RICHMOND has received some good news with young midfielder Ben Nason cleared of a serious knee injury.
The 20-year-old hyper-extended his knee in the second quarter of the Tigers' 73-point loss to Hawthorn in the first-round NAB Cup match at Aurora Stadium on Saturday night.
The club initially feared Nason had ruptured his ACL but scans showed just bone bruising which is expected to sideline him for four weeks.
Meanwhile, youngster Adam Thompson will be rested this week after suffering concussion against the Hawks.
RICHMOND draftee Troy Taylor has been charged with one count of assault and will appear in Alice Springs Magistrates Court on February 18.
Taylor, taken with pick 51 in last year's national draft, was charged over an incident in Alice Springs on New Year's Eve in which three men were allegedly assaulted
"We knew Troy had a number of issues he was dealing with when we drafted him," Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said.
"The Richmond Football Club has a professional network of support helping Troy address his issues but we have also advised Troy that he needs to take personal responsibility for the decisions he makes," Gale said.
Due to legal reasons the Tigers will make no further comment on the matter until after the 18-year-old appears in court.
RICHMOND vice-captain Nathan Foley is in doubt for the season opener against Carlton on March 25 after suffering a setback in his attempt to return from an ankle injury which prematurely ended his 2009 campaign.
The 24-year-old midfielder, who underwent surgery on the injury in August last year, re-visited the surgeon on Wednesday for a minor procedure.
"Nathan had been progressing well with his rehabilitation program, but has experienced some soreness in the last week," Richmond Elite Performance Manager Matthew Hornsby said.
"The medical staff decided the best course of action was for him to have minor surgery."
"The surgery will prevent him from running for the next couple of weeks, and we will continue to take a cautious approach with his recovery."
Foley played in all of the Tigers' first 14 games last year before the injury forced him to sit out the remainder of the season.
RICHMOND draftee Troy Taylor has been accused of being involved in the assault of three men at Alice Springs on New Year's Eve.
The Tigers said in a statement that they were aware of the allegations against the 18-year-old who was taken with pick 51 in November's draft.
"The Richmond Football Club takes any allegation of player misbehaviour very seriously," the statement said.
"Richmond has been in contact with the AFL and has informed it of the club's knowledge of the matter."
"As the matter is currently being investigated by the Northern Territory Police, the club will make no further comment until this investigation is complete."
RICHMOND great Matthew Richardson says his decision to hang up the boots is the right one.
The 34-year-old officially drew the curtain on his stellar 282-game career on Friday morning.
Richardson said his troublesome hamstring which restricted him to just six games in 2009 left him with no other option than to retire.
"I had a pretty ordinary medical diagnosis on Monday which sort of confirmed the gut feeling that I already had, that my body is not going to be able to stand up to another year of AFL football," Richardson said at a packed media conference at Punt Road.
"I guess I couldn't look people around the club and the supporters in the eye by saying I was ready to go when deep down I knew that I wasn't."
"I haven't got any doubts that I've made the right decision. I really did want to pull on the jumper again, but it's just not to be."
Richardson said his biggest regret was not seeing more September action.
"I would change a few things. I would have liked to play a few more finals for this great club but it wasn't to be," he said.
"The timing wasn't right. But I certainly wouldn't have ever wanted to be anywhere else but at Punt Road."
Richardson, who played in just three finals during his 17-year career, named Richmond's semi-final win over Carlton in the 2001 as his most cherished moment.
"At the MCG, a traditional rival, and to beat them in a final at the 'G was a great feeling," Richardson said.
"We had to travel to Brisbane the next week, and we all know what they were going on to achieve, three premierships in a row, so it just wasn't to be."
"If we didn't have to go up there, you never know, we might have been able to get into a grand final that year."
The popular Tigers forward leaves the club confident it is heading in the right direction under new coach Damien Hardwick, who was appointed in August.
"Damien and the new coaching staff have put together a great plan, it's a real learning and teaching environment" Richardson said.
"We've got a young group and I think they're really flourishing already."
Hardwick said Richardson was 'a giant of the game'.
"I reckon it'd be fair to say there'd be 15 other AFL coaches that are happy he's retired," Hardwick said.
"It's disappointing from a selfish point of view, I'd have loved to have coached the great man but it wasn't to be".
"He will go down as one of the greats of the club and more importantly one of the greats of the game. He is one of those guys people love to watch."
"When people come through the gates to watch a certain player, that it the mark of a champion as far as I'm concerned."
Richardson is expected to given a farewell lap of honour before the round one clash against Carlton at the MCG next season.
RICHMOND veteran Matthew Richardson has announced his retirement from AFL football.
The 34-year-old was restricted to just six appearances in 2009 due to a serious hamstring injury.
The Tigers great had previously planned to play on next season but after the first few weeks of pre-season training he knew his body could no longer cope with the rigours of the modern game.
"I wanted to see how I pulled up after a few weeks of training before I made a final decision, but the hamstring is just not good," Richardson said on the club's official website.
"It hasn't felt right when I've been running and the medical prognosis with it isn't positive."
"So, weighing everything up, it is definitely the right time for me to retire."
"I didn't want to spend the last couple of years of my career riddled with injury."
Richardson said it was a hard decision to pull the pin on his career.
"It's never easy walking away from something that you've loved doing for so long, but I consider myself fortunate to have played at such a great club as Richmond in front of such wonderfully, loyal, passionate supporters," he said.
"There are so many memories from my time at Tigerland that I will cherish."
Richardson, who played 282 games for Richmond after making his AFL debut in 1993, booted 800 goals to be second on the club's all-time leading goalkicking list behind Jack Titus (970).
He won the Jack Dyer Medal as the club's best-and-fairest in 2007 and finished joint third in the 2008 Brownlow Medal count, just two votes behind winner Adam Cooney.
He also earnt All-Australian honours on three occasions and was named in the club's Team of the Century.
RICHMOND has cut nine players from its list including utility Graham Polak.
Polak, who suffered serious head injuries when he was hit by a tram in July 2008, fought back to play the last two games of this season.
Tigers general manager of football Craig Cameron said the club would explore the possibility of recruiting Polak back as a mature-age rookie.
"We will investigate the opportunity of offering Graham Polak a position on our rookie list through the 2009 Rookie Draft, but obviously this will not be confirmed until after the draft has taken place," Cameron said.
Along with Polak, Nathan Brown, Mark Coughlan, Kayne Pettifer, Adam Pattison, Cleve Hughes, Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Dean Putt and Jarrod Silvester were also shown the door.
Joel Bowden and Kane Johnson have retired while Andrew Raines and Jay Schulz were traded to Brisbane and Port Adelaide respectively.
Meanwhile, small forward Robin Nahas has been promoted to Richmond's senior list.
The Tigers have picks three, 19, 35, 44, 51, 67, 72 and 83 in next month's national draft.
RICHMOND has appointed Danny Daly as its forward coach for the 2010 season.
Daly has spent the past six seasons at North Melbourne working in a variety of full-time roles including player welfare and development manager, forward scout and opposition coach.
He played football with Balwyn in the Southern Football League but his career was cut short by knee and shoulder injuries.
Daly then became an assistant coach at Balwyn before joining Collingwood as a part-time forward scout.
When Dean Laidley, who had been an assistant coach at the Magpies, took over as the Kangaroos' head coach in 2003 he asked Daly to join him.
Although he never played at AFL level, Daly is highly respected for his knowledge of players' strengths and weaknesses.
Daly is the final addition to Richmond's coaching panel which consists of Damien Hardwick (senior coach), Justin Leppitsch (backline), Brendon Lade (ruck-midfield), David Newett (Coburg, development) and Tim Clarke (development).
September 17th 2009 05:01
NEW Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has wasted no time in assembling his coaching staff with the Tigers confirming on Thursday that former Port Adelaide ruckman Brendon Lade and Brisbane Lions triple premiership defender Justin Leppitsch have joined the club as assistant coaches.
Lade, who played in Port's 2004 premiership side alongside Hardwick, retired at the end of this season after 234 games.
The two-time All-Australian and best-and-fairest winner will be Richmond's ruck/midfield coach.
Hardwick said Lade has a lot to offer the club.
"We're very pleased to have someone of Brendon's experience and standing in the game join Richmond as an assistant coach," Hardwick said.
"He brings with him many of the important attributes we're looking for (and) he has a strong character and excellent leadership skills."
Lade said he was looking forward to helping Richmond rise back up the ladder.
"Hopefully in the next few years I can assist the Tigers in getting back to being a really good team in the AFL," Lade said.
"One of the attractions of coming to Richmond is that there's going to be a whole new game plan for the team and hopefully everyone in the coaching group can be on the same page and heading in the right direction."
Leppitsch, who played 227 games for Brisbane from 1993-06, has been an assistant coach at the Lions for the past three seasons and will be Richmond's defensive coach.
The 33-year-old said he was thrilled to be to be moving to one of the bigger clubs in the competition.
"I'm excited about the challenge, to join a group that is on the right path, and I'm really keen to work with a new group of coaches and players," Leppitsch said.
"I've never been involved in one of the bigger AFL clubs before, and I'm looking forward to learning about the history and tradition Richmond is famous for."
September 17th 2009 01:47
RICHMOND midfielder Brett Deledio has stormed home to win his second straight Jack Dyer Medal on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old is the second youngest winner of back-to-back best-and-fairest awards at the Tigers since Kevin Bartlett in 1967-68.
Deledio polled 190 votes to win the award ahead of Daniel Jackson (175) and skipper Chris Newman (162).
The much-improved Richard Tambling (152) and high-profile recruit Ben Cousins (145) rounded out the top five.
Richmond vice-captain Nathan Foley finished a creditable sixth in voting despite missing the last eight games of the season due to a severe calf injury.
Jackson, who won the most improved player award earlier in the night, held the lead in Jack Dyer Medal voting from round 12 to round 20 before being overtaken by Deledio in the penultimate round.
Heading into the last match of the season against West Coast at Subiaico, only two votes separated the pair but Deledio polled 14 votes to Jackson's one to claim his second best-and-fairest award.
Deledio racked up a team-best 533 disposals in 2009 at an average of 24.2 per game and was number one at the club for inside 50's (99).
He had 20 disposals or more 19 times throughout the season, including a career-best 36 possessions against Hawthorn at the MCG in round 21.
The Tigers young gun also booted 20 goals to finish fourth on the club's goalkicking list.
In other awards, lively small forward Robin Nahas was named the best first-year player, Luke McGuane won the Francis Bourke Award and Mitch Morton received the Michael Roach Award for leading goalkicker.
Meanwhile, Cousins will remain at the club after signing a new one-year deal.
The former West Coast skipper made 15 appearances in his first season with Richmond and averaged 23.9 disposals per game.
Top 10 vote-getters in the Jack Dyer Medal:
1: Brett Deledio 190
2: Daniel Jackson 175
3: Chris Newman 162
4: Richard Tambling 152
5: Ben Cousins 145
6: Nathan Foley 128
7: Shane Tuck 124
8: Jack Riewoldt 121
9: Dean Polo 118
10: Mitch Morton 115
September 16th 2009 00:24
RICHMOND assistant coaches Jade Rawlings and Craig McRae have left the Tigers to join Brisbane.
Rawlings was caretaker coach in the second half of the 2009 season after Terry Wallace stood down.
He applied for the top job which was given to two-time premiership defender Damien Hardwick.
Before replacing Wallace in round 12, Rawlings coached Richmond's VFL affiliate Coburg Tigers for one-and-a-half seasons.
McRae, who was the the club's development coach, took over from Rawlings as Coburg coach mid-year.
The pair who were with Richmond for three seasons will now be assistant coaches at the Lions - the club which McRae played in three straight premierships with.
The news comes in the wake of the departure of Richmond assistants Brian Royal and David King and forward scout Gordon Casey.
Former Tigers skipper and midfield coach Wayne Campbell is the only member of this year's coaching panel that will stay on under Hardwick.
Meanwhile, Richmond midfielder Shane Tuck has agreed to be traded to another club.
RICHMOND midfielder Brett Deledio has signed a new three-year deal which will see him remain with the Tigers until at least the end of the 2012 season.
Tigers football operations manager Craig Cameron said Deledio was an integral part of the club's future.
"Brett has developed both as a player and as a leader at Richmond in recent times and we look forward to seeing his potential grow over the coming years," Cameron said.
The 22-year-old was taken with the number one pick in the 2004 national draft and won the Rising Star award in 2005.
Deledio has played 106 games and booted 88 goals.
TonyK
Cibbuano
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