Richmond fully expect Marlion Pickett to return to football in round 16

Marlion Pickett won’t have to detail his legal fight to his teammates after being hit with serious charges by a Perth court.

Marlion Pickett has been welcomed back to Punt Road Oval. Picture: Michael Klein

Marlion Pickett won’t have to address his Richmond teammates and caretaker coach Andrew McQualter says he’s planning for the “resilient” premiership winner to return in round 16 as he and the club deal with serious burglary charges.

Pickett, a dual premiership player, was granted bail in a Perth court on Monday, having spent Sunday night in remand, and is facing 12 charges, including four counts of aggravated burglary, three counts of stealing and three counts of criminal damage.

The 31-year-old won’t play against St Kilda this weekend after a joint decision between himself and Richmond officials but resumed training at Punt Rd on Thursday and has the full support of his teammates.

Marlion Pickett trained with the Tigers but won’t play this weekend. Picture: Michael Klein

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said earlier this week the Tigers were giving Pickett the “presumption of innocence” and McQualter insisted he would be available for selection in the club’s clash against the Brisbane Lions after the bye.

“It’s been a big week for him, emotionally, but we’ll continue to support him,” McQualter said on Friday.

“He’s a resilient guy.

“He‘s been through a lot in his life, Marlion. We thought this week was appropriate just to give him the time off, but he’ll be fine.”

Former Richmond captain Trent Cotchin revealed Pickett had not addressed the playing group in the wake of his court appearance that his teammates were shocked by.

McQualter said Pickett “doesn’t need” to explain himself despite the seriousness of the allegations that he and his lawyer have said they would defend vigorously.

Instead, McQualter said Pickett would get the club’s full support while the matter played out and lauded his importance to the group.

“It’s not fair to say we are pretending it’s snot happening, but he doesn’t need to address our group,” he said.

“We love Marlion, we look after him and we understand what he’s about.

“We’ve just thrown our arms around him this week and welcomed him back to the club.”

Pickett gets a pat on the back from Richmond caretaker coach Andrew McQualter. Picture: Michael Klein

McQualter said the Pickett shock had not been a distraction this week, with the club also looking to celebrate Cotchin’s 300th game, which has been a big part of the build-up to the clash with the Saints.

“I think every time you play in a milestone game you have a little extra 1 per cent,” McQualter said.

“But it’s not going to win or lose you a game.

“We want to pay our respect to Trent in the way we play.”

Richmond has recorded back-to-back wins to keep finals hopes alive and needs to beat the Saints to remain in contention.

The Tigers included Maurice Rioli in the final 22 after Rhyan Mansell’s appeal against a three-match suspension failed on Friday morning.