# 2011 Richmond Football Club season

The 2011 season marked the 104th season in which the Richmond Football Club participated in the AFL/VFL. This season was Damien Hardwick's second season as senior coach. It was also the first season Richmond played against the Gold Coast, and was also the first time the club played a home-and-away game at Cazaly's Stadium in Cairns.

## Season summary

The start of the 2011 season was hopeful for the Tigers. In round 1, the Tigers were in front at three quarter time, to lose by 20 points to Carlton in the traditional blockbuster. Media commentators and AFL fans alike noted Richmond's improvement. In round 2, the Tigers shocked the AFL world when they drew with grand finalists from the previous year, St Kilda, even with their goal kicking star Jack Riewoldt going down with a concussion in the first quarter.
In rounds 3 and 4, the Tigers suffered significant losses to Hawthorn and Collingwood, but showed promise in their fightback in the third quarter against Collingwood. Their breakthrough came in round 5, when they beat North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium in front of a packed crowd. This started a good run for the Tigers. Richmond defeated Brisbane in round 6, then Fremantle in round 7. This put them just outside the Top 8. They had a narrow loss to the Western Bulldogs in round 8.
In round 9, the Tigers had a big win against Essendon in the traditional "Dreamtime at the G" match after going in the underdogs. The crowd of over 80,000 people were treated to an intense game, with Richmond coming out victorious.
Richmond then had a complete form turn around, with a 15-point loss against bottom-ranked Port Adelaide in Alice Springs after the club decided to host the home game match interstate, a decision that was roundly questioned by fans and the media. The bye followed, then another loss to Sydney. Richmond then had a return to form, beating Brisbane at the Gabba.
Richmond's poor form continued, with straight losses to Melbourne, Carlton, Essendon, Gold Coast and Geelong. The Tigers got a badly needed bye in round 19 and then travelled to Perth in round 20 to face the West Coast Eagles where they were beaten.
Richmond had a win against Sydney in round 21 and then also won their next two games, against Melbourne and Adelaide, but lost their round 24 match to North Melbourne.

## 2010 off-season list changes
### Retirements and delistings

| Player | Reason | Club games | Career games |
| Troy Simmonds | Retired | 93 | 197 |
| Graham Polak | Retired | 38 | 111 |
| Ben Cousins | Retired | 32 | 270 |
| Tom Hislop | Re-rookied | 17 | 24 |
| Dean Polo | Delisted | 56 | 77 |
| Jordan McMahon | Delisted | 34 | 148 |
| Adam Thomson | Delisted | 4 | 32 |
| Relton Roberts | Delisted | 2 | 2 |
| Alroy Gilligan | Delisted | 0 | 0 |

### Trades

| Date | Gained | Lost | Trade partner | Ref |
| 7 October | End of first round compensation pick Pick 51 | Richard Tambling | Adelaide | |
| 9 October | Shaun Grigg | Andrew Collins | Carlton | |
Note: All traded picks are indicative and do not reflect final selection position

### National draft

| Round | Overall pick | Player | State | Position | Team from | League from |
| 1 | 6 | Reece Conca | WA | Midfielder | Perth | WAFL |
| 2 | 30 | Jake Batchelor | VIC | Midfielder | Dandenong Stingrays | TAC Cup |
| 3 | 47 | Brad Helbig | VIC | Defender | West Adelaide | SANFL |
| 3 | 51 | Dean MacDonald | VIC | Midfielder | Gippsland Power | TAC Cup |
| 4 | 63 | Tom Derickx | WA | Ruck | Claremont | WAFL |
| 6 | 94 (Rookie Promotion) | David Gourdis | VIC | Full Back | Richmond | AFL |

### Preseason draft

| Round | Overall pick | Player | Position | Team from | League from | Ref |
| 1 | 3 | Bachar Houli | Half-Back | Essendon | AFL | |

### Rookie draft

| Round | Overall pick | Player | State | Position | Team from | League from |
| 1 | 11 | Ben Jakobi | VIC | Midfielder | Coburg | VFL |
| 2 | 28 | Brad Miller | VIC | Utility | Melbourne | AFL |
| 3 | 45 | Tom Hislop | VIC | Midfielder | Richmond | AFL |

## 2011 season
### Pre-season

| Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's score | Result | Home/away | Venue | Attendance |
| Friday, 4 February | | All-Stars | | Match cancelled | Away | TIO Stadium/ Traeger Park | |
Richmond was to have played an exhibition match against the Indigenous All-Stars on 4 February, but the match was cancelled. The match was originally to have been played at TIO Stadium in Darwin, but monsoonal rain made the surface unplayable; the league worked to move the game to Traeger Park in Alice Springs, but after concerns that either the match or the transport of players into and out of Alice Springs could have been affected by Cyclone Yasi, the match was cancelled altogether.
NAB Cup
| Round | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's score | Result | Home/away | Venue | Attendance |
| Pool | Saturday, 12 February 7:15 pm | 3.5 (23) | Carlton | 6.5 (41) | Lost by 18 points | Away | Etihad Stadium | 40,300 |
| Pool | Saturday, 12 February 8:20 pm | 1.1 (7) | Collingwood | 7.8 (50) | Lost by 43 points | Home | Etihad Stadium | 40,300 |

### Home and away season

| Round | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's score | Result | Home/away | Venue | Attendance | Ladder |
| 1 | Thursday, 24 March 7:40 pm | 13.6 (84) | Carlton | 14.20 (104) | Lost by 20 points | Away | MCG | 60,654 | 14th |
| 2 | Friday, 1 April 7:40pm | 14.11 (95) | St Kilda | 13.17 (95) | Draw | Away | MCG | 41,465 | 12th |
| 3 | Saturday, 9 April 7:10pm | 6.16 (52) | Hawthorn | 17.13 (115) | Lost by 63 points | Home | MCG | 46,369 | 13th |
| 4 | Friday, 15 April 7:40pm | 13.12 (90) | Collingwood | 24.17 (161) | Lost by 71 points | Home | MCG | 58,050 | 14th |
| 5 | Sunday, 24 April 4:40pm | 17.10 (112) | North Melbourne | 14.19 (103) | WON by 9 points | Away | Etihad Stadium | 36,461 | 12th |
| 6 | Saturday, 30 April 7:10pm | 18.16 (124) | Brisbane Lions | 14.14 (98) | WON by 26 points | Home | MCG | 37,438 | 10th |
| 7 | Saturday, 7 May 4:10pm | 23.10 (148) | Fremantle | 14.15 (99) | WON by 49 points | Home | MCG | 34,090 | 9th |
| 8 | Sunday, 15 May 1:10pm | 18.10 (118) | Western Bulldogs | 23.15 (153) | Lost by 35 points | Away | Etihad Stadium | 39,141 | 10th |
| 9 | Saturday, 21 May 7:40pm | 16.9 (105) | Essendon | 13.11 (89) | WON by 16 points | Home | MCG | 83,563 | 9th |
| 10 | Saturday, 28 May 8:10pm | 10.14 (74) | Port Adelaide | 13.11 (89) | Lost by 15 points | Home | TIO Stadium | 11,506 | 9th |
| 11 | BYE | | | | | | | | 9th |
| 12 | Sunday, 12 June 2:10 pm | 9.11 (65) | Sydney | 9.21 (75) | Lost by 10 points | Away | SCG | 23,782 | 11th |
| 13 | Saturday, 18 June 7:10 pm | 18.17 (125) | Brisbane Lions | 14.10 (94) | WON by 31 points | Away | Gabba | 21,510 | 10th |
| 14 | Saturday, 25 June 2:10 pm | 13.13 (91) | Melbourne | 17.16 (118) | Lost by 27 points | Home | MCG | 61,900 | 11th |
| 15 | Saturday, 2 July 2:10 pm | 12.9 (81) | Carlton | 28.16 (184) | Lost by 103 points | Home | MCG | 59,650 | 13th |
| 16 | Saturday, 9 July 7:10 pm | 9.12 (66) | Essendon | 15.15 (105) | Lost by 39 points | Away | MCG | 55,442 | 13th |
| 17 | Saturday, 16 July 2:10 pm | 9.16 (70) | Gold Coast | 12.13 (85) | Lost by 15 points | Home | Cazaly's Stadium | 10,382 | 13th |
| 18 | Sunday, 24 July 1:10 pm | 7.9 (51) | Geelong | 17.11 (113) | Lost by 62 points | Away | Etihad Stadium | 33,761 | 13th |
| 19 | BYE | | | | | | | | |
| 20 | Sunday, 7 August 2:40 pm | 14.6 (90) | West Coast | 22.15 (147) | Lost by 57 points | Away | Patersons Stadium | 38,106 | 14th |
| 21 | Sunday, 14 August 2:10 pm | 14.15 (99) | Sydney | 7.14 (56) | WON by 43 points | Home | MCG | 34,337 | 13th |
| 22 | Sunday, 21 August 4:40 pm | 17.15 (117) | Melbourne | 17.8 (110) | WON by 7 points | Away | MCG | 36,321 | 12th |
| 23 | Sunday, 28 August 12:40 pm | 17.19 (121) | Adelaide | 15.9 (99) | WON by 22 points | Away | AAMI Stadium | 38,023 | 11th |
| 24 | Sunday, 4 September 4:40 pm | 13.13 (91) | North Melbourne | 15.14 (104) | Lost by 13 points | Home | Etihad Stadium | 32,890 | 12th |

## Ladder

2011 AFL ladder :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | |
| 1 | Collingwood | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 2592 | 1546 | 167.7 | 80 | Finals series |
| 2 | Geelong (P) | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 2548 | 1619 | 157.4 | 76 | Finals series |
| 3 | Hawthorn | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 2355 | 1634 | 144.1 | 72 | Finals series |
| 4 | West Coast | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 2235 | 1715 | 130.3 | 68 | Finals series |
| 5 | Carlton | 22 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 2225 | 1700 | 130.9 | 58 | Finals series |
| 6 | St Kilda | 22 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1891 | 1677 | 112.8 | 50 | Finals series |
| 7 | Sydney | 22 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1897 | 1735 | 109.3 | 50 | Finals series |
| 8 | Essendon | 22 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 2217 | 2217 | 100.0 | 46 | Finals series |
| 9 | North Melbourne | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 2106 | 2082 | 101.2 | 40 | |
| 10 | Western Bulldogs | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 2060 | 2155 | 95.6 | 36 | |
| 11 | Fremantle | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 1791 | 2155 | 83.1 | 36 | |
| 12 | Richmond | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 2069 | 2396 | 86.4 | 34 | |
| 13 | Melbourne | 22 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 1974 | 2315 | 85.3 | 34 | |
| 14 | Adelaide | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 1742 | 2193 | 79.4 | 28 | |
| 15 | Brisbane Lions | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 1814 | 2240 | 81.0 | 16 | |
| 16 | Port Adelaide | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 1718 | 2663 | 64.5 | 12 | |
| 17 | Gold Coast | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 1534 | 2726 | 56.3 | 12 | |

## Awards
### League awards
#### All-Australian team

| | Player | Position | Appearance |
| Nominated | Brett Deledio | - | - |

#### Rising Star

Nominations:
| Round | Player | Ref |
| 9 | Reece Conca | |
| 16 | Jake Batchelor | |

#### Brownlow Medal tally

| Player | 3 vote games | 2 vote games | 1 vote games | Total votes | Place |
| Trent Cotchin | 2 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 17th |
| Dustin Martin | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 21st |
| Nathan Foley | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 50th |
| Brett Deledio | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 63rd |
| Bachar Houli | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 95th |
| Jack Riewoldt | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 128th |
| Ty Vickery | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 128th |
| Robin Nahas | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 128th |
| Chris Newman | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 167th |
| Shaun Grigg | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 167th |
| Total | 8 | 10 | 11 | 55 | - |

### Club awards
#### Jack Dyer Medal

| Position | Player | Votes | Medal |
| 1st | Trent Cotchin | 236 | Jack Dyer Medal |
| 2nd | Brett Deledio | 203 | Jack Titus Medal |
| 3rd | Dustin Martin | 198 | Maurie Fleming Medal |
| 4th | Bachar Houli | 181 | Fred Swift Medal |
| 5th | Ty Vickery | 161 | Kevin Bartlett Medal |

#### Michael Roach Medal

| Position | Player | Goals |
| 1st | Jack Riewoldt | 62 |
| 2nd | Ty Vickery | 36 |
| 3rd | Dustin Martin | 33 |
| 4th | Robin Nahas | 29 |
| 5th | Jake King | 25 |