New Eagle Graham grateful for his time at Tigerland

Two-time flag winner Jack Graham says there was nothing bad happening at Richmond that convinced him to leave - he simply needed a fresh start.

The Tigers finished dead last in 2024 with a 2-21 record, and then lost the likes of Shai Bolton (Fremantle), Graham (West Coast), Liam Baker (West Coast) and Daniel Rioli (Gold Coast) to rival clubs.

Adding to that pain was the retirement of superstar veteran Dustin Martin.

The mass exodus of talent has left Richmond to embark on a huge rebuild, with the club not expected to be back in finals contention for years.

West Coast are in a similar position, with the club entering the third year of the biggest rebuild in the club's history.

Graham joined the Eagles as an unrestricted free agent on a four-year deal, and he hopes to take his game to a new level.

The 26-year-old played 131 games across eight seasons at Richmond, and he remains grateful for everything the Tigers did for him.

"Just something new really," Graham said of his reason of moving west.

"Nothing bad about Richmond at all. (I am) so grateful to them for giving me the opportunity.

"But I just thought where I am in my career, something new is what I need to ramp things up again.

"I feel like I can still take my game to the next level.

"I'm only 26. I still feel like there's a lot of potential, and I can push myself to get the best out of me and my teammates."

Graham hopes to play mostly in the midfield, with the option of going forward.

He is excited to join the likes of Elliot Yeo, Harley Reid, Tim Kelly, Dom Sheed and Elijah Hewett in the middle.

Former Tigers caretaker coach Andrew McQualter is now the coach at West Coast.

And with both Graham and Baker joining McQualter in the Eagles nest, there will be very much a Richmond flavour in blue and gold in 2025.

"Mini's (McQualter) a great people person. He's got a good balance of being a coach, but also being a mate," Graham said.

"He'll bring in a great culture where we can all trust each other, good chemistry on and off the field, and just a really fast, attacking brand of football which is going to be exciting for our fans."

West Coast are scheduled to face Fremantle in round three, but Graham isn't going to be sledging his former Tigers teammate Bolton ahead of that encounter.

"Bad Karma if I said something, because he would sneak up on me and get me holding the ball or kick four goals on me," Graham said with a laugh.