Richmond veteran Jayden Short sought a trade to Collingwood in October; the move failed and he returned to Tigerland. But his teammates were not going to let him off lightly.
Fellow premiership Tiger Tom Lynch has spoken on Saturday about how Richmond's WhatsApp group chat brought Short back with somewhat welcome arms.
"Hopefully I don't get quoted verbatim for this because it will sound worse than it is," Lynch said on Triple M Racing.
"Number one texted in, Nick Vlastuin, saying, 'Asking for a mate, should we fine a bloke who asks for a trade and the trade doesn't get done?'
"One of the boys said, 'The amount of respect he has lost and the wage he has missed out at Collingwood, we probably can't fine him now'. It was very tongue-in-cheek.
"I'm rapt 'Shorty' hasn't left the footy club. He has moved on pretty quickly and he loves Richmond. If you have met Shorty, it will be water off a duck's back and he'll be leading the charge."
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Collingwood and Richmond reached an impasse on the final day of the trade period, leaving Short to finish off the final season of his contract at the Tigers.
The 30-year-old veteran will be an important part of Richmond's side next year.
The Tigers have cut deep in recent off-seasons to bring in as much young talent as they can before Tasmania enters the draft landscape in 12 months time.
Short will be called on, alongside Lynch, Vlastuin, captain Toby Nankervis and three-time club best-and-fairest winner Tim Taranto to lead to the young Tiger cubs.
Many believe Richmond will again wallow down the bottom end of the ladder in 2027. But the club has faced an injury crisis for the past two seasons, not allowing its best young talent the flourish.
To fix this, Richmond signed fitness guru Selwyn Griffith from Melbourne as its high performance manager.
Whether that move helps Lynch, Short and their young group of Tigers up the ladder? Only time will tell.
