Richmond’s General Manager-Football Talent Blair Hartley provides a summary of the Club’s incredible 2024 AFL trade period that netted the Tigers a raft of eight picks inside the top 24 at next month’s national draft . . .

Planning for the 2024 draft

“We were pretty keen on this draft prior to all this happening (trading out Baker, Bolton, D. Rioli) with gathering some picks from last year through the live trading and the Ivan Soldo trade, with the aim of moving ourselves up into the draft with the academy points. So, we’ve been able to do that with pick 20. But along with pick one and pick 24, which were our own picks, we’ve been able to get pick six, pick 10, pick 11, pick 20 and pick 23 as well.”

Maximising our draft hand

“As a list manager you’re always looking to position yourself in those strong drafts, which sets our club up for what ‘s next . . . It feels like it puts us in a good position leading into the trade window as well of the picks leading into the draft. And, also, we can trade picks live on the night. So, we’re pretty happy with where we’re at right now.”

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‘We’ve been able to get our deals done’ - Hartley

Richmond GM of Football Talent Blair Hartley spoke to the media this evening as the AFL trade period comes to a close.

The strength of this draft

“We view it as a very, very strong draft. It’s even. I think you can see the weight of what clubs have given up just to get into the draft has been solid.”

Exciting time at Tigerland

“Patience is required, but we’re really excited about what’s to come. I think a lot of people forget about the experience we currently have on our list . . . We’ve got a lot of senior experienced core guys that have been around and have been involved in a lot of success . . . We’re very excited about what’s to come. It will take time, but I think everyone understands that.”

Taranto and Hopper Punt Road positivity

“We’ve had open conversations with Tim and Jacob, and they are that excited. They love Richmond and they’re excited about what’s next. They couldn’t be more excited. So, we’re looking forward to them playing a big role.”

Trading up our out

“I won’t rule out anything. We’ve just got to let the dust settle. The draft’s very even . . . everyone sees it differently, though. We’ll assess it as it comes. But we’re open to everything. If we can stagger it out, we will.”