Adem Yze says Richmond expects decision from players such as Liam Baker and Jack Graham on their futures in coming days
Richmond expects an answer on the futures of stars including Liam Baker and Jack Graham within days as they weigh up whether to join the exodus of premiership stars from Punt Rd.
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Richmond coach Adem Yze says he expects to know in coming days whether out-of-contract players Liam Baker and Jack Graham will be at the club next year after the curtains came down on a difficult two-win season.
The Tigers will hold exit interviews with players this week, where they will seek clarity around the futures of multiple key players including Baker, Graham, Daniel Rioli and Shai Bolton.
Baker is out of contract and has been linked to a move home to Western Australia, while Graham is an unrestricted free agent who has attracted rival interest.
Both Baker and Graham have standing contract offers to stay at Punt Rd but are yet to make their intentions clear.
“The next few days are going to be really important,” Yze said after Saturday’s final-round loss to the Gold Coast Suns.
“We’re not going to rush them into that decision other than the fact that they know they’ve got a contract in place and we love them as players.
“Watching Liam Baker today, he plays with his heart and soul for our footy club and that’s all I could expect the whole season. Jack Graham was the same.”
A 28-point loss to the Suns saw Richmond collect its first wooden spoon since 2007, ending a difficult first season as coach for Yze.
“We’ve been through a lot and as I’ve said all year, we’re going to look at the silver lining,” Yze said.
“We’ve got games in our players while we’re dealing with a lot of adversity. The back five or six games, I felt like our effort was there but it was a quarter here and there that just cost us.
“We understand that we’ve got a long way to go and we’ve got to get better and we’re not happy where we sit on the ladder.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do next season and our players will come into day one of pre-season really hungry to bounce back.”
Yze said it had been a “horrendous season on the injury front” and the club would look to how it could avoid similar issues in future.
“There’s some management around our soft tissue that we weren’t good enough at as a club,” he said.
“We’ll be looking at all those things and as a footy club, that’s what we need to do. We need to have best practice in coaching, fitness and training.”
Originally published as Adem Yze says Richmond expects decision from players such as Liam Baker and Jack Graham on their futures in coming days
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