Honeyball takes a look at the likely best 23 for the Richmond ahead of the 2026 AFL season, noting ins and outs, key injuries, plus a look at relevant AFL Fantasy and SuperCoach players.
We’ve used quotes from Tigers coach Adem Yze’s chat on afl.com.au’s Your Coach podcast to offer additional insight on relevant players.
Ins: Sam Cumming (No.7 draft pick), Samuel Grlj (No.8 draft pick), Zane Peucker (No.31 draft pick), Patrick Retschko (trade, Geelong), Noah Roberts-Thomson (No.54 draft pick)
Outs: Jacob Bauer (delisted), Jacob Blight (delisted), Mate Colina (delisted), Thomson Dow (delisted), Jacob Koschitzke (delisted), Kamdyn McIntosh (delisted), Tylar Young (trade, West Coast)
Key Injuries: Dion Prestia (hamstring), Samson Ryan (foot), Sam Cumming (shoulder), Taj Hotton (hip), Josh Smillie (quad)
Likely Round One 23
B: Nathan Broad, Ben Miller, Nick Vlastuin*
HB: Jayden Short, Noah Balta, Sam Banks
C: Kane McAuliffe, Jack Ross, Hugo Ralphsmith
HF: Sam Lalor, Jonty Faull, Rhyan Mansell
F: Seth Campbell, Tom Lynch, Maurice Rioli jnr
Foll: Toby Nankervis, Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto
I/C: Tom Brown, Patrick Retschko, Sam Grlj, Campbell Gray, Josh Gibcus
*injury cloud
Relevant Players
Sam Lalor
Richmond coach Adem Yze: “Compared to last year, he’s 10 times better (prepared for the season). Last year, I think he only punched out 30 or 40 per cent of pre-season, whereas this year he’s done the majority of it. We’ve had to hold him back. We’ve trained him as a midfielder, understanding that we know what he can do when he’s forward, but we want him to get some more exposure, like he got a small sample size last year. Go and do some centre bounces. But after that he would flip and wouldn’t really play midfield time, whereas this this pre-season we feel like he can go and punch out a good rotation as a midfielder, rather than just pinch hit.
“I’m hoping it’s a more even balance (midfield/forward) because we want him wherever the ball is; we want him around the ball; and when we kick it in, it would be nice to have him down there as well. ”
Josh Gibcus
Yze: “He’s had a really, really strong pre-season. He went and did some sprint training with a few other players from other teams off his own bat, which for a key defender was a bit unusual, but he wanted to turn and cut and learn and just get some confidence in his body again.
“I still think he’s got a little bit to go with that, I sense he’s not playing with as much freedom as what he did when he first came in. That’s understandable, but over the last two weeks I’ve started to see the real Josh. Josh has come out attacking the footy, attacking the contest and almost Thursday night just ready to unleash the shackles.”
Sam Grlj
Richmond great Matthew Richardson: “From what I saw (of Grlj) on the weekend, and from what you hear how he’s gone all summer, I can’t see how he doesn’t play, to be honest.”
Patrick Retschko, Josh Smillie, Sam Cumming
