Vibes FC: Richmond’s Rebuild is Better and Worse than it Seems

Vibes FC: Richmond’s Rebuild is Better and Worse than it Seems

GuyWhoLikesSport GuyWhoLikesSport

After a wasted 2024, my beloved Tigers are 10 rounds into a rebuild and things are going better than I thought they would.

I’m not alone, you could feel it at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

I went with a North Melbourne fan, and I had two more in front of me.

I, and the rest of the Tiger faithful, went into the game with a feeling that no matter what happens now, the season is a success.

We were relaxed.

North fans were like a 21-year-old virgin.

You could smell the desperation.

They rode every bump and tackle, despaired at every mistake. Even when a victory was staring them in the face in the last 10 seconds, after 5 minutes of brilliantly locking the ball in, the fan in front of me muttered “you watch, they’ll get out here and we’ll lose” with a level of fatalism familiar to any Tiger fan who was alive between 1990 and 2016.

In just one year, our rebuild has already produced two better wins than North’s entire three-year build — Carlton and Gold Coast — and everyone at the ground knew it.

In short: Richmond wanted the win. North needed it.

The atmosphere reflected the relatively high vibe at Tigerland in 2025.

The vibes are fuelled by the players being unearthed, with a few more waiting in the wings.

You can see the bones of a strong team across every line. There are clear pathways to both A-graders and the kind of role players that defined the dynasty.

The backline is threatening to be the kind of rangy, athletic unit that could contend with the AFL’s return to key forward primacy with Noah Balta, Luke Trainor, Ben Miller, Jacob Blight, and maybe Josh Gibcus soon.

The move of Sam Banks to half-back seems like it will also pay dividends and inject a bit of juice into Richmond’s transition game, while Tom Brown has gone from a Trent McKenzie-style “just kick it” player to a genuinely useful one.

The midfield is still mostly stocked with experienced players who are doing a good job of being physical, but there has also been growth from Kane McAuliffe.

Separately, as he develops, the extraordinary Sam Lalor will spend more time on the ball.

The forward line is the one that’s lacking an ace, though Gibcus did have some success as a forward when he was swung there earlier in his career.

Of those who have played this year, Tom Sims has shown flashes but looks likely to be a forward ruck type that is seldom game-defining.

Jonty Faull, Harry Armstrong, and Jacob Bauer have been okay when they have played, but patchy as expected.

As it stands, the talls look likely to be more John Turturro than Brad Pitt. More Ollie Henry than Jeremy Cameron.

Outside of the talls, though, there’s real hope. Seth Campbell, Rhyan Mansell and Steely Green are going to haunt opponent transition games.

But that’s where my issues come in.

If the players are vibey, the style of play is the opposite. It’s good acting, bad script — like Your Friends and Neighbours.

Despite winning three games for the year, Richmond has the lowest expected score in the AFL.

Expected score isn’t everything, but it matches the eye test.

With exciting players, Richmond plays negative footy.

Nobody scores less from the front half than Richmond because the Tigers set up the ground so close to their own goal, despite banshee pressure forwards.

Despite having range in defence, no team has been more negative in the way that it moves the ball from back to front than Richmond – the worst in the league at taking the ball from D50 to F50 and taking the ball from D50 to score.

They love a long kick up the line and a prayer that something will come of it.

When something positive does come of the 15th kick up the line for a quarter, Richmond players are so close to their own goal that they have to run 800m to give the guy that took a mark something to kick to.

It’s been ultra risk-averse setup from Adem Yze.

I don’t blame him for trying to limit damage, and it’s clear that the players buy into his message.

I’m just begging him to stop playing Melbourne without the good players type footy, especially now that some goodwill has been banked.

Over the last five games we’ve started to see a shift.

Over that time, Richmond is 11th at going from D50 to F50, and 14th at going from D50 to a score.

It’s not world beating but empowering the players to attack the corridor and to look inboard at least a little more often, like they did in the second half last week, is working.

They’ll miss occasionally, but that’s fine.

The wins don’t matter anymore, and good teams score these days.

Loosen the shackles and let’s see what the kids can do playing positive, aggressive footy that works in the modern game – just look at the Bulldogs or Melbourne this week.

Start preparing now to be good at an elite level.

That would also make the footy as compelling as the players.