# 2020 Richmond Football Club season

The 2020 season was the 113th season in which the Richmond Football Club has participated in the VFL/AFL and the first season in which it participated in the AFL Women's competition.

## Impact of COVID-19 pandemic

The 2020 season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was formally declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020, eight days prior to the scheduled start of the AFL premiership season and 18 days prior to the final round of the AFL season.

### AFL

Prior to the commencement of the season, the fixture was shortened from 22 matches per team to 17, under the expectation that matches would be forced to stop at the peak of the disease.
The season commenced on 19 March as originally scheduled, but the introduction of restrictions (and later of formal quarantines) on interstate travel, resulted in suspension of the season after round one. During that round, matches were played in empty stadiums for the first time in the league's history.
Throughout the season, matches were played for a shortened length of 16 minutes plus time on per quarter, instead of 20 minutes plus time on. This was originally done at the start of the season, in the hope that playing shorter games could facilitate more frequent games than weekly, maximising the games which could be played before the anticipated suspension of the season. Though the initial run of games lasted just one week, the shortened game time was retained after the season's resumption to allow make-up games to be more easily scheduled between rounds when matches were postponed or refixtured.
On 15 May, as most states began easing restrictions, the league's plan to resume the season was announced: clubs began non-contact training from 18 May, and full contact training from 25 May, ahead of resuming competitive matches from 11 June, with the revised fixture released gradually throughout the year, and changing regularly and often at short notice when the situation forced it.
The sizes of allowable crowds changed as the season progressed, with early season Queensland and New South Wales crowds limited to only a few hundred, while half crowds were allowed in the largely virus-free Western Australia from Round 7.
Following a virus outbreak in Melbourne in June, Richmond's base of operations was relocated to the Gold Coast, alongside eight other Victorian clubs. The club played the remainder of their home games in the state, other than when travelling to other virus-free locations.

### AFLW

In the AFLW, all matches played from 14 March onwards were played to empty stadiums. The final two rounds of the home-and-away season were scratched and though Richmond did not qualify, the finals series was brought forward by two weeks and cancelled without a premier being awarded after just four finals matches were played.

### VFL and VFLW

The final weeks of the VFL pre-season series and the commencement of the season-proper were delayed in March due to the greater risk of external threats in the semi-professional state league environment. Eventually, all AFL clubs withdrew from the competition and the season was cancelled in June. Richmond reserves players participated in ad hoc scratch matches against other clubs during the season and on occasion played in multi-club teams alongside rival players. The VFLW season was likewise delayed and eventually cancelled.

## AFL
### 2019 off-season list changes
#### Retirements and delistings

| Player | Reason | Club games | Career games |
| Alex Rance | Retired | 200 | 200 |
| Shaun Grigg | Retired | 171 | 214 |
| Mav Weller | Retired | 2 | 123 |
| Connor Menadue | Delisted | 39 | 39 |
| Jacob Townsend | Delisted | 20 | 48 |
| Callum Moore | Delisted | 8 | 8 |

#### Free agency

| Date | Player | Free agent type | Former club | New club | Compensation | Ref |
| 5 October | Brandon Ellis | Restricted | Richmond | Gold Coast | 2nd round | |

#### Trades

| Date | Gained | Lost | Trade partner | Ref |
| 16 October | Pick 56 | Dan Butler | St Kilda | |

#### National draft

| Round | Overall pick | Player | State | Position | Team from | League from |
| 1 | 21 | Thomson Dow | VIC | Midfielder | Bendigo Pioneers | NAB League |
| 2 | 43 | Noah Cumberland | QLD | Forward | Brisbane Lions academy | NEAFL |
| 2 | 44 | Will Martyn | QLD | Midfielder/Wing | Brisbane Lions academy | NEAFL |
| 3 | 46 | Hugo Ralphsmith | VIC | Wing/Forward | Sandringham Dragons | NAB League |
| 3 | 54 | Bigoa Nyuon | VIC | Defender | Dandenong Stingrays | NAB League |

### 2020 season
#### Marsh Community Series

| Match | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's score | Result | Home/away | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | Sunday 1 March, 4:00pm | 6.8 (44) | Collingwood | 13.6 (84) | Lost by 40 points | Home | Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta | - |
| 2 | Sunday 8 March, 12:40pm | 14.11 (95) | Greater Western Sydney | 17.7 (109) | Lost by 14 points | Away | Robertson Oval, Wagga Wagga | 6,556 |

#### Home and away season

| Round | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's score | Result | Home/away | Venue | Attendance | Ladder |
| 1 | Thursday 19 March, 7:25pm | 16.9 (105) | Carlton | 12.9 (81) | Won by 24 points | Home | MCG | 0 | 6th |
| 2 | Thursday 11 June, 7:40pm | 5.6 (36) | Collingwood | 5.6 (36) | Draw | Away | MCG | 0 | 5th |
| 3 | Thursday 18 June, 7:40pm | 5.9 (39) | Hawthorn | 11.5 (71) | Lost by 32 points | Home | MCG | 0 | 9th |
| 4 | Saturday 27 June, 4:35pm | 10.7 (67) | St Kilda | 15.3 (93) | Lost by 26 points | Away | Marvel Stadium | 0 | 14th |
| 5 | Sunday 5 July, 3:35pm | 12.7 (79) | Melbourne | 8.4 (52) | Won by 27 points | Home | MCG | 0 | 11th |
| 6 | Sunday 12 July, 3:35pm | 4.10 (34) | Sydney | 3.8 (26) | Won by 8 points | Home/Neutral | The Gabba | 3,606 | 6th |
| 7 | Saturday 18 July, 7:40pm | 11.11 (77) | North Melbourne | 2.11 (23) | Won by 54 points | Home/Neutral | Metricon Stadium | 4,337 | 4th |
| 8 | Friday 24 July, 7:50pm | 6.14 (50) | Greater Western Sydney | 9.8 (62) | Lost by 12 points | Away | GIANTS Stadium | 5,500 | 9th |
| 9 | Wednesday 29 July, 7:10pm | 13.12 (90) | Western Bulldogs | 7.7 (49) | Won by 41 points | Away/Neutral | Metricon Stadium | 2,824 | 5th |
| 10 | Tuesday 4 August, 7:10pm | 12.10 (82) | Brisbane Lions | 4.17 (41) | Won by 41 points | Home/Neutral | Metricon Stadium | 5,651 | 4th |
| 11 | Saturday 8 August, 4:35pm | 11.6 (72) | Port Adelaide | 13.15 (93) | Lost by 21 points | Away | Adelaide Oval | 10,256 | 6th |
| 12 | Monday 17 August, 7:10pm | 8.5 (53) | Gold Coast | 4.8 (32) | Won by 21 points | Home/Neutral | The Gabba | 4,062 | 6th |
| 13 | Saturday 22 August, 7:40pm | 10.13 (73) | Essendon | 10.1 (61) | Won by 12 points | Away/Neutral | TIO Stadium | 5,401 | 5th |
| 14 | Thursday 27 August, 7:10pm | 14.4 (88) | West Coast | 9.7 (61) | Won by 27 points | Home/Neutral | Metricon Stadium | 3,628 | 4th |
| 15 | Wednesday 2 September, 7:10pm | 8.8 (56) | Fremantle | 4.5 (29) | Won by 27 points | Home/Neutral | Metricon Stadium | 1,818 | 3rd |
| 16 | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | 4th |
| 17 | Friday 11 September, 7:50pm | 7.15 (57) | Geelong | 4.7 (31) | Won by 26 points | Away/Neutral | Metricon Stadium | 7,061 | 3rd |
| 18 | Saturday 19 September, 5:10pm | 12.5 (77) | Adelaide | 4.9 (33) | Won by 44 points | Away | Adelaide Oval | 17,710 | 3rd |

#### Finals

| Match | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's Score | Result | Home/Away | Venue | Attendance |
| Qualifying final | Friday 2 October, 7:50pm | 8.6 (54) | Brisbane Lions | 10.9 (69) | Lost by 15 points | Away | The Gabba | 22,104 |
| Semi-final | Friday 9 October, 6:50pm | 12.8 (80) | St Kilda | 6.13 (49) | Won by 31 points | Home/Neutral | Metricon Stadium | 13,778 |
| Preliminary final | Friday 16 October, 7:20pm | 6.10 (46) | Port Adelaide | 6.4 (40) | Won by 6 points | Away | Adelaide Oval | 24,292 |
| Grand Final | Saturday 24 October, 6:30pm | 12.9 (81) | Geelong | 7.8 (50) | Won by 31 points | Home/Neutral | The Gabba | 29,707 |

### Ladder

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Port Adelaide | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1185 | 869 | 136.4 | 56 | Finals series |
| 2 | Brisbane Lions | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1184 | 948 | 124.9 | 56 | Finals series |
| 3 | Richmond (P) | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 1135 | 874 | 129.9 | 50 | Finals series |
| 4 | Geelong | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1233 | 901 | 136.8 | 48 | Finals series |
| 5 | West Coast | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 1095 | 936 | 117.0 | 48 | Finals series |
| 6 | St Kilda | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1159 | 997 | 116.2 | 40 | Finals series |
| 7 | Western Bulldogs | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1103 | 1034 | 106.7 | 40 | Finals series |
| 8 | Collingwood | 17 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 965 | 881 | 109.5 | 38 | Finals series |
| 9 | Melbourne | 17 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1063 | 986 | 107.8 | 36 | |
| 10 | Greater Western Sydney | 17 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1007 | 1053 | 95.6 | 32 | |
| 11 | Carlton | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 1017 | 1078 | 94.3 | 28 | |
| 12 | Fremantle | 17 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 866 | 924 | 93.7 | 28 | |
| 13 | Essendon | 17 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 938 | 1185 | 79.2 | 26 | |
| 14 | Gold Coast | 17 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 996 | 1099 | 90.6 | 22 | |
| 15 | Hawthorn | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 1004 | 1194 | 84.1 | 20 | |
| 16 | Sydney | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 890 | 1077 | 82.6 | 20 | |
| 17 | North Melbourne | 17 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 858 | 1205 | 71.2 | 12 | |
| 18 | Adelaide | 17 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 826 | 1283 | 64.4 | 12 | |

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

| | Player | Position | Appearance |
| Named | Dustin Martin | Forward pocket | 4th |
| Nominated | Dylan Grimes | - | - |
| Nominated | Nick Vlastuin | - | - |

##### Brownlow Medal tally

| Player | 3 vote games | 2 vote games | 1 vote games | Total votes | Place |
| Dustin Martin | 3 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 5th |
| Shai Bolton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 26th |
| Kane Lambert | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 43rd |
| Trent Cotchin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 55th |
| Jack Graham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 86th |
| Dion Prestia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 86th |
| Jayden Short | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 86th |
| Liam Baker | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 86th |
| Jack Riewoldt | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 117th |
| Derek Eggmolesse-Smith | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 117th |
| Shane Edwards | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 157th |
| Jake Aarts | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 157th |
| Bachar Houli | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 157th |
| Nick Vlastuin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 157th |
| Noah Balta | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 157th |
| Total | 11 | 7 | 9 | 56 | - |

##### 22 Under 22 team

| | Player | Position | Appearance |
| Named | Noah Balta | Centre half-back | 1st |
| Named | Liam Baker | Half-back | 1st |
| Nominated | Shai Bolton | – | – |

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

| Position | Player | Votes | Medal |
| 1st | Jayden Short | 53 | Jack Dyer Medal |
| 2nd | Dustin Martin | 50 | Jack Titus Medal |
| 3rd | Nick Vlastuin | 49 | Maurie Fleming Medal |
| 4th | Shai Bolton | 44 | Fred Swift Medal |
| 5th | Kamdyn McIntosh | 43 | Kevin Bartlett Medal |
| 6th | Liam Baker | 42 | |
| 7th | Dylan Grimes | 41 | |
| 8th | Noah Balta | 40 | |
| 9th | Kane Lambert | 39 | |
| 10th | Trent Cotchin | 37 | |
| Source: ||||

##### Michael Roach Medal

| Position | Player | Goals |
| 1st | Jack Riewoldt | 33 |
| 2nd | Tom Lynch | 32 |
| 3rd | Dustin Martin | 22 |
| 4th | Jason Castagna | 17 |
| 5th | Shai Bolton | 15 |
| Source: |||

## AFL Women's
### List building and recruitment
#### Expansion signings

| Date | Player | Club from | League from |
| 9 April | Katie Brennan | Western Bulldogs | AFL Women's |
| 12 April | Maddy Brancatisano | Melbourne | AFL Women's |
| 12 April | Phoebe Monahan | Greater Western Sydney | AFL Women's |
| 12 April | Iilish Ross | Collingwood | AFL Women's |
| 15 April | Christina Bernardi | Greater Western Sydney | AFL Women's |

#### Trades

| Date | Gained | Lost | Trade partner | Ref |
| 16 April | Sabrina Frederick | Pick 12 | Brisbane | |
| 24 April | Monique Conti | Pick 1 | Western Bulldogs | |

#### Academy/VFLW pre-list signings

| Date | Player | Club from | League from | Classification |
| 30 April | Hannah Burchell | Geelong | AFL Women's | Delisted free agent |
| 16 May | Courtney Wakefield | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |
| 21 May | Tayla Stahl | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |
| 20 June | Alice Edmonds | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |
| 23 July | Grace Campbell | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |
| 23 July | Akec Makur Chuot | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |
| 23 July | Rebecca Miller | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |
| 23 July | Gabby Seymour | Richmond | VFL Women's | Rookie |
| 16 August | Kodi Jacques | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |
| 6 September | Alana Woodward | Richmond | VFL Women's | Open-age |

#### National draft

| Round | Overall pick | Player | Position | Team from | League from |
| 1 | 7 | Sophie Molan | Midfielder | GWV Rebels | NAB League |
| 2 | 25 | Laura McClelland | Defender | Eastern Ranges | NAB League |
| 2 | 31 | Ella Wood | Midfielder | GWV Rebels | NAB League |
| 2 | 40 | Sarah Sansonetti | Half-back | Northern Knights | NAB League |
| 3 | 43 | Holly Whitford | Midfielder | Melbourne University | VFL Women's |
| 3 | 55 | Nekaela Butler | Small defender | GWV Rebels | NAB League |
| 4 | 58 | Cleo Saxon-Jones | Ruck / forward | Western Jets | NAB League |
| 4 | 71 | Laura Bailey | Defender | Richmond | VFL Women's |
| 5 | 73 | Emma Horne | Midfielder | Richmond | VFL Women's |
| 5 | 84 | Kate Dempsey | Defender | Richmond | VFL Women's |
| 6 | 87 | Ciara Fitzgerald | Defender | Northern Knights | NAB League |
| 6 | 93 | Emily Harley | Forward | Oakleigh Chargers | NAB League |
| 6 | 96 | Lauren Tesoriero | Midfielder | Richmond | VFL Women's |

### 2020 season
#### Home and away season

Note: The final two rounds of the season were cancelled to bring forward the finals series in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
| Round | Date | Score | Opponent | Opponent's score | Result | Home/away | Venue | Attendance | Conference ladder (of 7) |
| 1 | Friday 7 February, 7:45pm | 2.2 (14) | Carlton | 6.12 (48) | Lost by 34 points | Home | Ikon Park | 15,337 | 7th |
| 2 | Saturday 15 February, 4:10pm | 2.10 (22) | Gold Coast | 5.3 (33) | Lost by 11 points | Away | Metricon Stadium | 7,071 | 7th |
| 3 | Sunday 23 February, 3:10pm | 2.8 (20) | North Melbourne | 12.4 (76) | Lost by 56 points | Home | Ikon Park | 3,697 | 7th |
| 4 | Saturday 29 February, 3:10pm | 7.3 (45) | Geelong | 10.7 (67) | Lost by 22 points | Home | Queen Elizabeth Oval | 4,906 | 7th |
| 5 | Saturday 7 March 5:10pm | 1.5 (11) | Greater Western Sydney | 7.14 (56) | Lost by 45 points | Away | Robertson Oval | 3,377 | 7th |
| 6 | Saturday 14 March, 5:10pm | 0.3 (3) | St Kilda | 6.6 (42) | Lost by 39 points | Away | RSEA Park | 0 | 7th |
| 7 | Friday 20 March, 5:45pm | | Brisbane | | DNP | Home | Ikon Park | | |
| 8 | Sunday 29 March, 1:10pm | | Adelaide | | DNP | Away | Unley Oval | | |

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

| | Player | Position | Appearance |
| Nominated | Monique Conti | - | - |

##### 22 Under 22 team

| | Player | Position | Appearance |
| Named | Monique Conti | Wing | 1st |

#### Club awards
##### Best and Fairest award

| Position | Player | Votes |
| 1st | Monique Conti | 25 |
| 2nd | Phoebe Monahan | 22 |
| 3rd | Gabby Seymour | 18 |
| 4th | Christina Bernardi | 16 |
| 4th | Grace Campbell | 16 |
| 4th | Kodi Jacques | 16 |
| 7th | Sabrina Frederick | 15 |
| 7th | Sophie Molan | 15 |
| 7th | Sarah Sansonetti | 15 |
| 10th | Alice Edmonds | 14 |
| Source: |||

##### Leading goalkicker award

| Position | Player | Goals |
| 1st | Courtney Wakefield | 4 |
| 2nd | Christina Bernardi | 3 |
| 2nd | Sabrina Frederick | 3 |
| 4th | Katie Brennan | 1 |
| 4th | Kodi Jacques | 1 |
| 4th | Laura McClelland | 1 |
| 4th | Tayla Stahl | 1 |
| Source: |||

## VFL/VFLW seasons (cancelled)

Richmond had been expected to field a reserves men's team in the Victorian Football League for a seventh consecutive season, defending their 2019 premiership. In March, the AFL issued a direction to all 18 clubs mandating that no AFL-listed player at a club could participate in a second-tier state league amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and in July, the season was formally cancelled for all participant clubs. Likewise, the club did not field a team in the VFL Women's competition as that season was also cancelled.