Tiger for punishment reaps reward
WHAT player in their right mind leaves a preliminary final side to cross to a basket case?
Josh Caddy jumped ship from a side seemingly marching towards a flag to one that had lost Round 23 last year by 113 points. But the Richmond half forward had a premonition that he had ridden all the way to this week’s grand final.
He has arrived at the Tigers via Gold Coast then Geelong, where he was contracted until the end of 2018. Then as Geelong and Richmond haggled over a Brett Deledio trade, Caddy’s name was raised.
Deledio eventually went to GWS but the Tigers nailed Caddy and he has responded with 20 goals in 21 games.
“It’s pretty surreal, 12 months ago I have got to be honest I wouldn’t have thought we could make it here,” Caddy said.
“I thought if we could make the eight this year it would be a good accomplishment and we could build from there.
“Twelve months ago I was playing in a losing prelim for Geelong and had no idea I was going to be leaving.”
As the season unfolded and the Tigers lost a series of close games that saw them being dubbed mentally fragile, few believed they could win the premiership.
Yet Caddy says the lessons learnt in those defeats steeled the side to learn key lessons.