AFL Trade Period: Richmond considering pick two swap move after Shai Bolton, Daniel Rioli trades

Already set to hold one of the greatest draft hands in AFL history, Richmond is weighing up a possible draft bombshell that could see them dominate the top of the 2024 super draft.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 10: Marlion Pickett, Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli of the Tigers sing their club song after winning the round 13 AFL match between Fremantle Dockers and Richmond Tigers at Optus Stadium, on June 10, 2023, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Richmond has assembled the most extraordinary draft hand collected by a non-expansion club in the modern era after list boss Blair Hartley extracted a monster return for departing stars Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli.

On Wednesday morning the Dockers folded and handed over picks 10, 11 and 18 for Bolton, pick 14 and a future third rounder after the Tigers threatened to trade their 25-year-old match-winner to the Eagles.

Then as revealed by the Herald Sun, the Suns handed over picks six and 23 for Rioli and the Tigers only needed to give back picks 51, 61, 70 and 76.

It came a day after Richmond lost vice-captain Liam Baker but secured pick 14 in exchange.

The Tigers have the best draft hand seen in recent memory apart from GWS and Gold Coast in their formative years ahead of potential pick swaps and trades into the 2025 national draft.

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Shai Bolton has been traded to Fremantle.

With selections one, six, 10, 11, 18, 20, 23 and 24 the Tigers could dominate an AFL super-draft and set up their next period of premiership success if they can nail those picks.

Bolton will sign a five-year deal at the Dockers – handed an extra season after being contracted to 2028 with the Tigers – while Rioli gets a five-year deal and a hefty price rise.

Richmond only paid Rioli about $600,000 this year despite his brilliant Jack Dyer Medal form.

The club will also shed Baker’s salary so in the space of 48 hours will lose as much as $2.5 million in salary cap obligations given Bolton was due up to $1.2 million a year.

It will give the Tigers a chance to bank that room or pay some of their players on front-ended deals to create space for later seasons and free agency acquisitions.

Dustin Martin is also coming off a $1.3 million-per-season deal but some of those savings will already have been absorbed in contracts for players like Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper.

The Tigers have one more season of a back-ended deal that will pay Tom Lynch $1.5 million next year so will have as much cap space as anyone in the competition in coming years.

Richmond had traded Ivan Soldo and then moved back in the 2023 national draft from 35 to 38 to 40, all the time collecting back-end 2024 draft picks which it used to maximise this draft hand.

Richmond now has the chance to consider whether it is keen to trade up to the No. 2 pick overall given North Melbourne’s willingness to slide back for an extra draft selection.

That move would require two first-round picks but would see the Tigers with picks one, two and six overall in the draft.

The Tigers could also consider whether they want to spread out their picks over the next two drafts given they will want to stockpile enough elite young talent before Tasmania’s introduction.

Clubs are desperate to secure 2024 first-rounders so the Tigers would easily be able to trade into next year’s draft.

The Roos are keen to trade out of their 2025 first-rounder which should be in the top handful of picks.

So if the Tigers can secure that draft pick given their likely struggles they could have two of the top four or five picks in next year’s draft.

Departing Richmond CEO Brendon Gale said recently he believed the club could bounce quickly.

“At this stage there is an opportunity to turn this club around in a couple of years,” he said. “We have a really strong platform, a strong organisation, a culture and shared understanding of what it takes and our own supporters understand what it takes. It’s not reacting, it’s making evidence-based decisions and we will be back in no time.”

Originally published as AFL Trade Period: Richmond considering pick two swap move after Shai Bolton, Daniel Rioli trades