I am looking at something a bit more risky this week, but considering we aren’t much closer to knowing much about forwards and backs it’s time for something a bit more speculative. 

Troy Taylor is a super talented player from Northern Territory, who found his way to Richmond at the National Draft. Talent wise he’s worth a lot more than the Pick 51 they used on him, but let’s not pull any punches, there’s a decent chance that other clubs were a bit scared off by his juvie record. 

It was about this time last year that Taylor was finishing his four month sentence for his part in a drunken brawl. Since getting drafted he has once again being charged with three counts of assault for an incident in Alice Springs. Definitely monitor what’s going on with his current charge, however the timing of his hearing is a bit unfortunate for DT coaches – five days after Richmond’s first game. 

Let’s look past that though for just a second. Richmond are likely to be playing the youngsters heavily this year and Taylor is a fantastic talent, who should very much be in their immediate plans. Jon Ralph wrote an article on him for the Herald Sun yesterday (not actually the inspiration for me choosing Taylor, just convenient timing) that included the quote, “His cause is helped by the club’s new direction: force-feed the most talented juniors AFL games then sit back and see who flourishes.” I salivated. 

Taylor’s talent was never really questioned in recruiting circles and to relate him directly to the above quote, I think he is one that can flourish on the AFL stage. He’ll provide the Richmond forward line with something a bit enigmatic and even if he doesn’t score well, he’s a good chance to do a couple of special things to keep getting selected. 

You just want someone like Taylor to start the season and make a bit of early money. Job security at Richmond is going to be a lot safer than somewhere like Geelong. Admittedly, I have Podsiadly on my bench rather than Taylor at this stage and I was this close to writing about him, but I want to be more sure he’s not just back up. Pods scored well last week with Mooney, Hawkins and Stevie J all missing. 

I know there’s such an immense risk with someone who already has a record and has charges hanging over his head. With such few options emerging in the forward line, Taylor looks like someone who could score well early on. Also, wouldn’t it be kind of novelty to blame your DT failure on a player actually getting locked up?! Sure beats the tired excuses of injury and club suspension from boozy nights out! 

This whole story comes with a massive asterisk (it could be the Shannon Cox article that Toby bags me about all year). Please, do yourself a favour and follow his circumstances intently before selecting him. I’ll be very keen to get his talent in and just maybe he could be an interesting, unique selection – hopefully in a good way!