Short cops Tigers fine after failed Pies move

Collingwood list boss Justin Leppitsch has explained why the club missed out on Richmond’s Jayden Short.

The premiership defender expressed a desire to leave the Tigers despite being contracted until the end of next year.

Magpies coach Craig McRae, who worked with Short at Tigerland, was eager to bring the 2020 Jack Dyer Medallist across to the black and white.

But the Pies were simply unable to get a deal done, says Leppitsch.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done,” Leppitsch told AFL Trade Radio.

“It was a difficult one from the start. I think once we had the Lachie Neale and Jesse Hogan deals locked away, it was getting harder again.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t appease what Richmond wanted. We feel for Jayden; we wanted him to join us but couldn’t quite get it done.

“We did (table offers to Richmond). It just couldn’t work out in the end.”

List spots, salary cap… what was it that halted the deal?

“A bit of column A and a bit of column B, unfortunately,” Leppitsch continued.

“I won’t go into too much detail with it. We gave it a crack, we got three of our four deals over the line, which is pretty good.

“Unfortunately, we won’t have Jayden next year with us.”

Leppitsch confirmed that the Magpies did table a second-round pick for the 30-year-old, but it wasn’t enough to appease Richmond.

“That was a part of it. We openly discussed more and other things, but it wasn’t to be.”

The Pies move on from the 2026 Trade Period having acquired Neale, Hogan and one-game ruckman Flynn Riley from Carlton.

Richmond list manager Blair Hartley has offered his tale of the failed deal.

“How long have we got?” Hartley told AFL Trade Radio.

“We’re just disappointed for Jayden that it didn’t work out, but we are happy to have him back.

“He’s fine, I’ve spoken to Jayden throughout the whole process, as well as everyone else at the club.

“It was something he was keen to explore; we said we would listen and there wasn’t a lot of talking. He is welcome back at Richmond straight away.”

“Speaking with Anthony McConville, his manager, who was quite open throughout the process of the deal and what it might look like.

“We just didn’t get to a line where it was looking like it was going to get done. In the end, it was off.”

Furthermore, Short has already been fined in the Richmond players group chat for trying to leave the club unsuccessfully.