Toothless Tigers: The Hawks are showing how Richmond’s rebuild is so shaky

June 28, 2026 — 7:12pm

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Hawthorn went eight seasons after their three-peat from 2013-15 without winning a final.

Richmond are now in their sixth season since their most recent finals win occurred in the 2020 grand final – their third flag in four golden seasons.

The Tigers have fallen further than Hawthorn ever did when upending their list after Sam Mitchell started in 2022.

But their rise back into contention appears shaky.

Their five wins in the 32 matches they have played since they beat Gold Coast in round six last season have all been against fellow cellar dwellers West Coast and Essendon.

Richmond’s injury list has given them a pass, but it’s also threatening their rebuild because the pipeline letting fresh water in at one end is blocked, while stale water escapes at the other.

Without the delay, their pitch for Zak Butters would look much stronger.

Only two of their eight-man 2024 national draft class – Taj Hotton and Jasper Alger – played against Collingwood, as did top-10 picks in 2025, Sam Cumming and Sam Grlj.

The talent among those draft selections is – apart from the unseen Josh Smillie – evident, but none command different assessments from the ones we could make of them two years ago.

At Hawthorn Nick Watson is already a game-changing star, while Josh Weddle and Cam Mackenzie are established guns from Hawthorn’s 14 draft selections since 2022.

The Tigers have picked 16 players via the national draft in that time and none are established.

We suspect Sam Lalor can reach a high standard, while Steely Green, Jonty Faull, Hotton, Grlj, Cumming, Alger and Luke Trainor look OK. But they are in for a rough time unless the Tigers grab some senior players to help in their........

© The Sydney Morning Herald