YOUNG Richmond tall Tyrone Vickery will make his debut against the West Coast Eagles on Saturday night – new caretaker coach Jade Rawlings' first game in charge.

Vickery, 19, was recruited by the Tigers with their first-round pick, No. 8 overall, in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft.

The club was surprised that Vickery, who shone at the 2008 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships after returning from a knee reconstruction, was still available when its selection arrived and Tigers football manager Ross Monaghan said the club was rapt to snare the talented tall.

"We were excited to get him at selection eight in last year's draft – we were looking for a tall player who could play in the ruck and go forward so he's ideal from that point-of-view," Monaghan told richmondfc.com.au.

"He started the season slowly with a few games in the Coburg reserves and then found his feet at senior level. His first breakout game from our point-of-view was against Box Hill on Anzac Day – he kicked 3.5 that day and really presented well and showed he can play at senior level.

"Since then he's been really consistent."

Monaghan said the work rate of the teenager had impressed the match committee.

"We were more excited about the way he presented up and the way he went about it rather than the scores.

"The fact was that he got some results at the end of the day for his hard work."

At 200cm and 89kg, Vickery is expected to be used more as a forward rather than in the ruck – the position he will develop into over the coming years.

"He'll probably play both positions this week, similar to the role he's been playing at Coburg," said Monaghan.

"We think he's suitable for that – he's still got a massive amount of development in front of him, so his best footy is probably three or four years down the track."

Vickery's father John played for Collingwood and is the rehabilitation and conditioning coach at Richmond.