Richmond news 2024: Adem Yze says Tigers won’t be rushing Dustin Martin or Tom Lynch back despite 18th ladder position

Richmond are last on the ladder, but coach Adem Yze says it won’t force him to rush back injured stars although the Tigers remain intent on winning games.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA - JULY 06: Adem Yze, Senior Coach of the Tigers addresses the players at the break during the 2024 AFL Round 17 match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Richmond Tigers at Optus Stadium on July 06, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Wooden-spoon favourite Richmond will not rush stars Dustin Martin and Tom Lynch back into action, but coach Adem Yze is determined to fight for late-season wins as he continues blooding Tiger cubs.

Richmond was outclassed by Fremantle on the road on Saturday night as Yze handed mid-season draftee Jacob Blight the early role on Docker forward Josh Treacy.

He was well-beaten and replaced eventually by Ben Miller, but for Yze it was another chance to get experience into a younger player who will be instrumental in the club’s build.

North Melbourne’s win over Gold Coast saw them rise out of 18th spot and it would be positive for Richmond’s draft chances – if not player morale – if the Tigers stayed in last place. It would hand them the first rookie pick and pre-season pick as well as the No.1 overall draft selection.

Dustin Martin leaves the ground after being subbed out of the Tigers clash with Carlton. Picture: Michael Klein

Martin barely got out of a trot in a fitness test on his injured back, but has an eight-day break before a 3.20pm clash against Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.

Lynch is still at least a fortnight away – despite a minor hamstring strain – given his history of soft-tissue concerns.

But Yze said the Tigers, finally at rock bottom from a ladder perspective after their premiership dynasty of 2017-2020, would fight to the end.

“That is what we expect and our fans expect. We are not going to give up on the season,” he said.

“We spoke about that going into this week. There is plenty to play for and we have a lot of fans who expect us to win and our players do (too).

“We will keep looking to put games into our younger players, Kaleb Smith has been in good form in the VFL, Sam Banks came in and looked OK when he came on in the second half, Kane McAuliffe is getting good opportunities in the midfield.

“I feel like our execution let us down at times and the scoreboard didn’t really show how close the game was in my eyes.”

There is no obvious benefit to pushing Martin when he is half-fit, but Richmond will assess his back issue early in the week after he missed against the Dockers.

“He tried to train and didn’t really get through the warm-up so his back was a bit crook,” Yze said.

“It will all be around how he feels on Monday and Tuesday, we wait to see how he walks in (to the club) early in the week. We have an eight-day break so its based on his body and if he walks in on Monday and Tuesday and if he can train, that’s how we have to manage him.

“Dion Prestia was a chance this week, hopefully he gets a full week of training in.”

Originally published as Richmond news 2024: Adem Yze says Tigers won’t be rushing Dustin Martin or Tom Lynch back despite 18th ladder position