Richmond Executive General Manager, Football Talent, Blair Hartley, has provided an update on the Tigers’ list on day one of the AFL trade period.

Hartley on Jayden Short’s status…

“Jayden and the Club have been speaking about his future, and he's obviously a really well-valued member of our team, played a critical role in our success and is looking for opportunity potentially elsewhere. We said we'd be open to listen, and it's day one, so there's still a fair bit to play out on that one. It’s still a work in progress. I think he's still out there meeting clubs at the moment. I haven't spoken to his manager for a couple of days, so I probably can't give you too much of an update. Jayden came to us. He's got a contract for another two years, which we discussed with Jayden, and we'll work through that in good time.”

Hartley on adding experienced players…

“We'll explore all things. Experience is one thing, hunger is another. We're looking for some hungry players.”

Hartley on if he is expecting a quiet trade period…

“I wouldn't say quiet, we've got a few things going on at the moment, just regarding Jayden Short and some players we're looking at [from] others clubs, so we've got some things to work through, whether it's even improving our draft position as well.”

Hartley on the pursuit of experienced forwards…

“It's something we're carefully considering right across the ground really. We've obviously got our younger group, we've hit the draft before Tasmania comes in. Looking for those guys that potentially are somewhere in between the experience we've got, and I think we're pretty comfortable with a lot of experience on our list, Nick Vlastuin, Toby Nankervis, Tom Lynch and Tim Taranto, running through and leading us into our next phase.”

Hartley on the balance of hitting the draft vs trading for high-end talent…

“The discussion with us is really hitting the draft or hitting high-end talent, and we saw Zak [Butters] as obviously high-end talent. With the concessions coming in with Tasmania, it's a big decision for us. To be able to hit the draft one more time before those concessions come in is seen as pivotal for us. That's part of building a list in the current environment. It's a long-term strategic play. Even looking at the list establishment rules for Tasmania going back three or four years, we saw it as an opportunity to hit the draft. This year with the premiership sides, you look at how they built their list, the foundation is laid through the draft, so we're in that position now, and it's really the last hurrah of hitting the draft.”

Hartley on placing a draft bid on Cody Walker…

“That's something we'll strongly consider. We interviewed Cody the other day, have a close relationship with Cody through our NGA. He's a great young man, so that's something we'll strongly consider.”

Hartley on Richmond’s young players…

“We're excited by getting our players back out on the park, particularly our younger players. I think we had 20 or so running around Waverley this morning, keen and hungry for what's next. It's been well documented we haven't had all our best young players on the park...we're excited by [them playing]. We'd love Dion Prestia and Nathan Broad and these guys to play forever, but with the transition of our list, we need to give our young guys an opportunity. It's a mixture of that along with the experience we've already still got on our list, in our backline, Nick Vlastuin, through the midfield, Toby Nankervis, Tim Taranto, and up forward Tom Lynch. We still think we're really well placed with senior figures that are guiding this next bunch through.”

Hartley on Zak Butters…

“Everything's still alive. It's day one of the trade period. These pursuits don't just take place this year, it takes place over a number of years, and we've met with Zak three or four times this year…it felt like we were close and yeah, happy with that.”

Hartley on the addition of Kieren Briggs…

“We're excited about Kieren. He's 26 years old. He's played close to 100 games. He’s excited by the opportunity that we can offer him at Richmond, working in tandem with Toby Nankervis. If you look at the sides that played off in the Grand Final, I think the evolution of the five players on the bench has opened up the opportunity to go with a one-two punch in the ruck. We think Toby and Kieren complement each other really well. He's hit-out to advantage ratio is something that we've really looked at and we're excited by.”