Richmond will try to secure only its second win of the season when it faces Euro-Yroke at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, and coach Adem Yze says the Tigers believe their ruck work is improving at the right time. Toby Nankervis remains sidelined, so Noah Balta and Oliver Hayes-Brown will again carry the load against Tom De Koning and Rowan Marshall in Round 10.
Yze said this morning that Balta's work with Hayes-Brown has sharpened Richmond's ruck craft and improved the team's synergy around stoppages. He said the club's stoppage numbers, ruck numbers and clearance numbers have climbed over the last month, and that the battle inside will be central to how much supply the Tigers can generate forward.
Hayes-Brown has played only three AFL games but showed some presence against Adelaide last week with nine hit-outs. Balta finished that match with eight hit-outs and 268 meters gained, a sign Richmond is leaning on him for more than one job while Nankervis stays out.
That contest in the middle also matters because Richmond wants territory. Yze said the team needs clearance wins to lock the ball in its front half, and he expects Sunday to be a hard fight for that reason. The coach said Balta and Hayes-Brown have given Richmond a chance in the ruck, and that the side will need that edge against a strong opponent if it is to build enough pressure around the ground.
Richmond's selection call adds another layer. Noah Roberts-Thomson, the club's 54th pick in the 2025 draft, will make his AFL debut on Sunday after a strong Round 7 for Williamstown in the VFL, where he collected 18 disposals and kicked four goals. It is the sort of promotion Richmond has been able to make while searching for form, and it gives the club another look at a young player as it tries to steady its season.
The timing is clear enough. Richmond is chasing a result that would barely change the table but could still change the tone around the club, and it will have to do it without its skipper in the ruck against one of the better combinations in the competition.
