Having bolstered its midfield and small forward stocks in the recent AFL National Draft, Richmond is now extremely well placed to add some tall talent via next year’s draft.

The Tigers snared exciting WA prospect Shai Bolton with their first pick (No. 29 overall) in the 2016 National Draft and used their second selection (No. 53 overall) on impressive, young SA inside midfielder Jack Graham.

During the trade period that preceded the draft, they secured the services of quality, mature-age midfield pair Dion Prestia (from Gold Coast) and Josh Caddy (Geelong).

Richmond also received Geelong’s 2017 first-round pick and Greater Western Sydney’s 2017 third-round pick, as part of the trade deal that saw veteran Tigers star Brett Deledio join GWS. 

“It was part of our strategy, looking at this year’s (national) draft and knowing that it was more of a midfielder’s draft,” Richmond’s Head of Player Personnel and List Management Blair Hartley said on the Club’s official podcast ‘Talking Tigers’.

“We felt Shai (Bolton) was the best player at that pick . . .

“A number of talls went between those picks (Bolton at 29 and Graham at 53). 

“But we go into next year knowing that we have the two first-round draft picks, and there’s a fair depth of ‘talls’ in the draft.

“It’s something that we need to assess going forward.”