AFL trade and free agency news: Nathan Broad re-signs with Richmond
Richmond is breathing a sigh of relief after one of their premiership stars being chased by rival clubs re-signed with the Tigers.
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Richmond is breathing a sigh of relief after triple premiership defender Nathan Broad knocked back approaches from rival clubs to recommit to the struggling Tigers until the end of the 2026 season.
Broad could be one of only a small number of Tigers’ flag heroes remaining at Punt Road next year, with Dustin Martin already announcing his retirement and uncertainty over the future of teammates Liam Baker, Daniel Rioli, Shai Bolton and Jack Graham, who are being courted elsewhere.
A handful of clubs including North Melbourne had been looking at adding Broad’s experience, but despite the attention, the 31-year-old’s fierce loyalty won out in the end.
Richmond General Manager, Football Talent- Blair Hartley said Broad’s leadership across the next two seasons would be important to the young team as it looks to climb back off the bottom.
“Nathan has become an excellent leader at our football club and has been a consistent performer for us for a long period,” Hartley said.
“He sets high standards, is hard working, brings great energy to his teammates and is a player that the boys love playing with each week.
“We are delighted that he has committed for another year and look forward to seeing him continue to contribute at a high level for the coming seasons.”
Broad already had one more year on a contract, but was happy to add an extra year, eager to help support the club’s future direction.
The Tigers will be hoping his commitment is echoed by the other key players who are either out of contract or being chased by rival clubs.
Broad has been in strong form this season, ranking second for marks with the Tigers and third for intercepts and disposal efficiency, with his kicking one of his key strengths.
He will push through the 150-game mark early next season and has been one of the stalwarts for Richmond since being drafted as a mature-aged player at pick 67 in the 2015 national draft.
SIX FIRST-ROUNDERS? HOW TIGERS COULD REBUILD IN ONE SUMMER
- Jay Clark
Richmond could have as many as six first-round draft picks as part of a blockbuster draft haul if it approves moves for some of its in-demand premiership stars this year.
The Tigers already have picks one, 19 and 31 and will also weigh up deals which could net them picks six, eight, 13, 16 and 20 in a draft recruiters are lauding for its quality and depth.
Privately, rival clubs believe Richmond is setting itself to fast track its rebuild with bumper hands this year and next year in the hope of emulating prized hauls from Hawthorn (2004), Geelong (1999 and 2001) and Port Adelaide (2018).
But the Tigers could also hold Daniel Rioli and Shai Bolton to their contracts for at least one more year to stagger some of their departures with hard nuts Jack Graham and Liam Baker (both 26) likely to leave at season’s end.
Gold Coast and Fremantle have five first-round picks between them this year and would both have to pay overs to claim Rioli, 27, and Bolton, 25, as both premiership stars are in contract.
Gold Coast is heavily targeting Rioli to join forces with premiership coach Damien Hardwick, Fremantle is eyeing pair Bolton and Baker, while West Coast wants Graham.
North Melbourne has strong interest in gun defender Nathan Broad, 31, but the star backman has made clear his preference is to stay at Punt Rd to help the lead rebuild.
Broad will show enormous loyalty to Richmond’s cause if he continues to rebuff interest from the Roos who may be forced to turn to GWS interceptor Nick Haynes or Cat Jake Kolodjashnij.
They are monumental decisions for Richmond’s highly-respected list boss Blair Hartley who will be eager to rebuild the team through the draft over the next 16 months before the new Tasmanian team enters the AFL.
The potential deals mean Richmond could have picks one, six, eight, 13, 16, 19, 20 and 31 at a minimum if they go ahead with the deals.
The Tigers also want to swap their three third-round and three fourth-round picks for at least one more first-round pick after a series of moves in last year’s trade period to bolster their position.
Brisbane and Carlton are both in the market to swap their early picks with Richmond for later choices to secure the Lions’ and Blues’ father-son and academy jets.
But these key decisions are going to be likely left until the end of the season when Richmond’s leaders including senior coach Adem Yze holds exit meetings with the players.
Richmond denies it is dealing with an exodus and will instead be strategic with its list moves to set the club up for future premiership success.
Richmond is certain retired champion Dustin Martin does not want to pursue a final chapter at Gold Coast, so the Suns will instead chase Rioli as part of a long-term deal.
Hard nut Baker has the choice to land at West Coast and Fremantle and despite supporting the Eagles as a child could choose Fremantle due to its open premiership window.
But the Tigers are strongly considering digging in over the Bolton deal and keep the star playmaker to his contract due to his considerable upside and work they have already put into him off-field.
The Suns would be expected to part with pick six for Rioli to entice him north, while Fremantle could give 13 for Baker and eight and 16 as part of a deal for Bolton.
Fremantle would likely ask for something back if it is asked to part with two top-20 picks for Bolton after only a moderate season.
The Dockers have three first-round draft picks including Collingwood’s and Port Adelaide’s, while Gold Coast has two early choices including the Western Bulldogs’.
Baker is out of contract and is expected to be an easier negotiation than Rioli and Bolton.
West Coast has pick three and could swap that for two later first-round choices, giving one in the teens to Richmond for Baker.
ANALYSIS: BRUTAL LESSON TIGERS MUST LEARN FROM NORTH CULL
— Josh Barnes
How hard can you go when you push the button to blow it up?
It is a question that has haunted list managers for decades as they weigh up how deep to cut a fading list.
Richmond is walking towards that precipice right now.
If the tea leaves are to be believed, Richmond could see all these flag winners go in just a few months.
Jack Graham could leave as a free agent, Liam Baker may follow him west, Dustin Martin might be limping towards the end of his legendary stroll down Punt Road, Daniel Rioli could be tempted by the Gold Coast sun, and Shai Bolton may push to be another Tiger playing in Perth.
If they did clean out their lockers, those five would walk out of Richmond carrying 12 premiership medals.
In this modern era, fans are less tied to their premiership servants and always looking at the shiny potential of draft picks.
Graham’s value as a 26-year-old would likely be a second-round pick as compensation.
Martin’s compensation likely wouldn’t reach that height.
In trades, Baker is probably worth a mid-first, Rioli could be two firsts and Bolton’s long and weighty contract weighs even more than that on the scales.
Is 12 premierships worth six picks inside the top 30?
It would be a very nice starting point to the proper rebuild for new recruiting boss Chris Toce, given the only players on Richmond’s list the Tigers drafted themselves before pick No. 15 are Nick Vlastuin and Josh Gibcus.
The unique position Richmond finds itself in here is that it holds four players of genuine value, plus an all-time great in Martin.
Teams that have cut deep in the past have often done it by axing veterans or moving on youngsters who haven’t quite cut it yet.
North Melbourne did both, cutting the vets in 2016 and culling the list cloggers by axing 11 players in one day in 2020.
Neither secured a quick bounce but also neither of the moves brought any value back to the club, unlike the bevy of potential draft options the Tigers could secure.
By getting this many swings, the Tigers would put themselves in a similar position to the Hawks of the early 2000s, when they drafted Jarryd Roughead, Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis together in the first half-hour of the 2004 draft and built a dynasty.
Within three seasons, those Hawks were winning finals and within four they had a flag.
What is also unique about Richmond’s situation is that those players potentially on the way out would mostly be part of that potential flag side in 2030.
Baker would be the oldest of the crew, aged 32 then.
Losing so much prime talent means the Tigers will have surely given up on trying to remain in the finals hunt, a plan outgoing CEO Brendon Gale has stuck to in recent years.
Losing that much proven talent at the peak of their powers has never worked out, with Brisbane’s ‘go home five’ ripping potential from the Lions and sending them to the bottom.
While the Tigers will still have plenty of experienced talent on their list, losing players who have been there before can only hurt whoever is drafted into the club.
Richmond assistant Jack Ziebell had to be one of the few experienced heads at North Melbourne in his final playing years and recognises how important it is to have veterans around to fast-track young players.
“It is critical, they are like on-field coaches. I look at guys like Dion Prestia, Jacob Hopper and Tim Taranto, who have all missed chunks of footy this year,” he said.
“One, we would love them out there because they are guns. But two, their ability to help instruct and teach kids on the field in real life and teach them is second to none.
“I know the young guys absolutely eat it up and the young guys get a thrill out of it as well.”
History isn’t kind to clubs that tear it all down following the mantra of moving on players who aren’t in the next premiership side.
Melbourne and Carlton both went through rebuilds over and over for virtually 15 years before both finally hit an upswing, with the Demons eventually claiming the silverware in 2021.
The only reliable constant you can find in histories of blowing up a playing list in footy is you are destined for a long time losing.
Perhaps Richmond fans are ready for that and having watched them savour in three flags, opposition fans may agree the Tigers deserve a slow rebuild.
Hawthorn has shown you can bounce back quicker than expected.
But if the Tigers do move on most of their five players, it surely consigns the club to a long time in the cellar.
Here’s five examples of blow-it-up moments from clubs that either worked, or didn’t, and how they apply to the Tigers.
THE CROAD SWINDLE
The gold standard of moving a prime player for draft capital was Hawthorn’s shock call to trade Trent Croad to Fremantle in 2001.
The trade netted the No. 1 pick, used on three-time premiership captain Luke Hodge, pick 20 (Daniel Elstone) and the 36th pick, used on another premiership captain Sam Mitchell.
Of course, Croad returned to the Hawks only a couple of seasons later and played in the 2008 premiership.
The Hawks went into this 2001 trade knowing their fans might not like it – some in brown and gold started a ‘Keep Croad’ club – but they wanted to snag a 15-year star and knew Croad was the collateral for that.
The lesson for the Tigers here is pretty obvious: if you can trade a player in his early prime for the first pick in possibly the best draft of all time, go for it.
It doesn’t look like any of their post-season moves are that cut and dry and while draft watchers rate the year’s crop as deep, it isn’t in the stratosphere of 2001.
And the other key thing is by the time Croad came back, the Hawks still had a deep veteran core of the likes of Shane Crawford, Richie Vandenberg, Nick Holland and Peter Everitt in place to help draftees learn the caper.
GO HOME FIVE
You can never forget that the Lions, basking in stars keen to play in Queensland, once seemingly couldn’t keep anyone at the club.
None of these were Brisbane’s decision to trade out but dubbed the ‘go home five’, Sam Docherty, Elliot Yeo, Jared Polec, Billy Longer and Patrick Karnezis all rushed out of the club in 2013.
The Lions basically got back Darcy Gardiner, Dan McStay, Lewis Taylor, Tom Cutler, Nick Robertson, Jackson Paine and Trent West in the subsequent trades and drafting.
Gardiner has been a very serviceable defender and McStay provided value before going to Collingwood, but there was little bang for buck here for the Lions.
With a handful of young core players ripped out, the Lions finished in the bottom three in each of the next five seasons and it took draft after draft to build what is now a perennial contender.
The question is yours Richmond fans: is that half-decade of pain worth it?
POWER’S QUICK DIP
In a blueprint for how to drop and bounce quickly, Port Adelaide finished 2018 in 10th and that off-season traded out Jared Polec, Jasper Pittard, Jack Hombsch and Chad Wingard.
The sale brought in Ryan Burton and draft capital that allowed the Power to scoop up Zak Butters, Connor Rozee and Xavier Duursma all in the top 18.
Instantly, Port Adelaide picked up two midfielders that will be locked into the team until the 2030s and soon became premiership contenders again.
Wingard is the only player of the quality of the Richmond players potentially for sale – although Polec’s value was higher than you remember at the time.
Is a bounce available that quickly if the Tigers get their remaining veterans right?
It appears right now there are too many holes in the Richmond list, but things obviously look different if Tom Lynch, Gibcus and Dion Prestia are fit for a full year.
EAGLES HOLD FIRE
It was pretty plain to see by the end of 2022 that West Coast’s run as a contender was well over.
But the Eagles made one solitary trade in 2022 – getting involved in the mega Jason Horne-Francis deal by sending out wantaway Willie Rioli.
Last off-season, the Eagles traded in Tyler Brockman and made a minor pick swap with Richmond.
This is the stand-pat example.
There was interest in Tom Barras and Liam Ryan last off-season but the Eagles held firm and publicly hosed down speculation they could look to move Jack Darling.
Now Darling has no value, and veterans like Andrew Gaff and Dom Sheed are worth less to opposition clubs.
Their coaching job is so poisonous no highly rated assistant coach seems interested and Harley Reid and Oscar Allen are they only serious building blocks of a premiership side come 2030.
The Tigers may be forced to make more moves this off-season thanks to players pushing their way out but clearly standing still here for West Coast didn’t work.
SCOTT’S ROO CULL
It was the mother of all axe swings.
Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie, Michael Firrito and Nick Dal Santo were all not offered contracts at the end of 2016.
Daniel Wells left in free agency and veteran Farren Ray was also cut.
On the surface, these all appeared reasonable moves for a club that had fallen out of a window that had included two preliminary finals and held the oldest list in the league.
In 2017, the Roos were suddenly the second youngest list and starting with that year, they have finished 15th, ninth, 12th, 17th, 18th, 18th, 17th, with another bottom two finish looking likely.
The lesson from this example is to try and fade out veterans and keep more experience around.
Because most of those names were retiring, the Roos got nothing but cap space and list spots for their departure, whereas the Tigers conundrum is based on whether they cash in now.
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