Eagle Gaspar may join Tiger brother
By Jake Niall
The Age
October 11, 2005
HAVING been unable to acquire him during the trading period, Richmond is considering recruiting West Coast key-position player Travis Gaspar in the pre-season draft.
The younger brother of Richmond full-back Darren Gaspar is uncontracted and could nominate for the December draft if he fails to come to terms with the Eagles, who have offered him a one-year deal. Travis Gaspar is not happy with a one-year contract offered by the Eagles.
Richmond tried to negotiate a trade for Gaspar last week, with the Eagles requesting an exchange of first-round picks — trading up from pick No. 13 to eight — in one of the dozens of proposed deals that didn't come to fruition.
Richmond director of football Greg Miller confirmed yesterday that the Tigers were interested in acquiring Gaspar via the pre-season draft, in which they have the fifth pick behind Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn and Essendon. "Yes, we are. We're interested in him," Miller said.
But he added that the Tigers were also considering another Eagle, Kasey Green, and Essendon's Ben Haynes, who was a Richmond rookie before he crossed to Windy Hill. Green also is out of contract and is believed to be considering a move to get more opportunities to play.
The Tigers discussed trades for Green and Haynes as well as Gaspar, having identified the trio as players they could afford under the stringent budget that has been imposed on the club's player payments.
Essendon is committed to Scott Camporeale with its pre-season pick, with the Blues, Pies and Hawks all considering their options.
If Gaspar, 24, were to go to Punt Road, it would be the second reunion of brothers at Tigerland, following Patrick Bowden's shift from Whitten Oval to join brother Joel. He also would be the second Gaspar to come to Richmond through the pre-season draft, his All-Australian brother having walked from Sydney following a contractual dispute before the 1996 draft.
Travis Gaspar's career has been blighted by injury since his 2001 debut. West Coast has long insisted that he had the talent to be an excellent key-position player and has kept faith in the 197-centimetre tall, who managed an aggregate of only seven games in the past two seasons.
Remarkably, Gaspar played his first game of 2005 in the preliminary final and retained his spot for the grand final. He performed better in the penultimate final than the epic finale.
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