Kamdyn McIntosh open to leaving Richmond if given the opportunity
He signed a fresh two-year deal in July, but Kamdyn McIntosh’s season went stale a week later. A double Grand Final snub now has him ready to leave the Tigers.
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Kamdyn McIntosh is open to leaving Richmond if a rival club presents the right deal.
McIntosh signed a new two-year deal with the Tigers in July, but was dropped only a week after putting pen to paper and couldn’t get back into the senior side.
The wingman’s increasing frustration was compounded by the Tigers’ decision to withdraw him from the VFL Grand Final as insurance for an AFL Grand Final he wasn’t selected for.
McIntosh, 25, was running second in Richmond’s best-and-fairest count after Round 8 and was hurt by missing out on a premiership of either kind.
He leaves for an overseas holiday on Sunday also open to the idea of leaving Punt Road in search of regular senior football.
McIntosh looms as the perfect target for Fremantle and new coach Justin Longmuir, hailing from Perth and coming through Peel Thunder.
The looming departure of wingers Ed Langdon and Brad Hill has created a need for speed at the Dockers, who are also interested in McIntosh’s Victoria-born Richmond teammate Connor Menadue.
McIntosh has played 90 games for the Tigers and was a member of their 2017 premiership side.
But the emergence of Marlion Pickett and Sydney Stack has seemingly limited his opportunities under coach Damien Hardwick, while Josh Caddy and Shane Edwards are playing on a wing.
Highly rated father-son Patrick Naish will also push for selection next year.
Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton said McIntosh could not be blamed if he left the Tigers.
“Kamdyn McIntosh, if one of possibly 17 clubs turn around and say, ‘Would you like to come to us? Here’s $100,000 more or $200,000 more’ he will have to question it because he’ll think that loyalty can only carry you so far,” Brereton told Fox Footy.
“And if he still wants to stay a Tiger, put up a statue of him.
“He’s the best clubman in the AFL.”
Richmond footy boss Neil Balme said today Richmond is prepared to help fringe players move to new clubs during the exchange period, and says they will always be Tigers.
And Balme says the Tigers are bullish about the next generation of young players who will push for selection as early as Round 1 next season.
Last year Richmond lost Reece Conca as a free agent and traded Sam Lloyd, Anthony Miles, Corey Ellis and Tyson Stengle for late draft picks.
“You can’t emotionally blackmail people into staying for the wrong reasons. If they need to go, you need to help them go,” Balme said on Trade Radio.
“Sam Lloyd’s the perfect example of that. We loved Sam and we think he’s a very good player (but) he wasn’t getting enough games with us for different reasons, so we encouraged him to find somewhere to play, and we love the fact that he plays well for the Bulldogs because he’s one of our guys.
“We do have a saying once you’re a Richmond man, you’re always a Richmond man.
“When we flew up to Brisbane (in the first week of finals) the Bulldogs were flying to Sydney and they left at the same time, and to see Sam in the airport lounge with our guys, it was like he was still playing for us, it was fantastic that they care about him and they want him to do well.
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“That’s the sort of thing that we need to buy into. You can’t just be a soft touch and let all your players go for nothing, but you’ve got to encourage them if they’re not getting the opportunity.
“Brandon’s the perfect example of that.
“We want him to stay, he wants to stay, he loves being here. The system is set up so other clubs might be able to find players with better circumstances, like he’s got.
“So I think they have offered him something pretty significant so he’s got to consider that because in his life there’s more important things than just playing for the Tigers, he needs to set himself up and we will only support that.
“It’s not that we want him to go and not that we’re pushing him out, but if that opportunity comes and he wants to do it, we’ll maturely look at that and say what’s the best thing for him, and what’s the best thing for us in the end.”
After the blockbuster arrival of Tom Lynch last year, the Tigers are unlikely to be big players in this trade period.
“You can always do with more players but particularly given the Tom Lynch incoming last year there’s not a lot of spare dough to spend, so we won’t be doing too much,” Balme said.
“We think we’ve got six or eight kids who are not playing very often in the senior team who we think will ... if they have big pre-seasons we’re going to have some genuine problems at selection, which we’re really pleased about.”
Balme listed Grand Final hardluck story Jack Ross, first-round draft pick Riley Collier-Dawkins, Mabior Chol and highly-touted big man Callum Coleman-Jones as Richmond’s next wave.
“I think the fact that both Sydney Stack and Marlion Pickett came in and were able to play pretty significant AFL footy on the back of not all that much of a background gives us a confidence that if we train them well and we coach them well, then they are going to be a good opportunity to play good footy at the next level.”
— with Al Paton
Originally published as Kamdyn McIntosh open to leaving Richmond if given the opportunity