Unsung forward opens eyes; No. 1 pick limited as tall’s position change firms: Tigers Track Watch

On the near side of the ground, a group consisting of key defenders Josh Gibcus and Tylar Young, as well as first-round draftees Taj Hotton and Jonty Faull, trained away from the main cluster. Jack Ross, also part of the group initially, remained on the field for the length of the session.

At the start of the session, they completed basic handball and kicking work before disappearing inside for the remainder. Young could later be seen indoors running on a treadmill, while Hotton did resistance work with a trainer.

Gibcus, Young and Hotton continue in recoveries from ACL ruptures this year.

On the far-side boundary was another group that appeared to be on a modified program, completing various running drills away from the main collective.

Maurice Rioli Jnr, Thomson Dow, Mykelti Lefau and Judson Clarke featured in that separate group for the majority of the session, for a brief time stopping to do basic ground-ball and contest work.

Clarke and Lefau were the other two Tigers this year to suffer season-ending knee injuries.

No. 1 overall draft pick Sam Lalor participated in main team drills before later joining the running men.

Lalor, who completed numerous run-throughs at a decent clip, could be seen working in conjunction with Tigers trainers on his running technique.

The Greater Western Victoria Rebels product continues to be eased into action after suffering a high-grade hamstring strain in a Talent League game in September.

Richmond captain Toby Nankervis was not sighted on the track but could be seen inside the facility. The same went for veteran interceptor Nick Vlastuin, who briefly greeted fans but spent most of the session indoors.

After rotating through multiple team drills spread across Punt Road Oval, the Tigers held game-play simulations.

Promising utility Tom Brown participated in match play wearing a fluorescent hat, likely indicating he was exempt from contact.

Brown, whose 2024 campaign ended early due to syndesmosis, went under the knife in the off-season to resolve shoulder issues.

Jacob Hopper, whose left leg was strapped on Friday, was heavily involved during game-play and was among the most vocal. The ex-GWS midfielder battled knee and hamstring issues this year.

Meanwhile, injury-hampered project ruckman Mate Colina wasn’t only active for the session but asserted himself in aerial contests before later joining the boundary group for run-throughs.

The same went for Campbell Gray, who suffered a nasty hamstring tear in July that ended his season early.

One of the standouts during game-play was mid-sized forward Jacob Bauer, who impressed observers with three contested marks deep in attack, as well as his overall presentation as a forward-50 target.

The 22-year-old Bauer has played only seven AFL games for eight career goals in two and a half seasons with the Tigers after arriving as a mid-season pickup in 2022, but an interrupted 2024 pre-season did him no favours.

Limited this year by a quad ailment, if Bauer can avoid the injury bug in ‘25, he figures to slot in nicely as a medium-sized option in Yze’s attack.

Meantime, tall utility Jacob Koschitzke continues to be played in defence after a difficult maiden Richmond campaign as a forward.

In 2024, his 14-game campaign spent in attack yielded a return of just 12 goals, as the Tigers now look to integrate key-position draftees Jonty Faull, Harry Armstrong and Tom Sims up forward, while spearhead Lynch will return and Noah Balta is a candidate to drift forward on occasion in 2025.

However, swingman Balta was also deployed in defence for Friday’s playing period.

Elsewhere, matching Hopper’s intent was big improver Rhyan Mansell, who this off-season made the guernsey switch from No. 31 to his junior No. 7.

The half-forward pressure merchant was his usual tenacious self at the contest, holding nothing back from a physicality standpoint.

As the session wore on, joining the aforementioned names running along the far-side boundary were premiership stars Tom Lynch and Jayden Short — who had earlier participated in team drills.

Lynch is aiming to be more available in 2025 after being limited by a troublesome hamstring, while calf issues cost Short time this year.