Richmond ruckman Ivan Maric is attracting interest from several rival clubs as he weighs up his future beyond 2016.
Maric has fallen behind Shaun Hampson in the battle for the No.1 ruck position at the Tigersย and could be forced out of Richmond at season's end.
AFL.com.au reports that the out-of-contract 30-year-old is also being chased for his leadership traits, withย clubs believed to be interested in employing Maric in a back-up ruckman/coaching role.
Coach Damien Hardwick said Wednesday that a decision on Marci'sย future will not beย made untilย the end of the season.
"That's a list management decision we'll work our way through," Hardwick said.
"Ivan is an important player for us and he probably hasn't had the year that he or us would like.
"He's had some injury concerns across the year and just hasn't really got up and going at any stage.
"But we know what Ivan can do and Ivan at his best is a very, very good AFL player."
Maricย missed the opening four rounds of the season due to a back injury, before being dropped after Round 6. He has managed just one match since, with poor form and the emergence of Shaun Hampson seeing him play for the Tigers' VFL side for the bulk of the season.
In their home elimination final against North Melbourne, the Tigers were defeated by 17 points in front of a crowd of 90,186. Off-field, the club had another strong season, leading the league in home and away game attendances with an average crowd of 47,925.
The captain, Trent Cotchin, won the Jack Dyer Medal for the third time in four years, becoming the youngest Tiger to three club best and fairests. Beginning the season with only 2 wins from 6 games, the Tigers faced the prospect of another disappointing season. In the following weeks however, they would register 4 straight wins including an upset victory over the previously undefeated Fremantle in Perth.