Richmond coach Adem Yze says Josh Gibcus and Noah Balta have enjoyed strong pre-seasons, as the defenders aim to have a big impact in 2026.

Gibcus overcame a horror injury run at the end of 2025, returning for the Round 24 clash against Geelong. It was his first AFL game since Round 1, 2024, and just his third since the 2022 season, when he won the Tigers’ Bill Cosgrove/Harry Jenkins Best First Year Player Award.  

The ninth pick in the 2021 draft has been a constant on the track throughout the summer, and Yze is excited to see what he can produce this season. 

“He’s going really well. He played a handful of (VFL) games late last year, and I was really eager to get him into the AFL team, especially for that last game, just (for him) to have a sense of what it was, get the feeling and get the speed of the game again and get an understanding,” Yze told SEN.

“I wanted to make sure that he knew that he was an AFL player. He’d been out of the game for two years, and I wanted him to get that feel to go away over pre-season as an AFL player.

“He's come back really fit. He did some off-season running with a few other players, and he's got his body in a position that he's got some belief in his body. He's starting to really see the benefits of that, and so are we, and we're really excited.

“I'm so excited for him, touch wood, I keep touching wood every time I talk about him. He just needs some luck because he's a highly talented kid and really driven, and he really deserves that luck.

“He's in a good spot, so you'll see him in the next few weeks when we start playing against opposition.”

Yze confirmed Balta has been training as a centre half-back and will play in that position this season, after he was used in both the attacking and defensive areas last year.

“That's where (centre half-back) he plays his best footy, and he's such a good leader down there,” Yze said.

“If you're witnessing training, he sees the game really well, he's a general down back, and the way he helps our younger key defenders is second to none.

“He understands last year was horrendous. He really put himself behind the eight ball by the indiscretion that he had, and by doing that, throwing him around was kind of his own doing.

“This year, we want to really reward him for having a good pre-season, but at the same time, playing in the position that he's really, really good at. He’s going to hopefully hold that position down back with Ben Miller and be really stable for us.”