Quinton Narkle's two months spent at Punt Road appears to have not been in vain, despite not making the Tigers' senior list, as competing clubs – including Richmond's VFL affiliate – line up for the Noongar man's services.
The former Geelong midfielder, who appeared eight times last year for 41 AFL games since debuting in 2018, trained under coach Damien Hardwick since the opening day of Richmond's preseason but was deemed surplus to the Tigers' midfield needs in favour of key forward Kaelan Bradtke, a bush footballer from Corowa-Rutherglen.
Narkle impressed onlookers in the preseason training stint, losing around eight kilograms through December and into January and becoming extremely fit.
"He came back from the Christmas break in career-best condition and impressed us with his character and commitment to our program," Richmond national recruiting manager Matt Clarke told the club website.
"Unfortunately, we did not have two spots available – so we needed to make a very hard decision. He couldn't have done any more during his time training at the club."
Narkle's significant fitness push improved his endurance, run and spread for the modern game and also resulted in the 25-year-old finishing third in a two-kilometre time trial against the club's younger group of players last month.
He has since attracted interest from Essendon's VFL team and also WAFL club Perth, according to the player's management.
The decision to return to Western Australia or take an offer from a Victorian club may impact on Narkle's prospects of a another opportunity in the AFL via its mid-season draft given Richmond's and Essendon's direct roles in their VFL program.
Perth may not only attract Narkle back to the club he last ran out for in 2016, but also axed Richmond forward Sydney Stack.
The dazzling Ballardong talent attracted the interest of St Kilda in the supplementary selection period, but the Saints' board publicly ruled out Stack during their annual general meeting.
He had pled guilty to fighting on the streets of Perth's nightclub district at the time.
The court handed Stack a $500 fine, suspended for three months, over the offence.
"I've just got people trying to bring me down, mate, that's it," Stack had told a TV news crew while walking out of a Perth court in January.
Stack also landed himself in court again in February after Victoria police alleged to have pulled over the 22-year-old for driving an unregistered vehicle drunk through two red lights.
He was convicted and fined $1000 following a written apology for not appearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be there. Thank you for your time," Stack wrote.
Stack had been delisted at the Tigers in the wake of a number of indiscretions after 35 games in four years, but reports from The West Australian newspaper has suggested his former WAFL club is sticking by Stack and remains committed to signing him.
Jed Anderson was the only Indigenous player who was joined a new club during the supplemental selection period after signing for Gold Coast.
