AFL history suggests Richmond have made the right move by cutting their losses with the talented but troublesome Daniel Connors.
The 23-year-old has shown in his 29 games he could be a very good footballer.
But he’s also struck enough off-field trouble to show his potential danger to an emerging young list.
On face value, Connors losing his career for taking prescription sleeping medication and missing training seems harsh.
But as a tipping point in a line of incidents, it’s not.
Two long suspensions imposed by the club, in 2010 and again late last year for alcohol-related misbehaviour, clearly weren’t enough for the lesson to sink in, despite Connors’ promises.
The bigger worry for Richmond’s future is the involvement of budding superstar Dustin Martin.
If cutting Connors and handing Martin a two-match ban can help stop Martin finding further off-field trouble, it will be well worth the short-term pain.
There are numerous recent examples of clubs benefiting from parting with talented players with off-field problems.
Carlton’s punting of Brendan Fevola and Essendon’s trading away of Andrew Lovett, both at the end of 2009, are prime examples.
Lovett, who had been handed several suspensions by the Bombers for poor off-field discipline, struck more trouble almost from the time he was traded to St Kilda, who sacked him without playing a game.
As recently as Tuesday, the Blues’ decision to sack Fevola was described by former skipper Mark Maclure as one of the best moves the club made.
The two-time Coleman Medallist had a long history of alcohol-fuelled indiscretions and, as with the Saints and Lovett, it was Brisbane who proved the losers by taking on Fevola, only to punt him a year later.
Ben Cousins is another case.
The premiership player and Brownlow Medallist’s drug addiction forced him out of West Coast and the AFL for a year at the end of 2007.
The Tigers gained some benefits from giving Cousins a second chance for the 2009-10 seasons.
But it is interesting to note that Cousins was with Connors on the night in 2010 that the Tiger youngster ran into trouble at a Sydney hotel, leading to his first club-imposed suspension.
The former Eagles’ star also formed a close and continuing bond with Martin.
And Cousins also had an episode with sleeping medication during his time with the Tigers, having to spend a night in hospital in 2010.
Collingwood’s stance on Rhyce Shaw, Heath Shaw and Alan Didak over a drink-driving incident late in the 2008 season provides an example the Tigers might hope to mirror.
Heath Shaw and Didak were suspended for the rest of that season, despite Collingwood’s year being delicately placed.
Rhyce Shaw, who had also been drinking with the pair, was banned for two games.
But while there was speculation at the time the incident would end Didak’s Collingwood career, he stayed.
It was Rhyce Shaw, the lesser of the three players, who was traded to Sydney at the end of that season, while Didak and Heath Shaw went on to become Magpies premiership players in 2010.
The Tigers will be hoping Martin can do the same for them.