Richmond’s General Manager of Football, Dan Richardson, has explained the reasoning behind the recruitment of Shaun Hampson from Carlton on the opening day of the AFL’s 2013 trade period.

“We see Shaun playing a key forward-ruck role, complementing our current ruck stocks,” Richardson said.

“Ivan (Maric) has obviously been great for us, but we feel, at times, he needs a bit of a hand, and we see them complementing each other’s game really well.  ‘Ivvy’ can do a lot of the hard-hitting work, but Shaun, with a bit of extra height, should be able to get over the top of some of those taller ruckmen.

“We expect him to play a little bit forward, but it probably means that we can have Ty (Vickery) as a more permanent forward, which is good, along with Jack (Riewoldt) obviously.

“Whether it’s Ivan sometimes forward, or Shaun sometimes forward, it gives us three tall options that, hopefully, will be difficult for oppositions to match up on.”

Hampson, 25, 201cm and 104kg, managed only 63 games in seven seasons for Carlton, but the Tigers believe he can blossom with greater opportunity at his new football home.

 “At Carlton, he had Warnock and Kreuzer that were probably ahead of him most of the time,” Richardson said.

“He had a few frustrating seasons in a way, with selection, so, hopefully, we can provide him with an opportunity to play some more regular senior footy.  But he also understands that there’ll be plenty of challenges ahead for him as well.”

Hampson had his 2013 season prematurely ended due to a knee injury, but Richmond has no concerns with his fitness going into 2014 . . .

“Like at any club, when you bring a player in, you’ll have them checked out medically.  We had Shaun checked out by the ‘doc’.  He had a bit of knee posterior cruciate trouble, but nothing major, and the doc’s really confident and given him the all-clear,” Richardson said.