the Richmond Football Club.
“I don't want to see McIntosh, I don't want to see Pickett, I don't want to see Broad with where they're at,” he added.
“I want to see Brown, I want to see Sonsie, I want to see Banks and I want to see Judson Clarke, and you can chuck in Noah Cumberland and some others into this mix as well.
“That's what we need to find out about Richmond. This now is where their focus needs to go, I think.
“It’s not about Richmond now. Of course, they want to win, they want to get Adem Yze’s first win and you want to compete every week.
“But the future of this footy club is going to be decided by these five players and a couple of others because you've traded away your other draft picks.
“Now, I'm not suggesting you play all five of them at the same time. That's the query I've got or did they just get it wrong or is it too early to decide?
“I don't know, but there's a balance in there that the future needs to be on display for Richmond.”
The Tigers have started the 2024 season 0-2 after going down to Carlton by five points in a thriller at the MCG on Thursday night.
Of the aforementioned five, only Gibcus played and unfortunately he suffered a suspected serious knee injury which threatens to sideline him for the rest of the season.
They had an average of 27 years and average games of 120.5 in the loss to the Blues.