Shortly after Joe Richards stamped himself as a Magpie to watch with a stirring debut against West Coast on Sunday, Collingwood coach Craig McRae quipped that it felt like half of the debutant’s hometown were at Marvel Stadium to celebrate the occasion.
The 23-year-old, who was working as a teacher when he was drafted, was plucked from Wangaratta with pick 48 in the 2022 national draft courtesy of a tipoff from former premiership Magpie Ben Reid.
With Collingwood missing six of its top nine goalkickers from 2023 against the Eagles, along with former Docker Lachie Schultz, Richards was given a chance to shine.
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So dazzling was his contribution, with the small forward kicking one goal from 18 disposals, Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton pondered how they could leave him out in the future during the Fox Footy broadcast.
In the Collingwood rooms after their 66-point triumph put the Magpies into the eight for the first time, senior personnel spoke excitedly about the skill execution of Richards.
It is a point Collingwood coach Craig McRae also made when discussing his input, with Richards also laying six tackles in a match where he also set up his teammates for scoring opportunities while recording the highest individual pressure rating on the ground.
“I remember (recruiting boss Derek Hine) telling me about him … and I think half of (Wangaratta) was here today watching,” McRae said.
“He’s been a guy that you could tell was coming but … early days, and I am talking about last year, I thought ‘Ah, OK. Yeah? Maybe.’ But this year, it’s been like, ‘OK, this guy looks too good for VFL and then he looks ready to play AFL’.
“We’ve got a pretty good array of small forwards — Beau McCreery, Lachie Schultz and Bobby Hill and it’s hard to go past those guys — but all of a sudden, an opportunity has presented and we’ve got one more who can do all the things that we need, when we need them.”
It will not surprise Reid, a member of Collingwood’s 2010 premiership team who coached Richards as part of the Wangaratta Magpies side that claimed the Ovens and Murray League Flag in 2022 and was at the ground for the debut.
It is a rarity for mature-aged players to be drafted directly out of the bush but Reid could tell Richards, who had drawn the attention of other AFL clubs, had special traits good enough to be on show in the big smoke.
“I can’t remember how much I said – we’d had a few beers by then – but I was just that excited for him and wanted to make sure ‘Dekka’ (Derek Hine) knew. He had a pretty big say in the premiership, kicking a couple of freak goals from the boundary,” Reid told the Collingwood website.
“I (had) spoken to ‘Dekka’ midway through that year and I just said, ‘Keep an eye on this kid. He’s got a fair bit of talent’. And then he announced himself in an interleague game he played for the O&M.
“I think he had 40 (disposals) and kicked a couple (of goals), so that probably put his name out there, and then he had a really strong finals series for us and ‘Dekka’ came down and watched all three finals.”
Richards, who represented the Murray Bushrangers at junior level, shifted to Melbourne to trial with the Northern Bullants in the VFL but the arrival of Covid derailed those plans and necessitated a return back to Wangaratta.
But his willingness to continue to work hard on both his strengths and deficiencies has led to constant improvement, with McRae noting Richards won a club development award last month.
“Physically, he looks stronger. He came back after pre-season and looked like a strong, young man,” McRae said.
“His role compliance, diligence (has improved). We have a development player of the month and he won it in April for doing all the things that make you want to get better every day.
“You don’t fluke this stuff. I say that regularly. You turn up here and you can hope that you play well, but sometimes you come in with great belief because you have done the work.”
Collingwood, which hosts Adelaide at the MCG next Saturday before travelling to Perth to play Fremantle six days later, lost another three players to injury in the triumph.
Jeremy Howe was substituted from the game in the second term with an adductor injury, Harvey Harrison injured an ankle and Jack Bytel was concussed.
The trio are all in doubt for the next fortnight of games given the Magpies have back-to-back six day breaks.
Shultz will be available after serving a one-match suspension, while Jordan de Goey and Tom Mitchell will also be assessed for the clash with the Crows.
But Jamie Elliott has “some stuff that has been grumbling” and is unlikely to be available, while McCreery will miss another week with concussion but should be fit for Fremantle.
Source Agencies
