Richmond says it has no interest in trying to lure Michael Hurley from Essendon
UPDATE: RICHMOND great Kevin Bartlett is surprised the Tigers have no interest in Michael Hurley, saying they should be “ready to pounce” should the banned Bomber leave.
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UPDATE: RICHMOND great Kevin Barlett is surprised the Tigers have no interest in luring banned Bomber defender Michael Hurley to Punt Rd.
The Tigers on Tuesday night scoffed at claims they had offered Hurley a five-year $900,000 a season contract.
A Richmond official said the club had no interest in the 2015 All-Australian centre half-back.
It is believed the Tigers have also made their position clear to Essendon to help stamp out increasing speculation Richmond was zeroing in on the 193cm key position player.
Hurley, 25, is one of 12 current Essendon-listed serving a one-year ban over the club’s 2012 supplement program.
He is contracted for next season but is yet to recommit to the Bombers, with Bartlett saying the Tigers must be “ready to pounce” if Hurley decided the leave.
“I would have thought the All-Australian centre half back at 25 years of age who is yet to commit to the Bombers despite having a year to run on his contract was worth strong consideration,” Bartlett said on SEN on Wednesday morning.
“Like his suspended teammates, the high-profile Hurley appears to be in no rush to pledge his allegiance to the red and black.
“Unless Hurley has told the Tigers he has no interest in Punt Road, then there’s no point in dropping off the star defender.
“If he decides to leave Windy Hill (sic) for whatever reason, Richmond should be ready to pounce, for an Alex Rance-Hurley led backline sounds pretty juicy to me in a time when captain Trent Cotchin says they’ve got a group that can win the flag.”
Essendon is increasingly confident of keeping Hurley after securing the signatures of key pair Dyson Heppell and Cale Hooker.
Richmond, however, is believed to be a leading candidate to lure star Gold Coast midfielder Dion Prestia back to Victoria.
Prestia’s future will become clearer around the bye period, with Melbourne also in the race to sign the gun ball-winner.
Bartlett said the club’s “strike rate” with such targets hasn’t been flush in recent times, but Hurley should be Richmond’s No.1 target.
“Talk says Richmond is keen on Suns star Dion Prestia, and he’d be a great acquisition, but Richmond’s strike rate at getting big-name match winners hasn’t been good in recent years,” he said.
“You can’t have too many irons in the fire. My advice would be don’t drop off Hurley.”
North Melbourne faces a fight to keep mobile forward Mason Wood, with Fremantle among a pack of clubs circling the goal kicker.
Wood, 22, is widely considered one of the country’s best young players not getting a regular AFL game due to the strength of North Melbourne’s established key forward setup.
The Herald Sun understands Fremantle has strong interest in the 193m goalkicker and are targeting him to help bolster its hard-running midfield-forward options.
Wood, 22, is out of contract at season’s end.
He may again be forced to make his comeback from a recent concussion through the VFL, as the red-hot Kangaroos prepare to take on Sydney Swans on Friday night.
While the Kangaroos remain confident of keeping the Geelong Falcons product, believing he will be a key prong in its forward setup for the next decade, the Herald Sun understands Wood is eager to secure play more senior football before deciding his future.
The undefeated Kangaroos have been well served by key forward trio Jarrad Waite, Ben Brown and Drew Petrie this season, helping keep fellow marking targets Aaron Black and Majak Daw out of the team.
Black is contracted until the end of next year, while Daw is another player on the fringe who could be forced to look elsewhere at season’s end.
North face some tough list decisions at season’s end, with veterans Petrie and Waite hopeful of extending their contracts to play again next season.
And the emergence of Collingwood import Mason Cox could force ruckman Jarrod Witts to assess his options at season’s end.
Cox’s stunning emergence in recent weeks has seen the American big man leapfrog Witts in the ruck/forward pecking order.
Witts, 23, is out of contract this season and is on the comeback from a hand injury after splitting the webbing in his hand in the Round 1 loss to Sydney Swans.
The Pies are keen to re-sign the 209cm ruckman but may have a surplus of big men on their list, with six players taller than 200cm on the club’s books.
Witts, who is from New South Wales, was strongly linked to Greater Western Sydney last season.
Originally published as Richmond says it has no interest in trying to lure Michael Hurley from Essendon
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