Three-year deal for Raines
Jake Niall
The Age
August 11, 2006
IN ANOTHER measure of his rapid emergence this year, Richmond youngster Andrew Raines is set to sign a three-year contract to remain at Tigerland.
The Tigers have all but agreed to terms with Raines on a deal that will keep him with his father's old club until the end of 2009.
Raines, who is one of the main contenders for the Rising Star award this year and has become a cornerstone of Richmond's defence, is likely to earn between $750,000 and $800,000 over the life of the contract.
Richmond's willingness to give Raines, 20, a three-year deal on those terms is an indication of how rapidly he has become one of the club's better players, given that he had played only seven games before this year.
Increasingly, clubs are reluctant to give players long-term contracts and three-year deals, on the whole, are reserved for the highly talented minority.
Brett Deledio, for instance, has been signed for three years, but most of Richmond's young brigade — Dean Polo, Danny Meyer, Adam Pattison — were re-contracted on two-year deals.
The new deal was expedited by the completion of the new pay deal between the AFL and the AFL Players Association, which hands the players hefty pay rises over the next two years (7 per cent plus in both years) and thus has eased salary cap pressures on most clubs.
Raines, a swift rebounding defender with clean hands and a willingness to take on the opposition, has not missed a game in 2006, his third season at Punt Road, after he was drafted at pick No. 76 in 2003.
Raines was largely overlooked by recruiters in his draft year, and was not taken by the Tigers as a father-son selection, but his performances this year have outstripped expectations considerably, to the point that he is vying with Marc Murphy, Heath Shaw, Danyle Pearce and Dale Thomas for the Rising Star award.
Raines is also a rarity in that his gait and fluent kicking action strongly resemble his father, who won three best-and-fairest awards at Richmond and was a central figure in its most recent premiership in 1980 before crossing to Collingwood.
Raines snr finished his career in Brisbane, where his son grew up.
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