New Richmond recruit Robbie Tarrant is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Hawthorn premiership defenders James Frawley and Brian Lake, with the veteran backman setting his sights on finals contention at Punt Road.
Tarrant landed with the Tigers through this off-season's exchange window, trading places with young tall Callum Coleman-Jones while a number of draft selections swapped hands.
The trade sees Tarrant return to the premiership frame after 12 years at North Melbourne, having featured in a preliminary final against the Eagles in 2015.
The past several campaigns for the Kangaroos saw their finals aspirations waning, with Tarrant's switch to the yellow and black set to see his hopes of landing that elusive premiership increase.
While Richmond failed to reach the September standards in 2021, their prospects for the new year will be buoyed by Tarrant's arrival.
With North Melbourne currently in the midst of a list rebuild, and the Tigers well placed in their premiership window, the exchange saw both parties walk away from the trade table with satisfying assets.
Having had contract discussions on hold between Tarrant and the Kangaroos, a timely approach from Richmond soon saw the veteran's fate altered.
Speaking to The Age's Michael Gleeson, Tarrant revealed he had strongly considered remaining at Arden Street for next year before the Tigers looked to pounce.
“I didn’t think I’d be changing clubs to be honest," Tarrant said. "Even finishing last season, I had every intention of signing on and never had any intention of going to another club.
“I didn’t have a deal [to re-sign at North] until post-season and as North were coming with that, Richmond made an approach. I think it worked out for both.”
A key lure to Tigerland for the 32-year-old was the concept of success, having signed a two-year deal under three-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick.
While Tarrant was open to aiding the Roos' rebuild and potentially ending his career as a one-club player, the premiership proposition and a 'win-win' swap was able to see out an exchange between Richmond and North Melbourne.
“I would love to get back to playing finals footy again, that was certainly a discussion with Richmond,” Tarrant said.
“I was fully committed to going down that rebuild path with North as well."
The key defender is hoping to mirror a path to success that has seen several seasoned veterans moves clubs and secure premiership medals in the twilight of their careers.
Lake and Frawley are among a plethora of names to do so, with the pair having moved from the Bulldogs and Demons respectively to have a large input in Hawthorn's three-peat between 2013-2015.
“You do look at players who move and get a flag," Tarrant added.
"I didn’t specifically look at them [Frawley or Brian Lake] but players do move and win flags ... every situation is different. If I can come across and help the team have success, that would be an amazing result.”
Tarrant is set to begin his Tigers career against Carlton on Thursday, March 17, with a clash against his former club scheduled at Marvel in the back-end of the year.
