Meet the new million-dollar Tiger teen
12 April 2006 Herald Sun
Bruce Matthews
RICHMOND'S young gun Brett Deledio is the AFL's latest million-dollar man after signing a three-year contract extension yesterday.
Deledio, who turns 19 on Tuesday, will still be only 22 when the new deal with the Tigers expires at the end of the 2009 season.
The No. 1 pick in the 2004 national draft will collect about $300,000 each year. And endorsement contracts outside the club for such a marketable young player are sure to push the total past seven figures.
Richmond, still searching for its first win this season, announced a double dose of positive news with popular midfielder Chris Newman extending his contract until the end of 2008.
"We have taken a pretty clear direction of junior development over the last few seasons. We have 30 players on our list who are 24 and under. These two boys represent future leaders of that group," Tigers football director Greg Miller said yesterday.
"Obviously, there's a changing environment at the moment with the new negotiations on the TPP (total player payments), so we took that into consideration. And there's contingency plans for both boys if there's extraordinary changes. We had to work through that issue over the last month."
Deledio and Newman, who turns 24 next month, join Jay Schulz to commit to Punt Rd this season and Miller said the club was close to re-signing Adam Pattison.
Deledio said he was happy to extend the existing contract by another three years to ward off rival suitors.
"Obviously with the pathway we're taking, I'm looking forward to being a part of that," he said.
"We've got a young group and we're very excited about what we can do. We have a clear direction and clear goals that we want to achieve, to play in finals and be a successful team.
"I'm in no rush to go anywhere, to have a three-year deal is fine by me."
Richmond coach Terry Wallace said Deledio's work ethic had become the benchmark for even some of the senior players.
"When you go for a first-round draft pick, you know it's going to be a player of genuine talent and excitement. What you don't know is just how much they want it, how much preparation they're prepared to put in to reach the elite level," Wallace said.
"What I've been impressed with Brett is his hunger and desire to learn, to better himself. He has probably, whether humiliated is the right word, set the scene for some of the senior players to live up to."
Wallace was similarly effusive in his praise of Newman, a less-heralded but equally dedicated worker who won selection in Australia's international rules team last year.
"When I arrived at the club, I suppose within the first month I saw a real quality player in Chris who I had thought at that stage hadn't reached his peak," Wallace said. "I set him a challenge early in the piece, I thought he was a player capable of taking a quantum leap in performance, and he took up that immediately.
"He was voted the hardest worker in the pre-season. I see him as a hard, tough, uncompromising player who will be a leader of some sorts at the club in the future."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,18789290%255E19771,00.html
