The inside word on Richmond budding star Sam Lalor’s growth at Tigerland

It’s been a perfect start to the career of No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor and he is going so well one veteran teammate can’t find any faults, but the teen star has declared the one thing he can’t do.

A gun cricketer who chose football, became the AFL’s No.1 draft pick and collected a Rising Star nomination in his first game – it’s hard to find any dirt on Richmond wunderkind Sam Lalor.

An 18-year-old who isn’t exactly Heston Blumenthal in the kitchen is hardly dirt, but cooking skills may be one talent that’s missing.

In seven weeks living with Richmond teammate Nathan Broad, his wife, Tayla, and young daughter, Samara, Lalor took charge of dinner just once.

Sam Lalor bangs through the first goal of his career. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

“I think I only cooked once the whole two months I was there. I did a salmon rice bowl,” Lalor said with a chuckle.

Broad said Tayla maybe “didn’t trust” what Lalor would put on the dining table but he “was always asking to help”.

When asked for something Lalor didn’t do well, Broad just laughed.

“I think he has it all going for him, he has nailed it,” the veteran defender said.

“We loved having him. My wife said if he gets stuck or anything he is always welcome back.”

On the first night Lalor stepped into the Broad home in Ivanhoe, he became part of the family.

He has since moved in with a host family.

“He walked in on the first night and I said, ‘Let’s get to know each other’,” Broad said.

“His favourite music? Zach Bryan. I said, ‘Yep, same’.

“What’s your favourite meal? He said barbecue, I said, ‘Yep, same, we might have one tonight actually.’

“I said to him, ‘What do you do in your spare time?’ He said, ‘I am from the country so I like to go and sit around, camp on the river, just relax’. And I said, ‘Yep, same’.”

Lalor moved in with Nathan and Tayla Broad in his early days at Richmond.

The praise for the No.1 draftee has been so overwhelming he had to bat off comparisons to Tigers legend Dustin Martin after he used that familiar combination of brawn and skill to help overrun Carlton in round 1.

Broad can “definitely see those traits” that made Martin a champion but “we try to tell him that you are Sam Lalor, go and be Sam Lalor”.

The pressure of being the top pick has been intense on Jason Horne-Francis and Harley Reid in recent years, but Lalor hasn’t felt any of that.

“I had a lot of boys come in with me, so it’s been fine,” Lalor said.

“Around the club, people just make me feel like I am another person. They don’t treat me any differently inside the club. It doesn’t matter where you got picked or how old you are. We are all the same, we don’t treat people any differently.

“I don’t look at it externally, it is pretty chill.”

The Richmond leaders haven’t felt any need to quietly bring Lalor back down to earth.

“He is so grounded, we don’t need to do too much with him at the moment. He is ticking the boxes,” Broad said.

“He just doesn’t let it get to his head. He rocks up as Sam Lalor every day which is a great trait to have, he is just himself.”

Those who watch closely backed Lalor to top a stacked draft in November because of his added leadership ability.

One game in, he appears ready to take on the weight of the role in leading the Tiger Army.

Seth Campbell pulled out the backflip. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

“I think we are just a really close group where everyone wants to get better and we bounce off each other a lot,” Lalor said.

“There is no expectation on us in the four walls, we don’t put any pressure on each other. We know it is going to take time and hopefully we get there in a few years. It would be pretty cool to start from the bottom and get to the top together.”

There is one thing Lalor isn’t interested in attempting, because he knows he wouldn’t pull it off.

Don’t expect any backflip celebrations, like the one teammate Seth Campbell displayed late in the triumph over Carlton.

“I’m not doing that, I would embarrass myself,” he said.

Even Sam Lalor has some limits.

Originally published as The inside word on Richmond budding star Sam Lalor’s growth at Tigerland