AFL Draft: Richmond debate jumper numbers as Sam Lalor chases Dustin Martin’s no.4.

Richmond is expected to announce the jumper numbers for its draft haul in the coming days, but club tradition could leave an array of famous numbers without owners in 2025. Have your say.

Richmond could resist the temptation to hand its new draftees the jumper numbers of triple premiership champions Dustin Martin, Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin in part to allow them to earn their stripes as Tigers players.

The club’s new No.1 overall pick Sam Lalor plays in the manner of the retiring champion Martin and having played junior footy in the No.4 is keen to secure that cherished jumper at Punt Road.

But Richmond coach Adem Yze told the Herald Sun the club would this week discuss whether handing the club’s draftees higher jumper numbers would provide a two-fold benefit.

It would take the pressure off some of those eight 2024 draftees but also follow a long-held tradition of players earning those early jumper numbers as Richmond men.

That decision will be made this week but not before weighing up the preferences of players including pick one Lalor, pick seven Josh Smillie, pick 12 Taj Hotton and pick 14 Jonty Faull.

Riewoldt played his entire career in the No.8 jumper, Trent Cotchin played 16 years in the No.9 jumper but Martin started with a much higher number before securing No.4 in his second season.

The historically important numbers of Dylan Grimes (Roy Wright and Ian Stewart’s No.2), Daniel Rioli (Jack Dyer’s 17) and Shai Bolton (Kevin Bartlett’s 29) are also available.

“It’s funny. I had that discussion with (Lalor) the other night on draft night, was sitting there just to get his feel for it and he is a confident kid, and they all are,” Yze told the Herald Sun.

We’ve not only just number four, we’ve got number nine available, number eight, so we’ve got a lot of single digit numbers.

“Dusty is a star, and so is Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt so those numbers are going to be taken eventually but we’ve just got to weigh up whether we want to do that straight away and put that sort of pressure on them, or whether they come into our program what you normally would for like a Rhyan Mansell (number 31) or Tom Brown (number 30).

Jonty Faull, Josh Smillie, Taj Hotton, Sam Lalor, Harry Armstrong and Luke Trainor were all taken in the first round by Richmond. Picture: Michael Klein

“They’ve come in and they’ve started in a higher number, and they’ve earned their spot in our team and then will move.

“So we’ll be making those decisions as a club over the next couple of days.

So we don’t want to put too much pressure on them, but at the same time, there’s an element that they’re coming into a footy club and we’ve got 35 other players that have sort of earned their way, and they’ve never really walked into a low number. Like Dusty started with 36 so we’ll make those decisions over the next couple of days.”

Yze said Tom Lynch had returned to the club and was fighting fit after two seasons out with hamstring and foot concerns but would likely be managed until post-Christmas.

The club’s four ACL victims Mykelti Lefau, Judson Clarke, Josh Gibcus and Tylar Young will all return to football early in the season but none are likely to be ready for round 1.

Lefau tore his ACL in the first days of June but has made excellent gains, while Gibcus (March injury), Clarke (mid-April) and Young (late May) will all be eased back in.

“Mykelti is moving really well. He’s done one before and he’s a powerful man so whether that helps but he’s probably in front of a few of the bigger boys. So Tylar, Judson and Gibcus are a little slower than him but going well.

“I think from round 3 or 4 they will start to integrate back into some footy. So at the start of the season they will be unavailable but they are progressing nicely.

“Lynch just loves the game and he’s our vice captain for a reason. He just wants to perform for the club. We are just trying to get him through a pre-season so he can hit the ground running and have an uninterrupted season because he deserves it.

“One of the young boys will probably live with him for a few weeks and that’s great but our main priority is to get him firing for round 1 so he can get out there against Carlton in round 1.”