RICHMOND has ticked off on its top priority for this year’s trade period, securing a deal for Gold Coast vice-captain Dion Prestia.
Despite haggling for over a week about the 24-year-old’s value, the Tigers eventually parted with Pick 6 and a future second-round draft selection in exchange for the highly rated midfielder.
However, they have coupled Prestia’s signature with Pick 24 in this year’s draft as part of the deal.
“We identified Dion earlier this year as a player that we wanted at our football club, he’s a power runner, highly competitive and impacts games significantly,” Tigers GM Dan Richardson said in a statement.
“Dion’s management made it clear to us that he was keen to return to Victoria to be closer to his family and we’re really pleased for our club that he chose Richmond as his preferred destination.
“At 24 years of age, Dion has many years of good football ahead of him, he’s also a person of great character, and being vice-captain at the Gold Coast Suns, he has great leadership qualities also.
“We thank both the Gold Coast Suns and Dion’s manager, Marty Pask, for their cooperation in getting the deal done and we look forward to seeing Dion running around in the yellow and black very soon.”
Prestia, who has battled knee injuries over the last two seasons, played 95 games for Gold Coast after being drafted with Pick 9 in the 2010 national draft.
He is the first of two expected midfield departures from Metricon Stadium this off-season, with former Rising Star winner Jaeger O’Meara also likely to leave the club before Thursday’s trade deadline.
“We have been clear with Richmond throughout negotiations that we expected a fair and reasonable exchange for Dion,” Suns GM Marcus Ashcroft said.
“We are focused on making list management decisions that will improve our football club and are pleased we have been able to finalise an agreement with Richmond that will enable us to do just that.”
The deal means Gold Coast has three top 10 picks (4, 6 and 8) going into this year’s national draft, while they could acquire a fourth if they secure Pick 10 from Hawthorn in a deal for O’Meara.
