Richmond coach Damien Hardwick hopes emerging star Shai Bolton is willing to stay at the Tigers for less money amid reports of a contract impasse.
Bolton, 22, is coming out of contract and is yet to agree to terms on a new deal with the reigning premiers as his value continues to soar on the back of some scintillating form.
“It’s always the challenge, isn’t it? In good sides, the players play for less and they’ve got an understanding of that,” Hardwick told SEN Breakfast.
“They’ll always get paid more elsewhere … but we think our players and our organisation creates a great culture that players want to stay and be a part of that.
“I think the vast majority of those guys will sacrifice to stay and we hope Shai is one of those players.
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“He’s a prodigious talent, you’ve only got to look at the last 12 minutes of that game (against Essendon) to see what he can do and the improvement level he’s still got in front of him is enormous.
“We think he’ll stay but until he puts his signature on the dotted line we don’t know.”
Bolton is one of several Richmond players that are without contracts for next year.
Veterans Jack Riewoldt, Shane Edwards and Bachar Houli are eligible for free agency while Daniel Rioli, Callum Coleman-Jones, Marbior Chol are also remain unsigned.