Richmond coach Adem Yze says the struggling Tigers would be “crazy” not to make a play for Port Adelaide star Zak Butters.
Reports have this week surfaced that the Tigers have joined the race to bring Butters – who wants to be closer to family – home to Victoria, and are willing to offer 25-year-old midfielder the biggest contract in AFL history, a deal worth $16 million.
“Our club’s serious about getting better,” Yze said on Thursday ahead of cellar dwellers Richmond’s Gather Round clash against the GWS Giants at Barossa Park on Sunday.
“Whether that means we’re bringing in free agents and players that are established players, or go into the draft again with a really strong draft hand … those decisions will be made later in the year.”
Yze said the chance to bring Butters to the Tigers was among the things Richmond’s general manager of football talent Blair Hartley “needs to be thinking about”.
“When there’s a player as good as (Butters), and that there’s a possibility that he might become available, we’ve got to think about it.
“That’s that’s our job as a footy club – to get better. We want to bounce back and get back to finals as quick as we can.
“He’s obviously a terrific player. We’d be crazy not to be thinking about it.”
The Tigers are still chasing their first win of the season, but Yze said morale remained high among his players.
“I haven’t sensed during a game where we’ve lost spirit and energy, and our fight,” he said. “We’re a young group. We’re energized, and our boys come in and they expect to get better every day.
“Whether we’re winning or losing, we expect our players to get better, and we expect our team to get better.
“We’ve got an opportunity to get on the road again as a young group, which is always good to connect and get to the Barossa (Valley) and hopefully put on a good show for our Tiger army.”
Yze said the Tigers had a “nice review” of their 42-point weekend loss to Port Adelaide at the MCG.
“When you’re looking at numbers and the positives that came out of the game, I was really proud of our effort,” he said.
“We rectified a few things. We’ve just got to finish our work and get some reward for our effort in our front half.
“There was a little bit of frustration early in the week, but then once you see some solutions, hopefully that can turn to excitement.”
