Richmond premiership star’s unique pitch to poach out-of-contract MagpieMarch 2, 2020 12:49pm
Josh Gabelich
FOX SPORTSDarcy Moore was coached by Damien Hardwick on Friday night and played alongside Richmond premiership stars Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Tom Lynch and Bachar Houli in a sign of what life could look like in 2021 and beyond.
The Collingwood star is out of contract at the end of October and was linked to a move down Olympic Boulevard and up Punt Road last month.
With Alex Rance shocking the football world by retiring in December, the Tigers are in the market for a key defender and could look to Moore.
The 24-year-old revealed Houli used Friday night’s State of Origin game as an opportunity to pitch the club. Although the All-Australian half-back lobbied a unique benefit of playing in the yellow and black.
“Bachar was telling me about the Lebanese barbecues that he hosts,” Moore told foxsports.com.au after Friday night’s State of Origin game.
“I asked him, ‘How do I get an invite? He said: ‘You’ve got to come play for us’.”
Contract speculation is nothing new for the son of two-time Brownlow Medal winner, Peter Moore.
He was linked to Sydney throughout an injury-interrupted 2018 before signing a two-year extension at the end of that season. That deal is nearly up, but he won’t rush to sign his next contract.
“Look it’s something I’ve been through before in the past three or four years. It is nothing new to me. As a person it really tests your focus and your concentration,” he said.
“But once you get amongst the boys and the team we’ve got at the Pies is so tight knit that we don’t focus on individuals so you really do sink back into the crowd.
“When you leave the four walls of the club there is a little bit more attention, but it is really like water off a duck's back for me at this point; it is what you pay managers for – to take care of it. It is pretty easy to deal with to be honest.”
Moore escapes the pressure of contract decisions and stopping key forwards by throwing himself into his studies at Melbourne University, by reading and by spending times with friends outside who don’t play for the black and white.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/collingwood-star-darcy-moore-reveals-unique-pitch-from-richmond-premiership-defender-bachar-houli/news-story/eff6472ca6947a927f6759da5f13527b