How Dimma's 'dad' joke broke ice after Graham's Power tripDamien Hardwick and Jack Graham quickly broke the ice after the Tiger met with Port Adelaide last year
By Riley Beveridge
afl.com.au
20 February 2023LUCKILY for Damien Hardwick and Jack Graham, they had a decent icebreaker.
Graham endured a whirlwind 48 hours last October, when the dual Richmond premiership player was spotted arriving in South Australia and touring Port Adelaide's facilities as interest grew in his future during the Trade Period.
Still contracted at Punt Road, essentially for the next two seasons thanks to an easily reachable clause in the deal he signed back in 2020, Graham's visit to Alberton came amid a period when the Tigers were closing on moves for midfield pair Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper from Greater Western Sydney.
Graham's meeting with senior Port Adelaide officials came on the Wednesday afternoon. But by the Friday night, as revealed by AFL.com.au, Graham had informed the Power that he wished to stay in the yellow and black and wouldn't be seeking a trade.
Such a high-profile situation, coming within a time of year when the spotlight is brighter than ever and nerves are frayed across the entire football industry, could have otherwise led to some awkwardness upon his return. In this case, though, the opposite was true.
"We did have a really good laugh actually," Hardwick told AFL.com.au.
"Jack said at the airport that he was going to visit his parents and then he got caught at Port Adelaide. I said, 'I didn't know Ken was your dad!' We did have a laugh. He's a stellar guy and we're glad he stayed, because he's such an important player to us."
Graham's interest in pursuing the potential of a move to Port Adelaide, despite being contracted through to 2024, was indicative of the modern market where more players are hitting the trade table than ever before.
Richmond itself claimed Hopper last October, despite the midfielder still having one season to run on his contract with Greater Western Sydney.
According to Hardwick, clubs and players are becoming more understanding of that type of situation.
"I love Jack and our footy club loves Jack. But if Jack wants to have an opportunity to look somewhere else, we understand that. That's the nature of the game. We will never hold that against our players," the Tigers coach said.
"If our players feel they've got a better opportunity to play at another club, or in a position that they want to play, then we won't stand in their way. Certainly, there has to be adequate compensation coming back the other way. Jack is a very, very good player. But we were up front and honest. We had the conversation."
The addition of Taranto and Hopper will enable Richmond to become more flexible with how it divides its midfield minutes in season 2023, with Graham one of a number of players facing the prospect of less time in the engine room.
But the Tigers don't anticipate Graham's onball numbers being squeezed significantly due to their busy Trade Period, with Hardwick of the belief that the 24-year-old will remain an integral part of the club's midfield future.
"(His role) won't change too much," Hardwick said.
"He's really good value going through the midfield, but he's also good value across half-forward as well. He's a really important transitional piece for us that we feel can help us in a number of areas of our game, both offensively and defensively. His role won't change drastically. But he certainly will add to our talent pool as well."
Taranto and Hopper's arrival will mean a new role for former captain Trent Cotchin this season, though. Having signed a one-year deal late last year to extend his time at Punt Road into a 16th season, the 32-year-old has been training as a forward this summer.
Cotchin is likely to still enjoy short spurts through the midfield, but Richmond believes he will add another exciting element to an attack that already features key-position threats like Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt, as well as dynamic options such as Dustin Martin and Shai Bolton.
"Trent's playing forward. But he came back from injury in the back-end of last year, probably for the last six or seven weeks, and he played a similar role. It's not going to be too dissimilar to what he's already done," Hardwick said.
"What we found was that he played an incredible brand of footy when he came back and played that role. You'll go and have a look at his numbers and they were quite impressive. From an impact point of view, we really enjoyed the aspect that he brought in that part of the game.
"We'll explore that a little bit more, then it obviously allows us to put more players through the middle of the ground. Jayden Short took a really big step forward, Jack Graham will come through the midfield, then we've got young developing Tyler Sonsie as well.
"We're really excited about it. What we have to do is continually evolve as a side and make sure we've got the right pieces in the right roles. That's our challenge as a coaching group moving forward."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/875465/how-dimma-s-dad-joke-broke-ice-after-graham-s-power-trip
