The Tigers of old were strong and bold, but these Tigers? Maybe not so much. After a golden run of three flags in four years, Richmond have come back to the pack and finished with a middling 10 wins last season. 2023 also saw the departure of future Hall of Fame coach Dimma Hardwick, eventually replaced by Adem Yze, and constant rumours surrounding the future of the talismanic Dusty Martin. It’s an interesting time for the Tigers, who weren’t necessarily very Supercoach-relevant even in their heyday, but what do they present for us in 2024?
Defenders
Lock and Load
Jayden Short ($551,200)
Short kicks long, and often! Jayden holds the coveted role of designated distributor in the Richmond D50, and is coming off his fourth consecutive season of averaging 96+. Due to his role, preference for long and accurate kicking and generally durable nature, Short has been one of the most consistent defenders for us in recent times. This is offset by a relatively low ceiling (he has only cracked 130 points in three games in that period), likely due to that high rate of uncontested ball. Short looked in good form against the Pies last week, amassing 23 kicks and marshalling the defence in familiar style. Good POD value with less than 4% ownership at present.
Feeling Lucky
Nick Vlastuin ($514,700) and Daniel Rioli ($485,700)
There has been a little bit of interest in each of these players in recent times, particularly Rioli as a potential breakout defender, but neither has ever really made their way into the upper echelon from a Supercoach perspective. Rioli pancaked his finish to 2023, failing to break 60 in any of his last four games, while Vlastuin frequently finds himself with an accountable role which is not amenable to high scoring. Defenders who have to defend, gross! Both players are highly relevant in draft though, so for those of you who partake in that particular flavour of the game, keep them in mind.
Money Maker
Josh Gibcus ($150,700)
Taken at pick 9 in the 2021 draft, AFL footy has already been a wild and often frustrating journey for the 20 year old defender. From a Supercoach perspective Gibcus was promising in his rookie year, presenting slow but consistent cash growth and generally doing exactly what we expected. Unfortunately, his 2023 season was completely destroyed by a persistent hamstring injury, which saw him travel all the way to Doha for specialist advice and rehab. Home again, he looked good in the AAMI with eight touches and a boatload of one percenters against the Pies, and again he looks to be a slow-burning cash cow option for us at the back (with a $20K discount from his rookie price!).
Tom Brown ($154,200)
Another medium-sized defender, unfortunately Brown had his 2024 price ruined by being handed a debut in the final round of 2023. So annoying! The good news is that Tom acquitted himself very well in that game with 16 touches and six marks, and looked okay again with 55 points in the pre-season game to start 2024. He probably still has a way to go to become a regular in the Tigers’ best 22, but one to bookmark as a possible downgrade option later in the year.
Midfielders
Feeling Lucky
Tim Taranto ($596,100)
Timmy T was the name on everyone’s lips early last year, as the midfield bull somehow found himself as the top scoring forward of the year right up until the bye period. Unfortunately the wheels pretty much fell off after that with Taranto only managing one ton in his final nine games, frustrating the life out of coaches who couldn’t afford a luxury trade.
Tim is back this year without his forward status and is largely being ignored by the Supercoach fraternity (and perhaps rightly so). However he looked close to his best in the pre-season, racking up 115 points, and will no doubt be the centrepiece of the Tigers’ engine room once again in 2024. To be brutally honest I think there are better options, but if Taranto recaptures the form he showed in the first half of 2023 he will be the POD to end all PODs.
Money Maker
Thomson Dow ($254,800)
Yes he’s a little bit more expensive than your typical money maker, but hear me out. The younger (better?) Dow enters his 5th year in the league having never played more than 6 games in a season and with a price tag that is the very definition of “awkward”. So why am I even mentioning him? Because in the limited time we’ve had to see the 2024 edition of Dow, he has played full-time mid and looked pretty darn good doing it. 20 possessions at 85%, including 12 contested, against the Pies in the AAMI series and, more importantly, he was composed and measured under often considerable pressure. The only real downside is that three game run he had at the end of last year that has completely blown his price tag out. Still might be worth a thought at M5 if you’re keen to splash out a bit of dough on the other lines instead?
Rucks
Money Maker
Sam Naismith ($123,900)
If Supercoach awarded points for resilience, Sammy Naismith would be an uber premium. Naismith had more reconstructive knee surgeries than actual games played in his last five seasons at the Swans, a run that would have seen most men looking for the exit signs. But after a solid season in the VFL at Port Melbourne and a lifeline from the Tigers, big Sam looks to be back for one last crack at a career in the AFL. Whether he is viable for your Supercoach team is an interesting question in itself, as there probably isn’t room for him if first-choice ruck Toby Nankervis is fit, but there is currently doubt around that very issue. Naismith did look great in the pre-season and should be on the shortlist for your R3 spot.
Forwards
Feeling Lucky
Shai Bolton ($540,700) and Dustin Martin ($527,300)
Honestly, who knows? Two of the most talented players in the game; the champ who has every conceivable honour in the game in his kitbag, and the heir apparent trying to find his way to the throne. Bolton is the mercurial sort who can drift in and out of games, but when he is on there are few in the league who can have more influence on a game. Last year Shai had 7 games where he topped 120 points….and five games where he couldn’t make it to 70. Actual yo-yos are more consistent, and for that reason Bolton may be better suited as a downgrade option at a low point in his price cycle.
Dusty at his peak was as good as any there have ever been, on that we can agree. Injuries, off-field issues and general age-related decline have taken hold in recent season, but as he approaches his 33rd birthday, is there still life in the old Tiger’s legs? Martin did have a very strong finish to 2023, averaging a sparkling 118 ppg in his last seven, and if he carries that form through to this season he will be an absolute must in the wasteland that is the 2024 Supercoach forward line.
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TBH I was very suprised by Dows AAMI SC score. I thought that his disposal was atrocious, he turned it over in damaging parts of the ground and, lacked composure when under pressure, just like his brother.
But, if the enigmatic roulette wheel of supercoach scoring is tilted towards T.Dow this year I’ll probably have a spud rookie elsewhere that I can upgrade b4 his price increase
Dow has been a breakout contender for a while and with Cotchin’s retirement, Dusty spending more time forward, and likely also Bolton spending more time forward according to Yze, should see a lot of midfield minutes.
Not Supercoach related but one thing I do hate is the Dusty off-season rumours. Reeks of bottom-feeding AFL media making up stories just for the sake of it. According to them, Dusty has been on the move every season since 2015. They’ve been wrong every year, let’s see if the streak continues.
Taranto’s DE last year was just the killer for me. He had more than a few games in the second half of the season where he looked more suited to a job at hook and cleaver. That and the slide coincided with Hoppers return. Hard pass for me.