When you see Sam Toner kicking goals and producing mesmerising highlights for Richmond’s VFL side, his immense talent is obvious to everyone.

But despite all of that, his journey to get to this level has been anything but straightforward or easy.

At just 20 years of age, it has been one long road to arrive at Tigerland for Toner, who played local footy for Narre Warren for many years.

“I grew up in Cranbourne South and lived there all the way up until I was 13,” Toner said.

“It was mayhem in that house with three boys, it was always a very sporty and competitive household and it was awesome to be so close with my brothers (Tom and Ben).”

Starting out playing at Narre Warren South Lions when he was just seven years of age, Toner moved through the ranks and later began playing for the Narre Warren Magpies.

This is where the forward started to excel with his footy, but despite that, his lifelong dream of playing AFL gradually began to fade away.

“I played with a few of my cousins and played two years of Under-19s (at Narre Warren)...in my last year I won the league best and fairest and league goal kicking,” Toner said.

“I thought something might come of that, some sort of opportunity but nothing really did…so I just kept plying my trade at local level.

“It was always a goal of mine [to play AFL], I would be lying if I said it wasn’t.

“But as I got older, it kind of felt like it wasn’t going to happen and the hope was just to play footy at the highest level I could.”

In 2024, at just 18, Toner’s football journey took an unexpected turn for the better, while playing senior football for his local club.

He followed up a stellar 2023 season where he kicked 52 goals in the Under-19s, raising the bar and stepping up to senior footy in 2024, kicking 50 goals in 13 games.

“I was just playing with so much confidence,” Toner said.

“It got towards the back end of my 13 games [in seniors], where I think I kicked 13 in two weeks against two pretty good teams.

“I got called up to the Talent League…Coxy [Dandenong Stingrays coach Nick Cox] rang me on the Tuesday and asked for a few of my clips. By Tuesday night I was training with them.”

It didn't take Toner long to make his mark at the level, kicking a bag of five goals against Eastern Ranges, in just his second game, drawing the attention of many onlookers.

“It was only after my second or third game of Talent League, Coxy pulled me into his office at training and said 'you got a [Draft] Combine invite,” Toner said.

“Four weeks ago, I was playing local footy and I never thought this is what would come from the Talent League opportunity."

With his ultimate footballing dream appearing closer than ever, yet another setback was on the horizon for Toner, sustaining a wrist injury, which resulted in him missing the back end of the season and subsequently being overlooked in the 2024 AFL Draft.

“I spoke to seven clubs throughout the process. The hardest part was, I couldn’t let my footy do the talking anymore because I broke my wrist,” Toner said.

“I got to this point and it felt like it got taken away from me.

“I was in a cast for eight weeks and I trained with Ben Benson [Dandenong Stingrays Strength and Conditioning Coach]. He gave me a program and I stuck to that and just tried to train for the State Draft Combine.

“I thought I was going to get picked up, but the sample size in the end was just too small.”

After going away with his partner and taking some time to reset and digest the disappointment of missing out on an AFL opportunity, Toner moved forward and set his sights on the next challenge.

Although the disappointment was hard to shake, in time, Toner saw the months leading up to the AFL Draft as a real positive, finally breaking new ground after working hard for so many years.

“It was pretty disheartening [not being drafted], I just turned my phone off for a few days and went away with my girlfriend,” Toner said.

“But it was also definitely rewarding…in a matter of two or three months I went from playing local footy out at Mount Evelyn, to going and speaking with AFL clubs.

“OG [Oliver Grant, Richmond’s Victorian Recruiting Manager] was in the Richmond meeting when I first met with them.

“He didn’t rush me, he just let me go and reset down at the Murray River for a few days…I came back and trained and it has been the best program ever.”

After signing with Richmond ahead of the 2025 VFL season, it wasn’t the easiest of introductions to state-league level for the self-confessed “skinny and scrawny” kid from Narre Warren.

“I remember coming here and going, 'where am I?'. It felt nuts,” Toner said.

“It was a bit of a shock at the start, it took a while for my body to adjust to it. I was still a pretty skinny, scrawny kid and would’ve only weighed 70 kilograms.

“Coming in and doing my first full pre-season, I remember the drive back, it is a 45-minute drive home and I would get home and be knackered, so it took me a few months to get used to it.”

A teenager at the time, Toner found himself on the edge of the team through the early stages of the 2025 VFL season, before a few games reignited his form and confidence.

“I went and played in the Young Guns games over two weeks and I played pretty well there and got my confidence back,” Toner said.

“I was playing on the wing [at VFL level] and probably didn’t have the biggest tank for it at that point…it was a whole different positional change for me.

“It was really good for Batch [former Richmond VFL coach Jake Batchelor] to give me an opportunity to play on the wing and build my tank to what it is now.

“Then this year, obviously a new face in Madge [Richmond VFL coach Jack Madgen] and he saw me as a bit more of a forward and it has paid off so far.”

The 20-year-old has started the 2026 season in fine form, kicking 10 goals in his first five games, which includes a bag of six on Easter Sunday against St Kilda at RSEA Park and three goals in the Tigers big win over Southport back in Round 1.

Toner will be looking to keep his strong form going and put his name up in lights once more, as his season progresses.