Richmond General Manager of Football Neil Balme isn’t one to get caught up in the speculative nature of the trade period, saying the constant speculation over potential player movement is unhelpful.
The amount of coverage surrounding the trade period has been significantly ramped up in recent times, especially when free agency was introduced into the AFL landscape back in 2012.
Balme says the saturation of trade speculation fuelled by various media outlets can be a disturbance when clubs are trying to negotiate a deal.
“Working from within, I don’t find it at all helpful,” he told SEN's Hungry for Sport.
“I find the clubs who do the best in trade period don’t actually talk about it, they just do it. If something happens then it’s reported but if we are talking a lot then it’s not that helpful to your cause at times.
“I know how the AFL wants this to work. We want to dominate the media, so you’re going to dominate the media via trade week. We have trade radio and trade month and all this sort of stuff.
“The AFL might have other motivation as they want to the biggest and the best and to be honest I think it’s more damaging when it goes for so long and nothing happens that people tune out.”
The two-time premiership player says the Tigers are "working hard behind the scenes" to bring in reinforcements to Punt Road.
Trade period closes next Thursday.