Three-time Richmond premiership player Jack Riewoldt believes that the “most important decision” for his former club in the foreseeable future looms large as several premiership Tigers look set to walk.
As the 2024 season has gone on, discussion around the whereabouts of Liam Baker, Shai Bolton, Daniel Rioli and Jack Graham in 2025 has only increased as the Punt Road rebuild continues its slow burn.
And with Tasmania’s impending addition into the league leaving a greater value on draft picks in the coming years, Richmond will be forced to identity whether they would prefer a shot at the draft better than any other rival club, or try and keep the talent they’ve successfully grown across the last decade.
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Speaking to Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Wednesday night, Riewoldt was realistic with the perceived plans of the quartet from the outside.
“Shai’s obviously come out and said that he’d like a trade, (and) if you’re believing the rumours, Daniel (Rioli) is probably in the same boat. And you read the tea leaves and Jack Graham and Liam Baker haven’t signed yet,” Riewoldt admitted.
“I think this is the most important decision for the football club to make for the next dynasty and the next challenge at a premiership cup, because they have to look ahead as all clubs are.
“Tasmania are coming into the competition in 2028, so the draft will then be diluted again with another assistant package for a team coming in, but also then everyone’s pick goes out by one.”
“There’s changes to the academies and father-sons which will happen, but this year and next year, if you can stockpile and load up on first-round draft picks – which the players we’re talking about are worth picks that are up the top-end of the draft – is they need to make the most of what they’ve got.”
The quartet in question bring a combined 573 games of experience, as well as three premiership medals for Rioli and two for the remaining three players.
Bolton, Baker and Graham have all linked to Western Australia, while Rioli is poised to join former coach Damien Hardwick on the Gold Coast despite being contracted to the Tigers until the end of 2027.
Bolton, like Rioli, is contracted at Richmond long-term until the end of 2028, however Baker and Graham are out of contract at year’s end, making their move much more straight forward and likely.
“The club would love to keep all of the players, but if they’re expressing wants to go somewhere else, then facilitate it and get what they’re worth back and start again … This is the cycle of AFL footy, this is the cycle of the draft,” Riewoldt continued.
“That’s why it comes in, that’s why competitive balance is in there and they need to make sure that they don’t look back at ‘17, ‘19 and ‘20 and go to the halcyon days, ‘oh how good was that, we won the flag’. We’re in a new generation.”
Richmond will take on Gold Coast at the MCG this Saturday afternoon – officially bidding farewell to retired duo Dustin Martin and Dylan Grimes, as well as perhaps some with plans to play elsewhere in 2025.
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“It’s an emotional day for all Tigers fans; especially Dustin (and Grimes) … you want to pay homage to the champions,” Riewoldt explained.
“A day to celebrate, but it also could be a day to regenerate”.
In a worst case scenario, the exit of six senior players would leave first-year coach Adem Yze further back than he was at the start of this year, which concerns Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson.
“He’s taken over the club … he’s losing four or five key players that are stables in their environment,” Johnson said.
“That’s a whole new shift; I think, from a coaching point of view, that needs to be looked at in a really serious manner to see what support he needs so he can start to take strides forward as a coach in his comp.”
Unless the Tigers win comfortably over the Suns on Saturday and North Melbourne also suffer a notable loss to Hawthorn later that evening, Richmond will finish bottom of the table for the first time in the 18-team era, and first time since 2007.
Source Agencies
