Tigers midfielder Tim Taranto joined Konrad Marshall, a devoted Richmond supporter and Senior Writer for Good Weekend and The Age, on the third episode of Konversations with Konrad, sharing the untold stories of key Club figures.

While the rest of her friends were travelling and partying in their early 20's, Tim Taranto's mum, Jess, was on a completely different path.

After giving birth to her son when she was just a teenager, Taranto's mum was on a path of sacrifice to provide for her son and help him to make his dreams of playing AFL come true.

Flash forward to 2025, and he owes all his success to his mum, who had him when she was just a teenager.

"Mum was 16 or 17 (when she had me). She had me quite young, but did an incredible job. She's an amazing woman, a really inspiring person," Taranto shared on episode three of Konversations with Konrad.

"She was working a couple of jobs at different times, she was working at the airport for a few years there, when I was really young. There were a lot of times where she was out, trying to support me financially.

"I would be looked after by other people - my grandparents, my uncle, my friends, cause she was out, busting her arse to make a living for us."

Growing up in the inner suburbs of Melbourne's south east, Taranto's childhood was joyful and filled with sport.

It took him into his teenage years to understand the sacrifices made by his mum, to give him the best chance of success as an elite athlete, while giving up so much of her own life.

"Especially as a young 20-year-old, doing that type of stuff (making sacrifices). I think back to when I was 20, trying to figure out life and who you are. To do that, as well as raising a three, four, five-year-old, working full time and not having any time for yourself, not having any time to go hang out with your friends, which is what you want to do at that age, it's pretty incredible," he said.

"The way she's come out the other side of it a better person and done some pretty incredible things since then, is why she's a pretty inspiring person for me."

Taranto's father, Phillip, moved back to the US when he was a toddler, so it was up to Jess, who is now a successful nurse, to give Taranto all he needed to play football.

And her hard work paid off.

While in NSW, the 27-year-old was crowned the Kevin Sheedy medallist, the Giants' best and fairest in 2019, after a career-best season that ended with a Grand Final loss to Richmond.

At the end of the 2022 season, after 114 games with the Giants, Taranto made the call to move back to Victoria, joining Richmond at the start of 2023.

While he wasn't a direct part of Richmond's three premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020, he instantly made an impact as a leader, winning the Club's Jack Dyer Medal as the best and fairest in his first season.

Now a solid part of Richmond's leadership group, Taranto admits that he still leans on the veterans, who are helping the next generation of Tigers, for his own inspiration.

"You talk about Broady (Nathan Broad), Shorty (Jayden Short), (Tom) Lynch, (Toby) Nankervis, (Nick) Vlastuin, (Dion) Prestia. These guys have won two, three flags each. They come into work everyday like they haven't," he said.

"Because they want to give everything they have, so Luke Trainor can win a flag, Sam Lalor can win a flag. They're giving everything."

It's a brave and selfless move for those premiership Tigers to make, with the Club firmly sticking to their re-generation with fresh faces under coach Adem Yze, who is in just his second year at the helm.

"Maybe there's guys in the AFL who have won two or three (premierships) and maybe they just take their foot off the gas a little bit," Taranto said.

"It says a lot about them, that they're not doing that, they're actually pushing just as hard as they ever were, because they want others to succeed.

"I look up to those leaders. The way they come into work everyday, it's unbelievable that they've achieved so much, yet they're still pushing as hard as they ever have.

"It also says a lot about the Club. The Club's created a culture and environment where it's not about you, it's about the person next to you. 

"That's why I'm confident that the Club's going to be okay."

Join Konrad Marshall every second Wednesday for Konversations with Konrad. Richmond President John O'Rourke is the next special guest.