Richmond's Decade To Forget | Thebigtip

In what can only be described as another underwhelming season by Richmond, the Tigers appear to be heading for another finish outside the top eight.

Richmond, who have touted themselves as probable finalists since 2008, continue to put themselves in prime position for scrutiny after what has been another poor year, with the season's end still three weeks away.

Now I'm not one to instinctively kick a team while they're done - in the ideal world, I'd love to see all seventeen (soon to be eighteen) teams performing at a consistently impressive rate - but the "efforts" the Tigers have served over the past handful of years is irritating.

Keep in mind, this is a club that, since 2001, has had prime first-round picks each year with picks #12 (2002, Jay Schulz), #1 (2004, Brett Deledio), #4 (2004, Richard Tambling), #12 (2004, Danny Meyer), #8 (2005, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls), #13 (2006, Jack Riewoldt), #2 (2007, Trent Cotchin), #8 (2008, Tyrone Vickery), #3 (2009, Dustin Martin) and #6 (2010, Reece Conca).

How on earth can a club, which has hosted names such as Matthew Richardson and Ben Cousins in the last five years along with these draft picks, continue to look so deplorable, you may ask. Well, the onus does not fall on the senior players, nor the young blood. Most of the poor performances are a result of the middle tier not performing. Players such as Angus Graham, Brad Miller, Shaun Grigg and Matthew White seem to plod along each week, with either the Tigers or Coburg, without a care in the world.

There hasn't been a problem with youth coming through over the last decade with so many low picks, but the problem (off the field) has been both draft selections and bringing the wrong people to club, such as Brad Miller, who is close to the end of his tether.

With a number of Richmond's top players getting on in Jake King (27), Chris Newman (29) and Shane Tuck (29), it's time for the middle players to step up. The younger players such as Jayden Post, Dustin Martin, Alex Rance, Brad Helbig, Tyrone Vickery, David Astbury and Reece Conca have all shown signs of being great footballers, so the pressure is on the rest of the side to perform.

Needless to say, if the Tigers can find a balance of good players to perform consistently, they will win more football games.

It has been a decade to forget for Richmond, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. With the young acquisitions over the past few years, the Tigers are looking to build a solid foundation. Finals in 2012 would be the perfect reward.