RICHMOND vice-captain Brett Deledio is hopeful the club does not consider him trade bait at the end of this season if it chooses to target more prime draft picks.
Deledio is contracted to the end of next season but there have been suggestions the club should trade him to bring in a first-round draft pick before he becomes a free agent at the end of 2017.
AFL.com.au has reported the Tigers are understood to have no intention of trading Deledio, or their other 2017 free agent, Dustin Martin.
"I just hope it's not Richmond supporters or Richmond recruiting staff or the coaching staff that want to get rid of me," Deledio told RSN927 on Thursday.
"I'm happy if it is [the media] that are calling for my head, but I'm very happy as a Richmond player and very happy building the team we've got going at the moment.
"I'm contracted until the end of next year, so I'm staying put for now."
When asked if he could see himself leaving the Tigers, Deledio said: "I can't. You do toy with the idea at times, maybe in the off-season when things haven't gone so well, but it's not something I have ever really genuinely thought about."
He said players at Richmond would discuss free agency at times, but "very much in jest".
"It's all a bit of fun really," he said.
"When we have a really bad meeting or something, [someone will say], 'It doesn't matter boys I'm out of here anyway. I'm going to the Doggies, apparently'."
Richmond's 1-6 start to the season to the season has not shaken Deledio's faith in the group, two weeks after he declared the Tigers had a list capable of winning a premiership.
He said the return of captain Trent Cotchin and All Australian defender Alex Rance for Saturday night's clash against the Sydney Swans should help the team turn the corner.
"It's a different story when you've got your best team on the park, you're not waiting for kids who haven't played a lot of footy to do a job that they're probably not ready to do," he said.
"Whether that is because of injury, stupidity or form, we just haven't all played together.
"We're getting back towards that this week, and we'll hopefully see a couple more return in the coming weeks that gets us back to our best 22."
