West Coast v Richmond: Which side is ahead in their rebuild?

In the brutal rise and fall of player groups in the AFL – you are – until you are not. Think West Coast after the halfway point of the 2021 season or Richmond two years later.

If you needed to point to the most exciting things about the Eagles wins over North Melbourne and Port Adelaide it would be the fact they have come from well behind in both matches – which points to character and resilience. It would also be the important roles played in both wins by their youngsters – which points to the future.

And finally it would be the evenness across the board of the effort. Alastair Clarkson pointed this out after the Eagles toppled the Roos and it was on show again against the Power where at times it felt like it was the Eagles as a whole versus the individual brilliance of a handful of Power stars like Zak Butters, Jason Horne-Francis and Mitch Georgiades.

We said last weekend that the Eagles ae no longer the worst team in this competition. They have overtaken Essendon and while they might not have overtaken North and Port – they have beaten both of them.

You have to factor in that West Coast started rejigging their list a couple of years earlier than the Tigers and so are a bit further along. _ The reason that this is a fascinating question is the different routes the two clubs took. The Eagles and their 2018 premiership group took a little too long to recognize that they no longer were fit for purpose and so the revamp started at a trickle with Brady Hough and Campbell Chesser arriving in the 2021 draft – Chesser is gone but Hough is there.

It slowly gained momentum with Reuben Ginbey and Elijah Hewett the following year, then Harley and Archer Reid in 2023, then Bo Allan and Jobe Shanahan in 2024. The arrival of the kids has been complemented by the mature age arrivals – ruck Matt Flynn, newly appointed co-captain Liam Baker and his Richmond teammate Jack Graham, Brisbane’s Deven Robertson and the yet to be seen Brandon Starcevich.

Richmond’s rebuild started almost violently with retirements and departures. Daniel Rioli left for the Gold Coast following coach Damian Hardwick. Graham and Baker left for West Coast and Shai Bolton for Fremantle on top of the retirements of premiership heroes Shane Edwards after 2022, Jack Riewoldt after 2023 and Dylan Grimes and Dustin Martin after 2024.

The Tigers turned crisis into opportunity and emptied out their list. They took seven top 30 picks in the 2024 national draft – and that included number one pick Sam Lalor who shone in the match against the Dockers. They took a further three in the top 31 last year including two in the top 10.