Richmond look set to pull off a stunning coup this trade period with GWS duo Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper nominating the Tigers as the club they want to play for from 2023 and beyond.
According to reports, the pair have both been offered monster seven-year deals and at age 24 and 25 respectively, would likely see them end their careers in yellow and black.
Given that GWS finished 16th in 2022 and the Tigers have won three of the last five premierships, Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes thinks this is another example of the rich getting richer as the AFL must be considering whether their equalisation measures are truly working.
“Is it good for the competition? That’s the question this morning,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.
“It’s not when a bottom-four team loses two gun midfielders to a team that’s won three of the last five premierships.
“The AFL must be going, ‘Our equalisation model is stuffed’, the salary cap, the draft, the soft cap on coaching spending, the fixture, is all designed to make the competition even where essentially every team’s got a shot to win it once every 18 years.
“That’s not happening, and it’s making a mockery of that whole issue that Richmond are going to sign Taranto and Hopper, who are 24 and 25 years of age from a team like GWS to a team that’s won three of the last five.”
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With Hopper set to become a free agent next year, the Giants may be more willing to offload him this off-season to get better compensation than if he walks without needing a trade next year.
North Melbourne great David King believes this type of “pre-agency” is hurting the competition but praised Richmond for working their way into a position to pull off the deals.
“I’ve never been a fan of free agency,” King said.
“It forces pre-agency which is a year in advance of that player becoming a free agent, you run the risk of losing them for nothing so you tend to trade or get proactive a year out.
“This is a great move by Richmond to be able to balance their books, balance the salary cap, have players take less through a very successful era and some of those stars are coming to the end of their days … so they can afford to have some flexibility.
“I say all credit to the team that’s taking a proactive step of trading out what will probably be three first-round picks … in some way, shape or form.”
King isn’t as sold as Cornes that the duo’s demands are bad for the competition, instead believing that this is more an example of a club being better managed than their rivals from a salary cap and recruiting perspective.
“I say full credit to the team attracting those players and managing their salary cap,” King said.
“They may have to purge players and have some tough conversations with aging stars like (Trent) Cotchin and (Jack) Riewoldt and offering them contracts they can refuse.
“If Geelong didn’t take this same risk on Jeremy Cameron, they would’ve lost last week, there is no doubt in my mind he was the sole reason they won that game.
“These games this weekend, next weekend and the weekend after that are the reasons you take these risks.
“They’re going to bounce, Taranto and Hopper in that midfield, they’ve been smashed in clearance for the last five years and still won three flags.”
Richmond bowed out of the 2022 season in their Elimination Final loss to Brisbane last Thursday.
The 2022 AFL trade period for players begins on Monday, October 3 and finishes on Wednesday, October 12.