BEWARE the rebuild. Or the re-positioning, re-stumping, re-wiring and all other spin-driven words and phrases football clubs choose to apply to time-buying list management projects.
Beware the planned bottoming-out. Be sceptical of contrived celebrations of a stockpiling of high-end national draft selections. And certainly ignore the pledges that "sustained success" will be the outcome of these supposedly transformational projects.
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Richmond Football Club will back itself to emerge from its rebuild-enforced home-and-away season ladder cellar-dwelling. Beautifully proud and comforted by premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020, the Tigers, a year after the coach of those flags Damien Hardwick walked out, embarked upon arguably the most intriguing rebuild strategy the AFL era has seen.
At the end of 2024, after Adem Yze in his first year as coach had taken the Tigers to a two-win, 21-loss scoreline, much-loved premiership stars Daniel Rioli, Shai Bolton, Liam Baker and Jack Graham were let go, and seven picks inside the first 28 of the national draft procured.
A 5-18 tally was registered in 2025, and now it’s 0-3 to open the 2026 season. Seven wins and 42 losses for Yze at the Tigers, 22 of the losses by 41 points or more. Ten of the last 25 matches have been lost by 10 goals or more. On 23 occasions, an opponent has kicked 100 points or more, and the Tigers have reached three figures just once – against West Coast.
These are tough times for Yze, as the calculated transitioning of the Richmond list has, not surprisingly, resulted in the collapse of any meaningful match-day structure.
I was dubious of Richmond’s drastic rebuild at the time it was unfolding, and I remain so. The club itself is not blinking, though, on any aspect of its strategy, fully confident it took the right path as it pre-empted the raiding of national draft talent by the incoming Tasmania Devils team in 2028. Only last November the Tigers board extended Yze’s contract to coach club to the end of 2028.
The seven players Richmond took with picks one, seven, 12, 14, 21, 23 and 28 in the 2024 national draft are obviously all works in progress. Top pick Sam Lalor looks all but guaranteed to be a competition star, despite just 14 matches to his name. But he has suffered multiple soft tissue injuries in his short time in the big league, as have others. No.7 pick Josh Smillie is yet to play a game due to injuries.
There is no AFL industry-accepted right way for a club to position itself to win premierships. But drafting talent is merely part of the battle. Identification and development of the talent, coaching, development and culture are the real keys.
Hawthorn’s premiership of 2008 may have been one of the rare occasions where a flag team comprised mostly of players drafted by that club, particularly the 2001 and 2004 drafts.
But even with the Hawks, their dynasty status, which came after securing the 2013-15 premierships, arrived only after players from other clubs were added to the mix, including Josh Gibson, Brian Lake, Shaun Burgoyne, Jack Gunston, Ben McEvoy, David Hale and James Frawley.
Same with Geelong, even when it began a now-20 season reign of high-end ladder and Grand Final success in 2007. Only then was a very strong hand via creative national draft recruiting franked with a premiership through the recruitment of Brad Ottens. And then, as the Cats committed every single year to the very risky strategy of vying to make a Grand Final, the additions of Paddy Dangerfield, Jeremy Cameron, Bailey Smith and many other recruits have allowed them to stay highly competitive every year.
The Sydney Swans have also greatly benefited from the same mindset. Sure, they’ve experienced immense sporting heartache in losing their past four Grand Finals – 2024, 2022, 2016 and 2014 – but the thought of a rebuild is abhorrent to them.
The Cats and Swans are beautiful proof that clubs don’t need to rebuild.
Brisbane catapulted itself into the past three Grand Finals after recruiting free agents and guns from other clubs, including Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley, Joe Daniher and Charlie Cameron.
Yes, the Lions had prepared themselves for success with an excellent core of draft talent, and also lucked out with access to elite father-son players, but the difference between making finals and winning Grand Finals came when the proven recruits were added.
Collingwood refreshingly refuses to rebuild, too. No one saw a preliminary final outcome in 2022 when the club sacked Nathan Buckley as coach in 2021, a season which saw the Pies finish 17th.
Before Richmond, North Melbourne entered rebuild mode in 2019 when it exited Brad Scott as coach. It has been a mess ever since, though there are small signs, belatedly, in early 2026 that a form of progress is being made.
Essendon? Who knows what it is doing? It certainly doesn’t seem to know. But one thing is certain – a recent investment in high-end national draft picks has done nothing to improve it.
Five seasons of horrible performances from West Coast have been, at least in the past fortnight, halted on the back of some very encouraging form of drafted players Harley Reid, Willem Duursma, Jobe Shanahan and Cooper Duff-Tytler. The Eagles remain a big picture work-in-progress, but finally, the signs are encouraging.
While some clubs hoard draft picks and rack up seemingly never-ending seasons of big losses, other clubs, via strategies designed to stay competitive while transitioning, rack up Grand Finals.
Striving to win today will always trump false promises of successful futures.