Richmond may be forced to keep contracted fringe players Taylor Hunt, Steve Morris and Todd EltonJAY CLARK
Herald Sun
August 5, 2016 RICHMOND will be forced to keep contracted fringe players Taylor Hunt, Steve Morris and Todd Elton for next season unless the club trades them or pays them out.
The Tigers are plotting aggressive list changes at season’s end which are expected to include free agent Ty Vickery’s departure.
Industry sources on Thursday said the big man’s exit would likely snare Richmond a second-round draft pick (currently No. 25) in free agency compensation, depending on the value of his next contract at a new club.
Melbourne great David Schwarz said he believed there would be “four or five” clubs interested in Vickery.
All players’ positions are under review at Tigerland after a disastrous season, with as many as 15 Richmond players still believed to be out of contract this year.
Richmond is set to be one of the most active players in this year’s trade period as it attempts to snare Gold Coast Suns onballer Dion Prestia in exchange for its top pick (currently No. 6)
In a SuperFooty.com.au poll yesterday, 60 per cent of 4090 voters said the Tigers should not trade their top selection in exchange for Prestia.
But it is expected two of Richmond’s most polarising players, Hunt, 25, and Morris, 27, will remain at the club next season after signing deals to keep them until the end of 2017.
A workmanlike midfielder, Hunt has played 13 matches this season, sometimes in a tagging role.
The former Cat will play his 100th AFL game against Collingwood at the MCG on Friday.
Small defender Morris, who agreed to a three-year extension in 2014, is on the comeback from a knee reconstruction after hurting it in Round 11.
Elton, 23, has been on the list for five seasons but has played only two games.
The tall defender was taken with pick No. 26 in the 2011 national draft and has been considered a project player.
Fellow forwards Ben Griffiths and Liam McBean and midfielders Reece Conca and Shaun Grigg are all out of contract at season’s end.
Richmond has been the frontrunner for Prestia all season but Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes said the Tigers should dump their plans to nab the 23-year-old.
“To target Prestia now ... It’s not the right call, they (Richmond) are not in the premiership window,” Cornes said.
Leading player manager Scott Lucas said the Tigers were better off loading up on fresh talent at the draft rather than add the Suns’ mature-age ball magnet.
Richmond has also already traded away their second-round pick (currently No. 24) in this year’s draft to Gold Coast.
“If you give up your first-round pick for Prestia, you are not actually in the draft until the third round,” Lucas said.
“If next year is going to be a rebuild what does Prestia do? Does he help you win two extra games? Do you want that?
“Or would you rather keep your picks and have another couple of kids (in this year’s draft) that are in their prime in three or four years?
“They really should be looking over the next two or three years to acquire as many top-20 picks as they can however that has to happen.”
Lucas’s management stable includes Richmond players Vickery, Jake Batchelor and Jacob Townsend.
Prestia, who has played 95 games, would command a salary in excess of $650,000 a season at Punt Rd next season.
Superstar midfielder Brett Deledio said he had not been briefed on the club’s recruiting plans.
“The recruiters they take care of that and hopefully they bring in good players for us to play with,” Deledio said.
“I don’t know Dion that well but from all reports he’s a great bloke.”
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