Tigers reveal moment they decided to trade for No.1 pickRichmond will have the first pick in the AFLW draft after making a bold trade move.
By Sarah Black, AFL Media
Dec 11, 2025, 8:47 am
Richmond will base its draft hand around the need to boost its athletic profile after a disappointing slide down the ladder in 2025.
The Tigers underwent an external review after the conclusion of their season, which led to the departures of head of football Kate Sheahan and coach Ryan Ferguson.
List manager Trent Mosbey said there was a targeted approach to land pick one from Gold Coast in order to get access to the top three players in the draft, having originally held pick No.4.
"We worked on it for a month or so, working with Thomas (Waldron) at Gold Coast. He's been awesome and great to deal with, and obviously traded a lot of picks in, and that enabled him to get those deals done, and allowed us an opportunity to get pick one," Mosbey said.
"We saw it as a unique opportunity and the player we have there we rate really highly. We're really excited to bring them in and get it done next Monday.
"We really clearly feel there are three standout players in this draft, and we just really wanted access to them, which is why we did it. We were at (pick) three, before the AFL gave the Giants a compensation pick. So once that came in, we knew we really had to get to work to get up to (pick) one to make sure we were able to secure that talent."
The Tigers have been heavily linked to draft bolter Scarlett Johnson, with Chloe Bown and key forward Olivia Wolmarans the other likely options at the top of the draft board.
"[Johnson] is one of the players we are considering there. She's a really exciting athlete, but there's quite a few exciting talents in this pool as well," Mosbey said.
"[Needing athleticism] was evident throughout the year, that we're a step off in that regard, so we really needed to address that across the field. We think bringing [Georgia Stubs] in, Dana East and now the No.1 pick as well – plus what we can get later in the draft, which we're really excited about that period of the draft - we think we can bounce back next year.
"One of the key components is getting more athletic and quicker around the ground, so we can challenge and compete with the better teams in the future."
Mosbey did not go into detail about the review and subsequent fall-out, instead paying tribute to his former colleagues.
"To Kate Sheahan and Ryan Ferguson, we're very thankful for their great service to our football club in setting us up for what we are right now, and I'm really thankful for what they've done. They were a massive part of us going up for pick one."
https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1940826/tigers-reveal-moment-they-decided-to-trade-for-no1-pick
