The rookie list conundrum Richmond will faceBy Sammy Edmund
SEN
19 August 2020 Richmond is facing a rookie list dilemma as it grapples with a way to shield its talent-laden playing list from poachers.
The Tigers’ enviable depth in the face of injury has this year caught the eye of rivals sensing an opportunity to pick off players seeking more opportunity and/or better terms.
Richmond have the maximum six Category A rookies in 2020 – Jake Aarts, Liam Baker, Mabior Chol, Derek Eggmolesse-Smith, Marlion Pickett and Sydney Stack – and all are currently regulars in coach Damien Hardwick’s best 22.
Three of those rookies – Aarts, Pickett, Eggmolesse-Smith – are out of contract. Under AFL rules, players who have been on the rookie list for two years or more can reject another rookie contract and become unrestricted free agents.
But if rookie list spots are cut next year, as expected, it would put Richmond under enormous pressure to make room for its rookies on its primary list, which is capped at 40 in 2020 but is no certainty to remain so next season.
Senior-listed players Jack Graham, Nathan Broad and the yet-to-debut Riley Collier-Dawkins are also without deals for next year and attracting interest from multiple clubs.
Collier-Dawkins was the Tigers’ first pick (No. 20) in the 2018 national draft, but is yet to be given an opportunity.
Oleg Markov and Toby Nankervis are unsigned for 2021 – the latter battling a syndesmosis injury as the emerging Ivan Soldo holds the fort.
Graham is in demand at a number of clubs, including Adelaide and Essendon, while Broad has been one of many who have taken less and would need to keep doing so if he wants to stay. Bachar Houli is on one-year deals.
Richmond list manager Blair Hartley is the man at the steering wheel. Such is the depth of talent at Punt Road he may as well be steering the Titanic.
The Tigers are among a collection of clubs who have put the shutters up on contract talks as the industry awaits the AFL’s verdict on what the list sizes and the salary cap looks like for next year.
But with only eight weeks until the end of the season, Hartley has got some big decisions to make.
The likes of Dan Butler, Brandon Ellis and Reece Conca have been among the departures in recent years.
This is the path multiple premiership-winning sides must travel. Who falls out this year?
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/08/19/the-rookie-list-conundrum-richmond-will-face/
