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Shai Bolton's involvement in a nightclub fight will not hurt the Richmond star's AFL contract negotiations, Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale says.
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale says Shai Bolton's involvement in a nightclub fight will not hurt the young star's bid for a bumper new AFL contract with the Tigers.
The in-form playmaker joined the club's lengthy on-ball injury list on Monday when he had surgery on a fractured wrist.
Bolton injured himself when he stepped into help premiership teammate Daniel Rioli during a nightclub altercation at the weekend and will miss up to three weeks.
Richmond believe Rioli's girlfriend was "subjected to inappropriate behaviour" before the forward was punched in the face.
Bolton has become one of Richmond's most crucial players and is set to sign a hefty new contract from next year and beyond.
"We're in discussions with Shai and (his manager) Ralph (Carr)," Gale told SEN.
"This (incident) will have no bearing on those discussions.
"I'm confident he won't be going anywhere. He loves it here, he thrives here and really belongs here."
Gale said it was a disappointing situation the pair found themselves in and preferred the club not to be having to deal with it.
"At the end of the day, Daniel and Shai responded to what they deemed to be inappropriate conduct," Gale added.
"Gee it would be a whole lot easier if Shai and Daniel sat home on the couch every night, but that's not the way you expect to live.
"From time to time they're going to make mistakes."
Coach Damien Hardwick has thrown down the gauntlet to Richmond's depth to step up amid the horror injury run to their midfield.
Bolton has joined Shane Edwards (ankle), Trent Cotchin (hamstring), Dion Prestia (calf) and Kane Lambert (calf) on the sidelines for Saturday's clash with GWS at Marvel Stadium.
Hardwick wasn't concerned the reigning premiers had lost any intimidation factor during their 4-4 start to the season, but said they had plenty of room for improvement.
"We've got some challenges, there's no doubt about it. We've had some challenges previously, in previous years, but we just can't think it's going to happen," he told Fox Footy.
"The reality is we've got to get to work, we've got to do some things a hell of a lot better."
