Shai Bolton chose to re-sign with Richmond on a long-term contract despite interest from plenty of clubs, his manager has revealed.
While it’s not surprising that rival clubs are interested in signing one of the best players of 2022, the fact Bolton signed a year before coming out of contract for a further five years in the face of rival interest is a strong reflection of where the 24-year-old sees the club.
A dual-premiership player already, Bolton enjoyed a career-best year in 2022, kicking 43.41 on his way to maiden All-Australian honours.
Bolton, who was previously with Ralph Carr but is now represented by Anthony Van Der Wielen, is now in good shape to be a Tiger for life.
“There’s a lot of interest from around the league, not just based here in Perth,” Van Der Wielen told SEN WA’s The Run Home of the West Australian.
“It’s essentially a six-year deal, Shai still has 12 months to run, he’s still got 2023, so this is five years on top of the year he’s got and it should near on make him a Tiger for life.
“Richmond has been a very good club to Shai, obviously he’s played in a couple of premierships there and he’s very comfortable living in Melbourne and being a one-club player… this should mean Shai can play maybe 300 games for a great club like Richmond already with a couple of premierships and hopefully for him one or two more to come.
“They were really fair with the contract they put forward to us and Shai didn’t really want to go anywhere else.”
Bolton has only played 90 games since debuting in 2017 and will be turning 29 when he comes out of contract at Richmond.
Drafted out of South Fremantle, Bolton rejected interest from back home and around the league and has no doubt cemented his position as one of the league’s most valuable players.
“It’s fair to say there was some interest from a lot of different clubs… 2022 was a big breakout season for him and hopefully this just puts things away for him and his family and can set them up over the coming years and he plays out at Richmond and finishes off a great career as a one-club player,” Van Der Wielen added.
Quinton Narkle is another play Van Der Wielen represents and is chasing an AFL lifeline at Richmond.
The former Cat has improved his shape this pre-season and his manager believes it should hold the 25-year-old in good stead.
“Quinton has done everything that’s been asked of him. The only knock that Quinton has ever had on him was his transitional running and things like that, he’s improved that in the off-season, he’s dropped eight kilograms,” Van Der Wielen explained.
After a season in 2022 that wasn’t quite there, Richmond is primed to improve in 2023 with the additions of Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper to the midfield unit.