Richmond veteran Jack Riewoldt was convinced to take a pay cut and stick around after being told of the club’s plan for a bold trade blitz this off-season.
The Tigers will attempt to trade in GWS midfielders Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper, the pair each signing a seven-year contract, costing them at least three first-round picks.
The move for the young pair is an attempt to extend the premiership window of the late-2010s dynasty club, who failed to win a final this season but were fourth for percentage, and didn’t lose a game by more than a goal after Round 6.
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Riewoldt believes the Taranto-Hopper plan is “very exciting”, especially because it suggests players at rival clubs believe the Tigers are still premiership threats.
“The fact of the matter is they’re very good players so we’re going to have to give up a fair bit to get them, and it’ll be interesting to see if the deals are done separately or as a conglomerate,” he said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 Plus.
“It just shows that there’s talent out there in the AFL that believe we’re in a pretty good window, as we believe too.
“The last five games we lost were by under a goal so we feel like we can be a challenger again next year.”
Riewoldt and fellow veteran Trent Cotchin decided to play on, the latter publicly admitting he was considering retirement during the year, taking pay cuts to help the Tigers’ salary cap situation.
The former Coleman medallist said he spoke to club higher-ups about their trade plan during his exit meeting early this week, which helped contribute to his decision to stick around on less than he may have been able to get elsewhere.
“In mine, yes. And I think probably a lot of the older guys would be like, you start to look outside yourself a little bit and how we’re gonna get better,” Riewoldt said.
“A lot of younger players come in and just want to get feedback about themselves and establishing themselves. It’s discussed, the coaches ask where you think as a player the club can get better.
“Funnily enough Josh Kelly’s parents live three or four doors down from my house, drove past Josh the other day and asked if he wanted to come as well.
“For us, we’re excited that players out there have nominated our club as one they see as being a good fit for him.
“I’ve factored that into my thinking about whether I want to go forward or not. You probably don’t get paid what you think you might be worth, but you’re back in the mix. As a player, as an older player, you’re playing to win premierships.”
