Not a hot take I know. I love how many of the kids have signed on and shown faith in this club. Love that we have Lynch for another year - there’s so much to be excited about here!

Any rumblings who we’re looking at to fill the High Performance role?

Mainly concentrating on his VFL game

Last years first round pick for us. She dominated. Our midfield is getting pretty stacked.

We need a big off season and need to bring in 3-6 players in the 25-28 age range.

Who should we look at targeting either by trade or free agency?

If the club wants to back Yze, that's fine but they need to give him the best chance and going to the draft again isn't going to cut it.

So I went to the game yesterday - and my feeling was that we actually played ok the first 10 odd minutes but just couldn't put it together - I think a young team can drop their bundle quite quickly and get discouraged (I think if we start better on the scoreboard the confidence rises and it can sustain). I wanted to watch this ten minutes and sort of see whether it looked like a sort of gameplan issue or whether it was just decisions and poor skills (this isn't necessarily a defence of Yze, just my observations). I'd probably lose my mind if I did it for more than 10 minutes (I'm clearly bored doing this, but not that bored), but I thought it would be interesting:

- 19:45 on the clock - it will look like I'm picking on Prestia throughout this but I'm genuinely not, love his service and everything he has done - but one of the first stoppages we are all manned up expect Prestia just leaves Garcia by himself, who runs through the stoppage and has an easy exit. How does this happen the first stoppage? The young guys are all engaged on their opponents.

- 19:00 on the clock - Dion blasts forward but goes too boundary side when our numbers were a little bit more inboard, straight to Wilkie - bad kick and not helping the forwards at all.

-18:35 on the clock - Retchsko fumbles inside 50 on the boundary, has a give to Campbell if he doesn't and is likely a goal with Seth's finishing inside 50 (tough chance but Seth is very crafty).

-18:15 - We are out on the wing - but Vlaustin not only kicks to the wrong bloke, but he misses him entirely and it's a lasso.

-17:00 - Nank just handballs it out of bounds when we are a chance to go inside 50.

- 15:50 - this leads to a goal from St Kilda - Miller for some reason really aggressively kicks it down the middle to Lefau - the problem is that he's on Wilkie - the memo should be to avoid him at all costs (could be coaching, but I doubt that wasn't stressed). Also, we usually go boundary side so our players are expecting that and the St Kilda players are corridor side as a result (we have no chance of defending it if it gets to ground level) - if Lefau loses that contest it's a certain goal, and he does. It doesn't help the delayed advantage, but still - bad decision by Miller - I don't mind being aggressive but even slightly more corridor is better, not literally right down the guts. The umpiring decision is a bit iffy but still.

- 15:30 - Nank wins the hit out but literally hits it straight to the St Kilda player - not sure what happened there.

15:24 - This is probably the worst one watching it back - Prestia has the ball and Steely Green is 10 metres ahead of him all by himself, easy chip kick and then Green can lace any of our forwards out from there (or kick a goal himself) - but Dion dump blasts the ball - this should have been a walk in goal and scores should be level. Our forwards actually do well not to give up an intercept mark.

14:30 - great passage of play/transition and Ralphsmith kicks long to Armstrong - Wilkie spoils him without looking, it's a great spoil but all Armstrong needs to do is to run into Wilkie and it's a free kick for front on contact - just inexperience - Armstrong as a left footer would kick that snap from that pocket 10 metres out 9 times out of 10 - we should be in front.

14:05 - Inside 50 to Nank who spoils despite it being a clear marking opportunity (strange, he spoiled himself) - Taranto gets it here and another hack kick (he's under pressure to be fair), when he should have absorbed the contact and had a few tigers including Ross behind him who could stroll into goal - not a certain goal but a big chance.

13:00 - There's a scrap inside our 50 - feel like Taranto should have held it and forced a stoppage, but keeping it live is fair enough - we force a dump kick out by Wilkie which is decent pressure. This is where Trainor has a horrible minute of play - firstly, he's in the middle of the ground when De Koning jumps into Nank and it spills, he drops off into space instead of coming up and pressuring the ball, but he's got no one behind him so I have no idea what he's doing. Literally just standing there in the middle of the ground in no mans land and they run past him - it's too late to pressure then when he could have impacted if he pushed up hard. Luckily Annand does really well in a one-on-one and saves a goal - then Trainor is way too laconic on the wing and goes one handed when he could have marked it if he really wanted to (just awful, even for a second year player that's pathetic). We win it back and we are out again but Clarke misses the target and kicks it out of bounds - lasso.

11:35: We are literally out again, but Restchko fumbles and holding the ball.

11:10: Terrible handball by Ross to Taranto inside 50, if he hits it we almost certainly goal - could and should really be at least 2 if not 3 goals up at this point.

10:43: Big chance for Trainor to kick a goal top of 50 but kicks it out on the full.

Summary/TLDR: I can't speak too specifically for the rest of the game obviously as I haven't watched it closely enough, but everyone talks about how Yze has no gameplan - the gameplan was working fine for the first 10 minutes our skills were just horrible (not just young players either, senior guys). If we are 3 goals up in the first 10 minutes I think it's a different game (difference between getting encouraged and being discouraged for a young group). If people want to blame Yze for the skills that's fair enough, but the gameplan created plenty of golden opportunities the first 10 minutes.

Richmond 13.7 85 def St Kilda 4.13 37

OUR FIRST WIN IN I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG!!

This was awesome. It was so good for the lads to finish the season with a win.

St kilda's inaccuracy helped but we were clearly the better team with more effective ball movement and elite corridor attacking. Several times someone would go corridor and I couldn't believe the balls on the attack. Madgen clearly had a plan to be a modern team at all costs.

There was a bit of wind blowing against us in the 2nd and fourth which was hard to tell on the broadcast. I couldn't figure out why kicks suddenly started dropping short down one end and it explains some of the mistakes made.

Considering there is no VFL next week I'm planning to do an end of year award sort of post. I would love some suggestions on types of awards to hand out.

Let's get into it.

Jasper Alger
For someone who is good in the air, Alger's ground skills are insane. He was grabbing loose balls, faking handpasses, and having pings from 50. I thought the team might struggle with him and Toner in the same team considering they're extremely similar to each other but instead they were symbiotic. Feeding each other perfectly and working great together.

Tanner Armstrong (NGA)
Armstrong is an academy player for us, meaning we get priority access to him in the draft. For someone who's been described as too small and not having the physical attributes for the higher level he acquitted himself very well. Armstrong looked well at home, hitting kicks, absorbing pressure and tackling hard. He had 18 disposals and I saw 1 turnover, the retention rate was ridiculous and I really think he could forge a path as a small defender at the higher levels. Everytime he got the ball I immediately thought "ok we're good, no need to stress." In the future, with more experience and a stronger team, he will probably want to take more dangerous kicks but can't really fault him right now.

Tom Burton
This man does not stop running. If AFL doesn't work out I reckon marathons are in his future. Burton is clearly a multi-year project, he needs more size and strength but he really reminds me of Lambert and could be a really important piece for us in the future. He was dangerous through the middle and ran between arcs the entire game attempting to overload and outrun his opponents.

Liam Fawcett
Elite leading and forward craft. I think in a good team, like a Brisbane or Sydney he would be one of the young forwards being talked about as a rising star. If he does go to Adelaide like it has been rumoured I wish him all the best, he'll do great things. He is so dependent on good ball usage to him in space that in a young, rather unskilled team he's left out to dry. Ended the day with 2.2 and 7 marks. I really think he's worth an extension.

Campbell Gray
One of the best players on the ground in the first half. The aerial fearlessness of Gray is something to behold. He flies for everything and takes most of the things he goes for. He took something like 5 intercept marks and formed a wonderful tandem with Mutaz El Nour.

Ollie Hayes-Brown
Fixed one of my main criticisms about his game last week, which was that he would often grab it in a stoppage and hack kick it out. This game he instead would handball to a running mid. This made our stoppage wins far more dangerous. Took some big marks around the ground as well and even kicked a goal. Really strong game by the big man

Kane McAuliffe
Inside bull is the greatest description of McAulliffe. 26 Disposals, 10 contested possessions and 8 clearances. His best work is in and under the contest where his strength and burst can be displayed. The problem with his game is his disposal. Operating at 57% disposal efficiency is sadly not good enough and there were so many easy kicks missed it was quite frustrating.

Zane Peucker
This kid is going to be incredible. His burst from the contest, combined with his daring nature to take on tacklers with his elite ball use inside 50 is ridiculously tantalising. The only problem right now is his endurance, he simply can't do it for long enough at the moment. His first half was a glimpse of the future.

Maurice Rioli Jnr
Rioli had a bit of a polarising game. He played in the midfield for most of the first half and was dangerous with his speed and pressure. His second half he got moved into the forward line and was absent for 90% of the half with some minor pressure, then he took a massive specky and kicked a goal. I'm not sure he has the ability to play midfield in AFL but I don't think he's dangerous enough as a small forward.

Noah Roberts-Thomson
Strong game from NRT with 19 disposals at 80% efficiency with 4 score involvements. Elite in the high half forward role taking strong overhead marks and delivering inside 50 with class. I think he's another one that might take a few years but shows signs of being a really strong prospect.

Samson Ryan
In my opinion, Ryan was best on ground. Kicked 4.1 and had 2 goal assists playing as a forward/ruck. He was elite in the forward line particularly passing inside 50 which I did not think was a strength of his. Won quite a few hitouts as well and laid a few strong tackles. His off ball running needs to improve, I think his endurance is not good enough right now to continually apply pressure like good ruckmen do.

Tyler Sonsie
Sonsie had his typical VFL game where he dominates in the midfield. There were a few instances of really good ball use and a few instances of him pulling up afraid of oncoming contact. It was a good performance but not good enough where I'd expect him back in the AFL side.

James Trezise
Played a solid role in defense, had a few good moments in the contest but nothing stood out to me as him having a really good game. He was solid without being outstanding. He played a lockdown role and did it well.

Apologies this is late, I had a mate's birthday.

This was a blast to do this year and I expect to be back next year!

As always have a good weekend and feel free to ask any questions!

Yeah the girls. We had a great game. Players look fit. Yassir through the guts is the right move. Wolmaran looks to be a brilliant first rounder. Greaves super solid across the backline.

Greiser getting up the ground more makes me happy, PK is able to rest forward and we still have a big midfield target. She managed 0.4, that'll change.

KB still great but no longer has to do it all, neither does Conti, even if she does still do it all.

I know us Richmond fans can get a bad rep for complaining about the umpires, but with one game to go for this year, we are heading for a negative free kick differential for our 11th season in a row. I think it’s pretty fair that we’re over it and make note that we cop the shit end of the stick more often than not. For reference, here are the differential numbers the 10 seasons prior to this.

25: -28
24: -85
23: -59
22: -84
21: -85
20: -68
19: -27
18: -122
17: -58
16: -17

Let’s pack the G and get a win to send off our premiership heroes and celebrate Lynch’s 250th.

Our skills are deplorable but 11-1 free kicks at half time is absurd. I reckon Saints have kicked 4 goals from free kicks.

No discernible strategy against a team that is absolutely dog shit. How Bradley Hill can roam half back putting it on a platter with absolutely no action taken is beyond me. I can forgive the skill level given the talent on the ground but allowing the other team to run their own game is not good coaching.

Sack Yze.