FLAG TIGER TO DELAY TALKS– Riley Beveridge
afl.com.au
27 March 2024RICHMOND midfielder Jack Graham is prepared to wait through the season before kickstarting talks on his next contract, as the club's dual premiership player weighs up his free agency decision.
The South Australian, who won flags at the Tigers in 2017 and 2020, has missed the start of the season with a quad injury but remains one of the League's most high-profile free agents this year.
Graham toured Port Adelaide's facilities when he was still under contract with Richmond back in October 2022, but opted to remain at Punt Road and then hit a trigger in his deal early last season that took him through to free agency.
But with the Tigers expected to undergo a transition in their list profile under new coach Adem Yze, both the player and the club have agreed to hold off talks over his next contract until later in the campaign.
"He's a quality player and at the moment, we're just going to see how it all unfolds," Graham's manager Marty Pask from Kapital Sports Group told AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable last week.
"Richmond's in an interesting position, with the list and where they're at. They've got a couple of older guys and they're starting to play some youth as well.
"We've obviously met and agreed just to take a breath and look at how the season starts for everybody, then we'll kick the tyres a little bit more on that in the next little while."
Despite the decision to delay talks around Graham's future into the season, Pask said there remained an understanding from both parties regarding his situation.
"It's the preparedness now for club and player to actually not panic and just say, 'Hey it is your free agency year so how do we attack this and what does it look like?'" Pask said.
"I've done deals with [Richmond list manager] Blair Hartley for a very long time, so there's certainly nothing there that's untoward or anything that should surprise anyone, other than we're looking at this as his free agency year.
"Where is Richmond at? What do they want to do? And what does Jack Graham want to do and where is he at? Both parties talk through that."
https://www.afl.com.au/news/1095383/inside-trading-irish-cat-re-signs-swan-in-talks-giant-decision-looms
