Robbo and King: Trading Deledio must be consideredJustin Talent
SEN
05 Jun 2016Richmond’s list needs to be shaken up with an injection of quality young players, and trading star Brett Deledio to obtain further first round draft picks needs to be an option for the club to move forward, says Mark Robinson and David King.
The 29-year-old remains a fan favourite and an integral part of the under-siege Tigers, but questions over the quality of players the club have recruited from deep in the draft has left gaps in the list that King believes can’t be fixed without elite talent.
“In my opinion I reckon the club has let Damien down. I think that their draft selection after the first round pick has been nigh on a debacle and they have had no faith in late picks,” he said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“Instead of taking a late pick they have gone for a mature player who is capped at being a six out of ten AFL commodity.”
“You can’t just be stuck in that middle ground of the AFL table. You need to work out a way where it either might cost you one to two years but you’ve got a vision”
King believes an option to create a clear vision for the future of the club is offer Deledio on the trade table this season.
“They may have to look at Deledio and say ‘Can we get two first round picks for this guy? Can we get a pick at the end of this year and the end of next year?,’ he said.
“He’s probably got four, five good years left in him. He’s been a wonderful player but he could go to a top club and make a huge difference. That’s the sort of decision they have to make.”
Mark Robinson agreed, stating that no matter how much Richmond fans may dislike the idea, Deledio will not form a part of Richmond’s next premiership.
“The Richmond fans hate it. (They say) “No, he’s one of us”. That’s fine. Keep him. Having him as a one club player is terrific,” said Robinson.
“But if he left and you got a first (round pick) this year and a late first next year, that’s two players. The regeneration is not going to take one year, it’s going to take three or four years to build up so maybe when Daniel Rioli is 25 they’re coming into a time when they are seriously challenging for a flag.”
Dermott Brereton disagreed, stating that if Richmond consider trading any of their stars, they will o into free-fall down the table.
“There is (trade bait) but they go south. If they trade their trade-able commodities, one or two of them, they go south,” he said.
http://www.sen.com.au/news/afl/06-16/robbo-and-king-trading-deledio-must-be-considered