There is nothing fundamentally wrong with recruiting mature-age players. Hawthorn have exemplified how recruiting mature-age players can reap massive results.
We recruited some of these players for list depth, which I think is reasonable. Hampson, Stephenson, Thomas, Hunt and Knights fit this mould. Knights career was cruelly ruined by injury, had high hopes for him.
Some have been quite successful, Grigg, Miles and Houli.
I think the problem at Richmond lies with our game plan. We have a terrific spine of players there. Highly dependable role-players (Deledio, Edwards, Maric, Vlaustin) and some genuine superstars (Rance, Martin). But when we get the ball, we have no sense of purpose. It's a random cavalcade of trying to work the ball forward, but no one knows where they fit in to the game plan so it just gets eventually turned over somewhere between the 50-metre lines.
I personally think Hardwick's time is up. He's proven himself as a ground-up list builder, but not a match-day tactician or appears capable of instilling composure into the team when it counts.
Our list is pushing on, I'd be curious to see if Ross Lyon could work some magic into this side within a maximum three-year contract. We've finished 5th twice in the past few seasons and we've normally beaten the elite Hawthorn, Fremantle and Sydney sides of the past few years. I just want to see us make a grand final.
Sent from a barge floating through the docks of Dublin