Richmond's High Performance Manager, Ben Serpell, has declared Judson Clarke available for selection this week, having worked his way back from his third ACL injury. Read more on Clarke's resilient road to recovery HERE.
Key forwards Tom Lynch and Harry Armstrong are also expected to make their returns, given they get through main training this week.
Despite a defeat to Collingwood over the weekend, Serpell took confidence from both Rhyan Mansell and Jack Ross' return to AFL footy.
“Rossy came straight back into the side and got through some good minutes, and it was great to see Rhyan Mansell out there, in his return to AFL football, having played a game at VFL the week before,” Serpell said.
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Injury Report: Round 17
Ben Serpell provides an update on the injury list ahead of Round 17.
Judson Clarke: ACL, Available
Harry Armstrong: Foot, Test
“Both Harry and Juddy are doing really well at the moment,” Serpell said.
“We can confidently say that Juddy will get through some minutes this weekend, and he's available for selection.
"For Harry, we just want to get him through one more session, and we'll list him as a test for this weekend and hopefully see him out there with managed minutes.”
Tom Lynch: Throat, Test
“Lynchy’s just got to have a scan tomorrow and provided healing on that larynx fracture's gone ok, then he'll be available for selection this weekend," Serpell said.
Dion Prestia: Managed, Round 18
“Dion came to the bench with a bit of hamstring awareness in the first quarter,” Serpell said.
“He got through the rest of the game, but given who he is and his history, we're going to manage him this weekend.”
Sam Lalor: Achilles, Round 18-20
“He's definitely going in the right progression. As I said last week, he'd be on the longer end of his return to play guidelines, and we're still sticking firm with that,” Serpell said.
“But [he’s] definitely getting into more footy drills as we go over the next couple of weeks.”
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Tom Sims: MCL, Round 18-20
“He's going really well, got through his first football session today,” Serpell said.
“Provided he gets through a little bit more this week, we'd anticipate him being available for some minutes next weekend.”
Josh Smillie: Quad, Round 20-22
“Josh is going really well at the moment,” Serpell said.
“He's going to get through the majority of training this week, and then we'll hopefully get him through two or three weeks of full training and available for selection.
“We're anticipating he's going to start playing around about Round 20.”
Jacob Hopper: Ankle, TBC
“Not a whole lot to update you on with Jacob Hopper,” Serpell said.
“We're hoping that he gets in the AlterG a bit later this week and get through some reduced load running, and after that we'll be able to give you a bit more of an idea of how he's progressing.”
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| Player | Injury | Estimated Return |
|---|---|---|
|
3. Dion Prestia |
Hamstring |
Test
Prestia suffered hamstring awareness in Round 16 against Collingwood. Read Article |
|
47. Oliver Hayes-Brown |
Knee |
Test
Hayes-Brown is a test to return to availability after recovering from knee soreness. Read Article |
|
38. Tom Sims |
MCL |
Test
Sims sustained an MCL injury in the Round 9 VFL game. Read Article |
|
4. Sam Lalor |
Achilles |
Round 20
Lalor suffered a partial tear to his Achilles during a training session in the lead-up to Round 8. Read Article |
|
16. Josh Smillie |
Quad |
Round 20-22
Smillie sustained a small re-tear of the injury he acquired in February. Read Article |
|
50. Campbell Gray |
Hamstring |
Round 20-23
Gray suffered a high-grade hamstring strain in Round 10. Read Article |
|
5. Jack Ross |
Concussion |
TBC
Ross suffered a concussion in Richmond's Round 17 AFL game. Read Article |
|
49. Kaleb Smith |
Concussion |
TBC
Smith sustained a concussion in Round 15 of the VFL. Read Article |
|
11. Luke Trainor |
Concussion |
TBC
Trainor sustained a concussion at training in the lead-up to Round 17. Read Article |
|
2. Jacob Hopper |
Ankle |
TBC
Hopper suffered a stress fracture in his ankle following the Round 14 game against Brisbane. Read Article |
|
8. Jonty Faull |
Back |
Season
Faull will miss the remainder of the 2026 AFL season due to stress fractures in his back. Read Article |
|
18. Josh Gibcus |
Knee |
Season
Gibcus sustained an ACL sprain in the VFL Round 5 game. Read Article |
3. Dion Prestia
Prestia suffered hamstring awareness in Round 16 against Collingwood.
Read Article47. Oliver Hayes-Brown
Hayes-Brown is a test to return to availability after recovering from knee soreness.
Read Article38. Tom Sims
Sims sustained an MCL injury in the Round 9 VFL game.
Read Article4. Sam Lalor
Lalor suffered a partial tear to his Achilles during a training session in the lead-up to Round 8.
Read Article16. Josh Smillie
Smillie sustained a small re-tear of the injury he acquired in February.
Read Article50. Campbell Gray
Gray suffered a high-grade hamstring strain in Round 10.
Read Article5. Jack Ross
Ross suffered a concussion in Richmond's Round 17 AFL game.
Read Article49. Kaleb Smith
Smith sustained a concussion in Round 15 of the VFL.
Read Article11. Luke Trainor
Trainor sustained a concussion at training in the lead-up to Round 17.
Read Article2. Jacob Hopper
Hopper suffered a stress fracture in his ankle following the Round 14 game against Brisbane.
Read Article8. Jonty Faull
Faull will miss the remainder of the 2026 AFL season due to stress fractures in his back.
Read Article18. Josh Gibcus
Gibcus sustained an ACL sprain in the VFL Round 5 game.
Read ArticleLast Updated: