It took one week for the Tigers to shut a few mouths in 2025.
“They won’t win a game,” said more than one expert as we headed into the season. But with a resounding win over the Blues to open the year, the Richmond Football Club dispelled any notion that they were going to be easy beats. In the process, the club imbued the youngsters on the list with faith that things can, and just might, come together quickly under Adem Yze.
Richmond would go on to win four more games, making people like Matthew Lloyd and Mark Bickley look like idiots in the process, and now look to build on a season that gave kids plenty of time to develop at senior level.
There are several hooks to the 2025 Richmond season.
Sam Lalor played with injuries impacting his ability to wield an influence, but the signs were there.
Josh Smillie didn’t get on the park, as he battled several soft tissue complaints.
And in the final round, Josh Gibcus finally made his way back to the team after years in the injury wilderness.
They add Sam Cumming and Sam Grlj with two early picks, as the club continues to compile a list that will end up being the envy of many others, particularly as Tassie prepares to plunder the draft in coming years
Can the Tigers shut some more mouths in 2026? Or did they over-perform last season, and are staring down the possibility that they may fall back to Earth, this year?
If you’re reading all our previews, you can skip ahead a little bit – It’s the standard intro.
We’re steaming toward a new season, and as we do, it is time to turn our attention away from the glory of last year and look at the possibilities of the new one.
The players have been on the track for a while now – the Christmas break is over, and as we work through January, the charge into the new season ramps right up.
This is where premierships are won and lost. This is where improvements are made and lists come together. This is where the kids show if they’re serious or not, and young projects become the next group of stars. New faces, new colours, old heads with renewed passion… so much feeds into the making of a contender. And as the days tick down toward the intra-club clashes, practice games, and eventually the real stuff, questions are raised about each team and how they’re going to perform in this new season.
And that’s where HB and The Mongrel come in.
We don’t do things by halves here, at The Mongrel Punt. When we do a season preview, we go all in to make sure it is the best, most comprehensive coverage you’ll receive. We pride ourselves on it. If you want to read one season preview for your team, or any team, this series will provide what you’re after.
The way it works is as follows.
Each club has a minimum of 15 questions asked about the upcoming season, their coaches, their players, and their expectations. The answers are not glossed over. We dive deep on each and every one of them – some singular answers would normally be long enough for an entire column. The first five questions/answers are free for you to consume. The next 10-14 for each club are for our members, including a special appearance from Mrs Mongrel to throw her two cents in the mix.
Isn’t it a bit early for a season preview? Well, I suppose, but do you know how long it takes to write seven-to-nine thousand words? That’s 18 x 8,000… gets out the calculator… that’s 144,000 words. The average novel is about 85,000 words, so buckle the hell up with these previews; HB goes deeper than anyone else covering the game..
Also, if there are any issues that arise after the publication of the preview for any team, they will be covered in standalone articles to act as additions to this preview.
You will not read a more comprehensive season preview than this – I guarantee it. This is where we start the run to the new season, and believe me – nobody does it better than The Mongrel.
Let’s jump into what the 2026 season looks like for the Richmond Football Club.
1 – HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO GET GAME TIME INTO JOSH SMILLIE?
I’d like to say it is of the utmost importance, but the truth is this is just year two for the young man, and if he is someone who takes time to get his body right, it is not like there is a rush, is there? The last thing you want to do is pull the trigger early, succumb to pressure, and put him out on the park at a level below where he should be. Something like that could destroy the kid’s confidence.
Smillie failed to play a game in 2025, after being picked at number seven. Injuries to both his hamstring and quad kept him out for an extended period, with his only exposed form coming at VFL level. In four games, he had modest returns for the most part, but his 24 disposal game against Casey offered a small glimpse into what was possible.
For many clubs, the repeated injuries would cause them to be close to panic-stations, as teams with high picks often require their draft picks to immediately deliver. However, as the Tigers rebuild a list that handed the club the third of three flags just five years ago, there is an understanding within the four walls at Punt Road, that it takes time to build a winner. And getting players absolutely ready to go is paramount, both to their development, and the good of the club.
Structural integrity far outweighs a slap-dash build.
I wish some of our builders had that attitude, actually.
Smillie came in with many lauding his quick, clean hands, acceleration, and long kicking. They haven’t disappeared – they’ll all be there when he is cherry ripe to go, and when he does jog out onto the MCG to make his long-awaited debut in the yellow and black, he will be 100% ready to do so.
Richmond are not under pressure. Not yet, anyway. There is simply no need to push a player into the team before it is absolutely necessary. It’s a bit of a luxury for Yze, really, whose 2025 performance gave him plenty of credits with those pulling the strings.
So, when Smillie does debut, where does he slot in?
I am not sure both he and Sam Lalor can jump right into the midfield together. They need to retain some degree of maturity in the middle, and to play two 19-year-olds is something opposition clubs will attempt to exploit. However, having one of the two in the middle, with the other patrolling half-forward, could see this combination deliver plenty of excitement for Tiger fans.
Many eyes will be on Cumming and Grlj as we start the year, but waiting in the wings for his opportunity will be Smillie, and when he shows the Tiger Army what he can do, they will have every right to start getting excited about the next few years.
2 – AFTER A HORROR START TO 2025, WHAT DO WE EXPECT FROM NOAH BALTA THIS SEASON?
Noah had a shocking first half of 2025. He got better, but between his suspension, and the curfew placed on him by the courts (which was a bit wanky, I reckon), his performance was atrocious early on.
Anyway, once he returned to the team, Balta looked like a bloke who’d forgotten how to play footy. Lost at sea in defence, he made decisions that boggled the mind, and with a host of young defenders around him learning the ropes, I was just hoping that they were a little more capable of independent though. Following Balta’s lead would have had them all out of position and their opponents hitting the scoreboard repeatedly.
The good news is that his form got a lot better as the season progressed, and Balta started to remember the powerful athlete he is. He started to hit the contest hard, zone off to intercept at the right times, and, to put it bluntly, started to play like a genuine key defender, and less like a lost child.
So, assuming his footballing Alzheimer’s has not returned over the off-season, what do we expect from him this year?
Balta is required in defence. With the Tigers looking to rotate players like Josh Gibcus, Campbell Gray, Luke Trainor, and Tom Brown manning defensive positions, they need his big body and physical presence down there. He’ll still have Nathan Broad and Ben Miller there to take the other talls, but Balta is the most powerful presence down there.
That said, there is scope for him to add another string to the Tigers’ ruck bow.
I’ve always been a big Toby Nankervis fan, but at this stage of his career, the bloke can barely jump over a piece of paper. With new ruck rules supposedly giving a significant advantage to athletic rucks at the centre bounce (we’ll see once there are some actual games where these are implemented), could Balta slot in as a relief big man to provide a more athletic option for Richmond?
He pinch-hit in the ruck in a few games in 2025, but could this be a more permanent solution both to spell Nank, and give the Tigers a completely different look?
It is a bit of a robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul situation, as he will be sorely missed in defence, but the benefits could be significant.
Balta as an athletic ruck gives the Tigers someone who can hit the ground running, adding some speed and ground-level power to the role. Of course, Nank assumes the position of ruck pretty quickly, allowing Balta to drift back into defence, but the possibility is there. He is “only” 194 centimetres, but his leap at the footy, and physical strength, could enable Balta to more than hold his own, particularly against the fellow athletes.
All that aside, Balta as a defender will need to lean on players like Broad and Miller. As good as he can be, Balta does tend to lose sight of his opponent, his focus narrowing on the incoming footy. Players who do that need someone around them more attentive to the positioning of opponents. This allows Balta the scope to attack the footy. It is all about cohesion.
Looking at his performance statistically, Balta averaged just 2.9 one percenters and 3.7 intercepts last season. They are way down on what he is capable of. He needs a career renaissance, of sorts, in defence this season. 5+ in each of those categories is what I am looking at (his best are 4.9 one percenters in 2020, and 7.7 intercepts in 2023… this is not a stretch). If he can start to become more of a factor in the air, everyone else has their jobs made a bit easier.
Despite the Tigers looking good in 2025, there will still be a heap of footy coming into their defence in 2026. Balta’s improvement, particularly based on what we saw in the first half of 2025, should offer Richmond much more stability to allow the younger defenders (Gray, in particular looks good) to grow and prosper in support roles.
Really, he couldn’t get much worse than he was early last year, could he?
3 – CAN MAURICE RIOLI BECOME AN ELITE PRESSURE SMALL FORWARD?
We saw it a few times last season – Maurice put his chin to his chest, gritted his teeth, and pumped those legs of his… and he ran the opposition down! Not just chased, but caught them and dragged them down.
It was spectacular!
How would you like to see one of those instances every week? How would you like to see it several times a game?
It all comes down to fitness.
The Rioli name has become synonymous with high-class small forwards, but the rundown tackles from Maurice Junior in 2025 resembled those of Cyril during his time with the Hawks. And that’s the high watermark, isn’t it? Fair or not, that is who Maurice will be compared to. Imagine that? Dad is a maestro with a Norm Smith, and your cousin is one of the greatest small forwards of the modern era… also with a Norm Smith Medal.
The Rioli family have set lofty standards, and by virtue of his name, Maurice Junior has to live up to them.
But there were still times when Maurice looked absolutely gassed far too early in games, and as good as those moments were, repeat efforts and running out games were not his strong suit.
How good could he be if he does the work and comes into 2026 with a bigger tank?
Rioli was ranked second on the Tigers for tackles inside 50, with 1.15 per game. He was behind Rhyan Mansell, with 1.45.
Is two tackles inside 50 a bridge too far for Maurice in 2026?
If so, why?
Other players are doing it. Lachie Schultz and Paul Curtis were able to do it – I would consider Rioli a better tackler than either of them. He just needs those repeat efforts!
The talent of Rioli is undeniable. He could be one of the more feared small forwards in the game, but you can’t pick and choose when you are “on” and when you’re a bit too tired to make the effort.
At 23, his time to make a statement is now. 20 games, a goal per outing, and two tackles inside 50 each and every week. That’s not just what I want – it is what the Tigers need from him. It is also what Maurice needs if he is going to be mentioned in the same breath as the relatives.
4 – CAN JOSH GIBCUS FINALLY BE A GAIN AFTER YEARS OF PAIN?
There were some wonderful highlights in the 2025 AFL season. We saw some electrifying goals, some outstanding rundown tackles, and some of the game’s greats rise to the occasion in finals.
Sure, there were nowhere near as many great high marks as I am used to seeing (this is becoming a bit of a lost art), but the game had other wonderful, if downplayed moments, along the way.
I am not sure I smiled any wider than when one of those moments occurred in Round 24. That was when I saw Josh Gibcus run out for the Tigers for the first time in what seemed an age.
It had been such a long road back for him, with just two games played in the previous two seasons, and some serious questions as to whether his body would permit him to play at the highest level again. But there he was – the number 18 for the Tigers, previously worn by Alex Rance, running around in defence again.
It was chicken soup for the footy lover’s soul.
Most of you are aware that I am not a Richmond supporter, but I do love a good footy story. As such, I have been eager for Gibcus to get back and play as much footy as possible. If Round 24 was the start of his genuine return to senior AFL footy, and we see a continuation of that into 2026, there’d be no opposition supporter more thrilled than me.
I reckon non-Richmond people forget – Gibcus was the first piece of the Richmond puzzle to be put in place after the glory years. At Pick Nine in 2021, he was to come in and learn the caper under players like Dylan Grimes.
That didn’t play out, with the lessons coming only in theory after 2022. First a horrible knee reconstruction, and then soft tissue injuries that just refused to completely go away, Gibcus was put through the injury wringer. So, to see him back out there, irrespective of how he played, felt like a victory.
The bonus was that he didn’t look at all out of place. He was subbed out after a half of footy, but he got through, and family, teammates, and the club, collectively exhaled.
Am I daring to dream that Gibcus can make it all the way back and become the player Richmond hoped he would be, starting in 2026?
Possibly. I am an optimist, after all.
And let’s say he does. He has been getting through training in the preseason, and there have been no reports that he is struggling, so what can we expect from him?
Personally, I prefer to keep the bar pretty low, here. I just want to see him string games together and develop confidence in his body, again. As a bit of an expert on injuring myself (as I am sure many of you are), we all know that when you’ve been hurt, you have that little man on your shoulder telling you to be careful. It happens for a while, but the longer you play, the quieter it gets. It’s probably the same one that sits on the shoulder of forwards when they’re kicking at goal after a few misses.
If he gets out there for 15 games, is sporadically rested to ensure he is part of the long-term planning for the club, and gets through the season relatively unscathed, it is a massive win for both him, and the Tigers.
Those from his draft year are now making strides to be pillars of their own teams. This is what Josh Gibcus could be for Richmond. Patience and fingers crossed are required here – he could still be something special.
5 – OUTSIDE OF SAM LALOR, WHICH 2024 DRAFT PICK TAKES THE NEXT STEP?
Just to refresh your memory, here are the names other than Lalor that we’re looking at.
Josh Smillie – Pick 7
Taj Hotton – Pick 12
Jonty Faull – Pick 14
Luke Trainor – Pick 21
Harry Armstrong – Pick 23
Thomas Sims – Pick 28
Jasper Alger – Pick 58
Not a bad, haul, Tigers… not bad at all.
I already covered Smillie in the section above, so that would be cheating. Besides, he is considered by most as a “can’t miss” prospect. As such, we dive a little lower on the list of picks and land on…
… Harry Armstrong.
Why?
Because picking Luke Trainor would be cheating, as well – he has proven that he is an excellent player, already. He played 23 games in his rookie year, so it is a no-brainer that he’ll be a staple in the team.
So, I land at Armstrong, and even then, I think that Taj Hotton could have a better year based on the simple fact that big guys take time and Taj has lived and breathed footy all his life (I used to go out drinking with Taj’s dad… I am scared for Taj that Trent is his Dad!).
Armstrong is one of the blokes pushing for a role as a tall target inside 50. At 195 centimetres, he is big enough to retain mobility without being one of those cumbersome big fellas who struggle to make second efforts.
However, what draws me to him is his ability to take a contested grab. Over the last four games of the season, Harry was able to glove seven contested grabs. Now, the mission for him in 2026 becomes how to translate those marks into inside 50s, score involvements, and goals. I’d like to say he is already doing the hardest part, and that taking a contested grab is one of the aspects of the game that is hardest to pull off, but really, kicking to advantage with defenders swarming… it is no picnic.
There are going to be ups and downs for him, as is the nature of teenage forwards, but I’ve seen enough to indicate that Armstrong, used properly as a lead up target, who then doubles back to goal, can become a valuable contributor in 2026. Obviously, the likes of Lalor, Smillie, and even Trainor out wide and off half-back, have an advantage of finding more footy, but the world is at Armstrong’s feet.
Also, keep an eye on Jasper Alger. Tiger people tell me he returned in fantastic nick and is ready to build on his four 2025 games.
The remainder of this article, and the next 15 questions are for our members. They support me, and I provide for them. It’s a good deal.
Oh… a Mongrel paywall… the worst of all paywalls. We’re on the march to the 2026 AFL season and it all begins here. The Mongrel’s Big Questions Season Previews are THE best in the business. If you know, you know… if not, maybe it’s time to find out. Pre-Season, Practice Games… we’re all in. Dump the mainstream lip service and dive into articles like this – you will never look back. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. You’re welcome to re-read the first five questions again, but if you do… there is a heap more below.
