Jayden Short is set to join Kamdyn McIntosh in the elite 200 AFL games club when he runs out against Essendon on Friday night, a milestone that says as much about Richmond’s faith in him as it does about the 30-year-old’s own durability.
McIntosh, who played his 200th game for Richmond last year, said it had been a privilege to line up alongside Short and called him a very close mate. He said he remembered the first day Short arrived at the club in 2015, after being taken in the rookie draft, and described him as an energiser bunny whose energy spread quickly through the group.
“It was obviously a privilege to play alongside Shorty,” McIntosh said, adding that Short had been “such a good player for the footy Club, since he walked into the Club.”
The milestone lands in Short’s 13th season at the Swinburne Centre, a stretch that has taken him from rookie-draft hopeful to one of the most established figures in the side. McIntosh said the defender’s early years were built on hard work and energy, and that he learned from senior players such as Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt before becoming one of the boys himself.
That evolution, McIntosh said, is part of what Richmond values most. “I think that’s the great thing about the Richmond Football Club, is that it’s not about the person you are today, when we first drafted Shorty, but it’s the person he’s become,” he said.
McIntosh said Short had been there for him during difficult periods in his own career, checking in when things were not going well and having his back. He said those moments mattered because Short brought the same intensity on match day that he showed around the club, and because he had become someone teammates could rely on.
“You want those sort of people around your Club,” McIntosh said, calling it “pretty amazing” to have him on his side during his career.
For McIntosh, Short’s influence has gone well beyond his performances across half-back. He described him as a humble and caring guy, a big family man and a player who has taken on a leadership and father figure role for younger teammates including Sammy Lalor and Taj Hotton.
“He’s there for your Sammy’s and your Taj’s, and he’s taken on that leadership, father figure role,” McIntosh said. “I feel like it just fits him perfectly.”
Friday night’s game against Essendon will put Short in rare company, but the number alone only tells part of the story. At Richmond, the milestone is being framed as the reward for a player who arrived as a rookie and grew into one of the club’s central voices, the kind of transition that has long been at the heart of the Tigers’ identity.
