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 |
|---|---|---|
4. Sam Lalor |
Knee |
Unavailable
Lalor had a collision incident involving his right knee late in the Round 22 AFL game. Read Article |
|
29. Jasper Alger |
Ankle |
Unavailable
Alger has pulled up with some ankle soreness after the Round 21 VFL game. Read Article |
|
21. Noah Balta |
Toe |
Season
Balta injured his toe after an awkward landing during a contest in Round 19. Read Article |
|
22. Sam Cumming |
Ankle/Shoulder |
Season
Cumming suffered a moderate grade syndesmosis injury in a tackle during Round 21. The ankle injury will not require surgery, but the Club will take the opportunity for him to go in and have his shoulder operated on. Read Article |
|
7. Rhyan Mansell |
Foot |
Season
The Club sought specialist opinion regarding Rhyan Mansell's foot soreness leading into Round 21. Following their assessment, the Club has made the decision to rule him out for the remainder of the year. Read Article |
|
38. Tom Sims |
Toe |
Season
Sims has some medial sesamoid pain, with the plan to offload him until he is pain-free. Read Article |
|
49. Kaleb Smith |
Quad |
Season
Smith sustained a quad strain in the July 19 VFL game. Read Article |
|
2. Jacob Hopper |
Ankle |
Season
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 |
|
16. Josh Smillie |
Quad |
Season
Smillie and the Club are entirely focused on setting him up for a full pre-season. Read Article |
4. Sam Lalor
Lalor had a collision incident involving his right knee late in the Round 22 AFL game.
Read Article
29. Jasper Alger
Alger has pulled up with some ankle soreness after the Round 21 VFL game.
Read Article
21. Noah Balta
Balta injured his toe after an awkward landing during a contest in Round 19.
Read Article
22. Sam Cumming
Cumming suffered a moderate grade syndesmosis injury in a tackle during Round 21. The ankle injury will not require surgery, but the Club will take the opportunity for him to go in and have his shoulder operated on.
Read Article
7. Rhyan Mansell
The Club sought specialist opinion regarding Rhyan Mansell's foot soreness leading into Round 21. Following their assessment, the Club has made the decision to rule him out for the remainder of the year.
Read Article
38. Tom Sims
Sims has some medial sesamoid pain, with the plan to offload him until he is pain-free.
Read Article
49. Kaleb Smith
Smith sustained a quad strain in the July 19 VFL game.
Read Article
2. Jacob Hopper
Hopper suffered a stress fracture in his ankle following the Round 14 game against Brisbane.
Read Article
8. Jonty Faull
Faull will miss the remainder of the 2026 AFL season due to stress fractures in his back.
Read Article
18. Josh Gibcus
Gibcus sustained an ACL sprain in the VFL Round 5 game.
Read Article
16. Josh Smillie
Smillie and the Club are entirely focused on setting him up for a full pre-season.
Read ArticleLast Updated:
