Mark Bickley believes Richmond’s list has fallen so far that it is now behind North Melbourne’s in terms of relativity to a premiership.
In fact, Bickley – Adelaide’s only premiership captain – has ranked Adem Yze’s list as the furthest from a flag in the 18-team competition.
The Tigers suffered their worst loss of the year by 91 points against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night and amid a disastrous injury crisis, the future is bleak for the men in yellow and black.
Bickley foresees limited success at Punt Road for the next few seasons.
“They were 91-point losers to the Bulldogs on the weekend. They’ve had one win this season and they find themselves in a horrible position of still having a host of aging players on their list,” he said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“They have a huge injury toll and right now, there’s a lack of obvious, young, high-end talent.
“Their (former) legendary coach Damien Hardwick is gone, their superb CEO Brendon Gale is leaving, and they now face the prospect of being the furthest team in the competition from an AFL premiership.”
As noted by Bickley, Richmond’s lack of talented youth has been highlighted as a significant Achilles heel over the opening rounds.
Josh Gibcus and Tom Brown were the club’s last first-round draft picks back in 2021, and the former is out for the remainder of the season with an ACL.
Thomson Dow was a first-round selection back in 2019. Prior to that it was Riley Collier-Dawkins, who has since been delisted.
Richmond’s list is the fifth oldest in the competition, according to Champion Data.
Meanwhile, North Melbourne is the league’s youngest list and has recently drafted stars in the making including Colby McKercher, Zane Duursma, Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw inside the last two years.
“North Melbourne are ahead of them (in terms of moving towards a premiership). They’ve got a heap of young, talented players that they have accumulated over the last few years,” Bickley continued.
“Richmond, I don’t think, have.”
The Tigers have already played West Coast, and lost, and don’t clash with the Kangaroos again until later this year in Round 21.
Games against Brisbane, Essendon and Geelong loom as a headache for the coming three weeks.