Richmond coach Adem Yze is open to the NRL’s model of players declaring future plans mid-year, as multiple Tigers potentially plot end-of-year exits.
With off-contract stars Dustin Martin and Liam Baker entrenched in movement speculation, Yze lamented the pressure players faced in making difficult decisions about their careers.
The Tigers are currently 2-14 in Yze’s first season in charge, with their loss to Fremantle last Saturday consigning them to an 18th-placed finish to a round for the first time in the AFL’s 18-club era.
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“The expectation around our players meeting other clubs and things like that — we understand the landscape that we’re in,” Yze told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Monday night.
“I don’t mind the NRL model where they come out and say they are leaving,” Yze said. “It’s different, and it might be a different view than we are used to.
“I look at the players and the anxiety they have about making the decision during the season and carrying that, it’s too hard for them.”
A prime example of that ‘NRL model’ is St. George Illawarra player Zac Lomax committing mid-season to the Parramatta Eels, where he will play from the start of 2025 — but, until then, he will keep donning Dragons colours.
With the Punt Road futures of Martin and Baker hanging in the balance, Yze confirmed the off-season planning phase would soon commence at Tigerland.
“As it starts getting closer to the end of the season, we’ve got to start to plan,” he said. “Those discussions will unfold in the next two or three weeks, and as it gets closer to the end of the year, we will need to know.
“We’ve obviously got players that are considering their futures, and they need to do that, and it’s fair enough and so they should, but we can’t leave it until the end of the season — it’s in the next two or three weeks.”
The former 271-game Demon confirmed he had spoken to those players about their footballing futures but was more focused on ensuring they were enjoying their time in the game.
“Blair (Hartley, Richmond’s football talent boss) will look after the guts of it, but personally, I’ve sat down with them and just told them where I sit with it all, and my responsibility is around wanting them to come in and really enjoy their footy,” he said.
“We’re obviously going to have some players that finish, and we’re not going to be in a position where we just empty all our older players out and start from scratch — we want to do both.
“We’ll have some guys that finish up based on their age and where they sit anyway, but we’re going to have a blend of both (old and young).”
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“I think he’s got a bit of footy in him,” Yze said. “Whether it’s one or two years.
“But, at the same time, he’s weighing up whether he plays at all. He’s obviously been through a fair bit in the last couple of years, so he’s weighing up those things right now.
“He’s had amazing career, and he’s at a point right now where he’s got to make a decision on whether he moves clubs, or he stays with us, or whether he just finishes up.
“As I said before, those discussions are ongoing, and hopefully we’ll find out in the next couple of weeks.”
On if Martin is considering retirement, Yze said: “He’s considering all those things. He said that earlier in the year — he was going to weigh up whether he wants to play with us, whether he wants to finish up, or whether he wants to move on.
“Like I said, my job is to create an environment that he can come in and just be really comfortable, enjoy his footy and make a measured decision — so we’ll just try to help him through that.”
Martin, still battling soreness after exiting early in Richmond’s Round 16 loss to Carlton, is no guarantee to suit up for the Tigers when they host GWS at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.