Tigers haven't given up on Yarran: Balme AFL.com.au
October 28, 2016RICHMOND has not given up hope that Chris Yarran will recover to complete a full pre-season, and will give him that opportunity before considering his list position for 2017.
The Tigers remain content with Yarran's progress after he spent much of last season dealing with personal and family issues, which have now left him struggling to get back to full fitness.
The club believes his progress has not deviated from their agreed off-season plan, which centred on personal training in his break with VFL player and ex-Demon Tom Couch.
The former Carlton half-back, who is contracted to the end of 2018, will also return to pre-season training early with the club's first-year players on November 7.
Asked if the Tigers were now moving towards reaching a settlement with Yarran and taking him off their list, football manager Neil Balme told SEN radio: "We haven't made any of those decisions".
Balme said Yarran's future on the list would rest on his ability to build his fitness to an AFL standard.
"There will be an agreement … is he able to, is he capable, does he want to? That'll all work itself out," Balme told SEN.
"We're obviously going to help him as much as we can, but the reality is either he can or he can't.
"He'll either train as hard as he can and get himself in the right condition, or he can't. That'll work itself out in due course."
Richmond would face a blowout in its 2017 player payments if it did part ways with Yarran two years before his contract expires.
The Tigers would be bound to pay out his contract in full, with that entire amount to then sit under its 2017 salary cap, rather than spread over two seasons.
An option for the club would be to re-rookie Yarran, even if he was no longer part of the program, allowing a portion of his sizeable payout to sit outside the salary cap.
Balme conceded Yarran was overweight after a long period out of the game and away from a full-time AFL program.
"He's due back next week, he's going to come back with the younger players and we'll see how he goes. He may well be a touch over(weight)," Balme said.
"But obviously there's two sides to this. We need to look after the individual, look after Chris, and give him every opportunity to play because we want him to play."
After being granted personal leave in May to deal with family and mental health problems, he is said to be in a better headspace going into pre-season.
"There's two sides to this one and we've got to look after the individual," Balme said.
"He's been through an enormous amount and he's a pretty resilient kid."
Yarran has been unable to play a senior game since arriving from Carlton in exchange for pick No.19 at the end of 2015.
In his absence, rookie Jayden Short established himself as a rebounding defender and is set to earn promotion to the senior list.
Short played 16 games in 2016 and averaged 14.9 possessions.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-10-28/tigers-havent-given-up-on-yarran-balme
