From the Herald-Sun
Reported by John Ralph
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VFL chief executive Peter Schwab has urged struggling clubs such as Richmond to mine football's state leagues, saying the next Michael Barlow is out there.
Even if the Tigers receive a priority pick for winning four games or fewer this season, their first three draft picks will be four, 27 (the priority pick) and 28.
In a normal year - one without Gold Coast's swag of early selections - Richmond would have been awarded one, 17 (priority pick) and 18, an excellent platform to continue rebuilding.
Schwab said there was a raft of players ready to play AFL football, as proved by the flourishing careers of VFL graduates such as Western Bulldogs Matthew Boyd and Dale Morris, Collingwood's Nick Maxwell, Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell and Fremantle's Alex Silvagni and Barlow.
"With two extra AFL clubs coming into the competition, clubs have to find some players from somewhere, and you can't continue to pick all young players. You need mature players and mature bodies," Schwab said yesterday.
