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RICHMOND is poised to make its heaviest investment in the NAB AFL Draft since 2010 after a failing to address its midfield issues through the trade period.
The Tigers had hoped to improve their midfield depth and speed during the exchange period but a number of proposed deals fell over, leaving the club without a single trade.
With five spots to fill on the senior list, Richmond is expected to take selections 12, 33, 52, 70, 88 to the draft on November 27 where it hopes to find players who will improve its midfield.
The Tigers have recruited a total of 10 new players through the NAB AFL Draft in the past three seasons, also using free agency, the pre-season draft and mature-age rookies to build their list.
They last went deep into the draft in 2010, using five selections, while in 2009 – when Dustin Martin was recruited with pick No.3 – they took seven new players.
"We're happy to retain our draft picks and invest heavily in this year's draft," football manager Dan Richardson told the club's website this week.
The Tigers targeted at least three opposition midfielders during the trade period, showing interest in Levi Greenwood, who made his way to Collingwood, and St Kilda's David Armitage.
They came closest to arranging a trade for Melbourne midfielder Jack Trengove, but a failed medical test ended his chances of switching clubs.
"Sometimes in trade period you don't get the results you work hard to achieve and the Jack Trengove situation is a good example of that," Richardson said.
"Unfortunately for us but probably more unfortunately for Jack, it became apparent from that he was still going to have some ongoing problems with his foot.
"It would have been great for us to bring in Jack, who fitted our strategy of bringing in a midfielder and increasing our depth there but still retaining our draft picks.
"(But) the risk was just a bit too high for us to take."
Despite making no trades, Richmond was hard at work through the 10-day trade window, also speaking to Bomber Jason Winderlich, who considered reversing his retirement and joining the Tigers.
The Essendon runner eventually decided he would play on with the Bombers, who became aware of the Tigers' interest and sought discussions with the 30-year-old.
Pleasingly for the Tigers, they didn't lose a single player through trade in an indication the list is happy.
"It's a great sign of confidence in what we're doing as a club," Richardson said.
