Click here for video coverage of Steven Wright's press conference.
FORMER Richmond president Clinton Casey will meet club lawyers when he returns to Australia regarding Ben Holland's legal claim that the Tigers owe him money.
Richmond chief executive Steven Wright said at a press conference on Friday that Casey was currently overseas.
But he confirmed that Casey and the club had been named as co-defendants in a writ lodged by Holland in the Victorian Supreme Court.
"I am not going to get involved in details now, that is a matter for the courts in due course," Wright said. "It has been raised before a long time ago and nothing had been done for many years.
"I haven't spoken to Clinton (Casey) but I know he is aware of matters being raised last night. Our lawyers are investigating the matters and will sit down with Clinton in due course."
But Wright said Richmond would “vigorously defend” the allegations.
Holland played for Richmond from 1996 to 2003 before joining Melbourne in 2004.
Melbourne newspapers reported today that Holland's legal claim centred on a 2001 meeting with Casey and then club coach Danny Frawley.
The Herald Sun newspaper reported that Holland claimed he was offered inducements outside the salary cap to stay with the Tigers and reject a more lucrative offer to join Adelaide.
The newspaper said it had seen a copy of Holland's writ. In it he claimed he had been offered $1.33 million to join Adelaide for three years compared to an offer from the Tigers worth $800,000 over the same period.
Holland went on to sign a three-year deal for $800,000 with the Tigers in 2001 and was now seeking damages of $530,000, the newspaper claimed.
Wright said that the people involved in the discussion were no longer employed at Richmond and that lawyers on behalf of the club would be dealing with the matters.
However, Wright made the following points:
* No formal claim had been served on the club.
* The AFL had been briefed on the issue.
* Allegations would be vigorously defended.
* Information received to date indicated that the allegations were without substance.
* Once legal advice had been received this information would be available to the AFL.
Wright refused to enter into possible ramifications if the matter went further.
"I am not going to get into hypotheticals on salary caps," Wright said.
"Our information is, as I said, we'll be defending the allegations and if we defend them and are successful then there is no issue.
"These things aren't great at any time of your life - I mean, we are trying to win a game of football against Collingwood.
"These things are always a distraction but we have to act in the interests of the football club and the interests of our members and the interests of the AFL.
"We need to make sure we remain focussed on beating Collingwood on Sunday but at the same time we need to address these issues are soon as possible."
Click here for video coverage of Steve Wright's press conference.
