Former West Coast defender Brad Sheppard has urged his former club to table a long-term offer to Richmond utility Liam Baker.
Baker remains unsigned beyond 2022 and is the subject of reported interest from the Eagles.
The 24-year-old, who grew up in Pingaring near Lake Grace in WA, arrived at Punt Road from WAFL club Subiaco as a rookie in 2017.
Baker has established himself as an integral member of Richmond’s side, finishing second in the club’s best and fairest last year. He’s also a dual premiership player with the Tigers.
Sheppard says the Eagles should attempt to lure Baker back to WA by offering him a long-term contract worth up to five years.
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“He’s been a very consistent player for a long period of time,” he told SEN WA Drive.
“For a bloke his size, just his appetite for the contest, provides a lot of run and dare, good on both sides of his body as well.
“I think he’s the complete player. What that means in monetary value, I’m unsure.
“I’d be throwing four or five years at him. He’s still only 24 years of age. With his consistency at AFL level, you know what you’re going to get out of him. He’s a professional player as well off the field.
“To be able to get him back and want him to leave the Richmond Football Club, he plays in front of 70,000 to 80,000 people week in week out, to try and lure him home to his home state … it would have to be a tenure of four or five years.”
Channel 7 AFL reporter Mitch Cleary recently told SEN Breakfast that he expects Baker to stay at Richmond.
Baker amassed 24 disposals, eight inside 50s, seven clearances and a goal in the Tigers’ narrow loss to Geelong last week.