If Richmond manage to exchange Dion Prestia with their sixth overall draft pick, they will win the trade. Richmond’s list manager, Blair Hartley, should sign the papers at AFL House- quickly. No high-fives, no fist pumps, no double-cobras. Just walk out of there. Dustin Martin will be outside in a Jeep (What colour? Black, for robbery), the engine will be running. Coach Hardwick will be in the backseat- he doesn’t add much to the operation, he just needs to be involved in a win.

Dusty has explicit instructions to gun the Jeep to Punt Road Oval, running all the red lights. Once there, it’s on to phase two. They burn all the clothing they have on. They turn off all electronic devices. They shut themselves in a safe room- the same bunker they’ve been keeping Ivan Maric all season. Not a sound until trade deadline. Do not wake Ivan Maric.

“Oh, hey guys. Is it time for Round 16 yet?”

Goddammit. We told Dusty no chewing gum.

“Ivan, it’s- we’ve played Round 23, mate”

“Oh. (pause) Can I play finals then?”

Fuuuuck.

“Go to sleep, Ivan”

The Man

Dion Prestia is a very good player. He was taken with pick 9 in the 2010 national draft. This means nothing in 2016. The important thing is that six seasons later, Dion Prestia is a top 10 player in his draft class. To provide perspective, Reece Conca (pick 6 by Richmond), is most famous for intentionally elbowing a player in the back of the head, and looks to be traded this off-season.

Richmond isn’t known for developing its players (see: Conca, Reece). Thankfully they won’t have to participate in Prestia’s physical or technical development. He’s good to go. He’s also a vice-captain at the Gold Coast, for whatever that’s worth, and could provide another leader on the field to complement Trent Cotchin’s reserved take on captaincy.

The risk with Prestia is injury. He hasn’t completed the back half of the last two seasons due to recurrent meniscal problems. However, those issues in isolation are rarely career ending, so the risk is hardly prohibitive.

The Club

Richmond’s best chance at a premiership will need to utilise the senior core of Deledio (29 years old and frequently injured), Riewoldt (27), Cotchin (26), Rance (26) and Martin (25). Given the age range, they may have a tight 2–3 year window to win a flag. Utilising their pick in the draft gives them an 18 year old, which won’t provide much traction for an imminent flag tilt.

A developed midfielder under 25 will make them competitive in the short-term, and replace the vacuum when Brett Deledio’s body eventually passes all of his soft tissues in response to a particularly spicy Indian meal.

Previous efforts to secure one have gone south. Richmond were beaten to Adam Treloar by Collingwood last year, after Treloar publicly rated Collingwood’s list superior to Richmond’s- which is like saying you prefer to be punched in the neck, rather than the face.

Dion Prestia, thankfully, is more of a face man.

The Pick

In the last five years, fifteen top 10 draft picks have been involved in trades. These are the players taken with those picks:

It’s a mixed bag. Some will be two hundred gamers. Some will play key roles in finals. But out of the fifteen, two players have already been traded to new clubs, two have requested trades and three have had ACL reconstructions. About half play regularly for their current teams.

Richmond’s pick 6 presents lot of opportunity, no doubt. Any top-ten pick is a list manager’s Friday night. Chapel Street is pumping. The beautiful people are out. You’ve been watching them from the shadows for too long, playing with that top-ten pick in your pocket. Make a move. Tonight could be the night you bring home your next captain.

A lot of Friday nights end with me in trackies. Playing FIFA. With my dog watching. Look- what I’m saying’s that Friday nights are never a sure thing.

The Breakdown

Dion Prestia is close to a sure thing. Pick 6 is not. Richmond needs a player like him.

Are you in or out?