David Astbury is Richmond’s final Homecoming Hero for the 2025 season.

The Tigers are set to pay tribute to their triple premiership key defender in the lead-up to Saturday’s Round 24 clash with Geelong at the MCG.

At 3:50pm, Astbury will walk to the Punt Road end, where he’ll receive the plaudits of the Tiger Army.

He’ll then kick a ceremonial goal, while highlights of his playing career will be shown on the MCG’s screens.

Richmond recruited Astbury with its third pick (No. 35 overall) in the 2009 AFL national draft from under-18s team North Ballarat Rebels.

He made his senior debut with the Tigers in Round 4 of the 2010 season against Melbourne at the MCG as a tall forward and impressed with an equal team-high three goals in a 55-point loss.

By late that season, Astbury was playing primarily as a defender, and he managed 17 senior appearances all-up in his debut year of AFL football.

The following year, however, was the start of a horror injury run for Astbury.

Two dislocated knee patellas, foot problems, and even being stung by a stingray, restricted him to just 24 senior games in the five seasons from 2011-2015.

It was an incredibly difficult time for Astbury, but his strength of character and resilience enabled him to overcome all those obstacles on the injury front.

The 2016 season was the start of his football resurrection. He managed to play 19 games at senior level, finally reached the 50-game milestone, and was a valuable contributor in the side’s defence.

From that point onwards, Astbury became an integral component of the Richmond dynasty – three premierships in four years – through his efforts on and off the field.

On-field, it was his intercept marking ability and all-round dependable, disciplined defensive work.

Off-field, he was one of the drivers of the strong cultural change within the playing group.

Astbury was rock-solid in the Tigers’ three Grand Final triumphs, highlighted by a miserly lockdown masterclass against Greater Western Sydney in 2019, restricting his opponent, Jeremy Finlayson, to a solitary disposal for the match.

His decision to retire at the end of the 2021 season, at just 30 years of age, was a surprise, but as he explained, “it really is a dream to be completely content with what my career consists of and be really proud of that...I am so proud that I have fulfilled my career and my dream at one club, this club".

Richmond great Matthew Richardson, who preceded Astbury in the No. 12 yellow and black guernsey, was a big fan of the way that the triple Tiger premiership key backman went about his business on the field and paid the following tribute to him when he retired.

“You need a big body down the line that can play on the tallest opposition forwards and Dave’s been that man. He’s done that in three premierships,” Richardson said.

“The way that we played over those three premierships, where we were able to defend the ground so well and force the opposition to kick down the line, Dave was able to win the ball back in the air or just get it to ground and then we got our surge mentality going off that.

“He was hugely critical to those three premierships.

“You knew what you were going to get out of Dave...he’s been so reliable and consistent.

“Being able to tick off the opposition’s tallest forward each week, over three premierships, that’s pretty good.

“His leadership down back has been important, too.

“With the way we’ve played and our system and defensive structure, you need leaders down there to keep that all together. And that’s been Astbury on the last line.

“It’s hard to find key-position players that you can rely on from week to week, so Dave has been a crucial part of the team.

“And he’s just a great guy, too. He doesn’t seek accolades at all. A very humble man.”

David Astbury Fact File
Born: February 26, 1991
Height: 195cm
Playing weight: 96kg
Recruited by Richmond from: Tatyoon/North Ballarat Rebels
Guernsey numbers at Richmond: No. 12, No.39
AFL debut: Round 4, 2010 v Melbourne, MCG
Games (2010-2021): 155
Goals: 9
Honours: Triple Richmond premiership player (2017, 2019, 2020)

Richmond's Homecoming Heroes since 2014...