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Josh Caddy has quietly been a bonus for Richmond.

By LAURENCE ROSEN

It was an off-season full of change at Tigerland.

Five assistant coaches dispensed with, a new director of football in Neil Balme installed, and a cavalcade of new players on the field meant that for the first time in a while, there was an air of freshness at a club that for too often felt stale both in terms of personnel and the type of football being played.

But from a summer reset that revealed a new game plan leading to an undefeated start in 2017, a key question has emerged – is new recruit Josh Caddy now one of Richmond’s most important players?

Hidden away at the Gold Coast Suns and then used in a floating role at Geelong, it appears the 24-year-old has finally found his home at AFL level.

Caddy, of course, is not one of Richmond’s best players and is never likely to be but that is missing the point.

Football in 2017 demands 22 players willing to sacrifice their game in the name of a bigger goal, and the Tigers have found that in Caddy. 

A versatile stoppage-player in his own right, Caddy also allows coach Damien Hardwick to get the best out of the key players Richmond need at the coalface during the key moments in games.

Richmond in 2016 often left too much to too few. Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin – who were often isolated up forward to the team’s detriment – have seen their respective seasons start with a bang.

While Richmond’s new game plan has borne early-season fruit, Caddy’s role –  allowing the Tigers’ best more time and space both in midfield and forward of centre – has flown under the radar. 

The Martin effect

There is little doubt currently that  Martin is in Brownlow Medal-winning form, and one of the reasons lies with Caddy and the role he’s playing at Richmond.

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Josh Caddy and Dustin Martin have been a winning team.

Across the first three rounds of 2017, both Caddy and Martin have acted in tandem, with Caddy often filling the midfield hole when Martin pushes forward. And when Dusty lines up in the middle? Caddy regularly drifts forward and becomes another awkward matchup for opposition sides.

The opening round of the season saw Martin get off to the perfect start, collecting 33 touches and gaining a game-high 801m and doing so playing predominantly forward in the first and fourth quarters.

While Caddy made a solid if not spectacular return to life as a Tiger, his role filling Martin’s midfield place for those two quarters respectively allowed Richmond to get off to a perfect start and then consolidate the victory.

Out of Caddy’s six touches in the first quarter of round one, five were taken on the wing, ensuing he provided drive forward to where Martin was predominantly playing.

Similarly in Richmond’s 19-point victory over Collingwood, Caddy’s presence in the midfield allowed Martin to collect 66 per cent of his possessions forward in quarters one and two, while in the final quarter 85 per cent of his touches came forward of centre.

Richmond was long a side devoid of flexibility, but in 2017 the ability for Caddy to hold down the fort in the middle while Martin wreaks havoc inside-50 has been one of the reasons why the Tigers have started to season so well.

Freeing up Cotchin

Cotchin looked a player with no real direction in 2016. Stymied by an out-dated and conservative game plan, the Richmond captain regularly drifted in and out of matches without making any real impact.

In stark contrast to Martin, Caddy's ability to drift forward has allowed the Richmond captain to stay in the middle and have an impact where he’s most dangerous.

As the rain hit during the second half of Richmond’s impressive victory against West Coast, it was Cotchin who stepped up. Collecting 12 touches between the arcs, it meant he was able to be take intercept marks on regular occasions while also driving the ball long through the corridor.

During this vital third quarter in round three – where a Cotchin-led Richmond began to take charge – Caddy played primarily as a forward. He only had a single touch for the quarter but it didn’t matter as he essentially sacrificed his quarter for the team.

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Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin have been freed up to  play their best football.

Caddy went on to play out the match forward while the Tigers ran out 11-point winners, but it’s unlikely a similar scenario could have played out in 2016. Caddy’s forward role freed up Cotchin, who took control of the contest as Richmond recorded their most important win of the season to date.

When Richmond surrounded coach Hardwick with fresh assistant coaches during the pre-season along with new personnel on field, a different game plan no doubt would have also been on their mind.

In Caddy, they’ve gained not just a player who has made a solid start to his Richmond career but a player flexible enough to keep opposing sides guessing while getting the best out of Martin and Cotchin.

For too long the Tigers have relied too heavily on their best players to carry them over the line but while Caddy may not have made an impact to the naked eye, his addition structurally has been a huge part of Richmond’s early-season successes.

The Tigers are finally playing modern footy and it’s players like Caddy who are responsible.