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 |
|---|---|---|
19. Tom Lynch |
Throat |
Test
Lynch sustained a larynx fracture in Round 11. Read Article |
|
34. Harry Armstrong |
Foot |
Test
Harry Armstrong suffered a bone stress in his foot during the Round 3 match with Fremantle. Read Article |
|
3. Dion Prestia |
Managed |
Round 18
Prestia suffered hamstring awareness in Round 16 against Collingwood. Read Article |
|
4. Sam Lalor |
Achilles |
Round 18-20
Lalor suffered a partial tear to his Achilles during a training session in the lead-up to Round 8. Read Article |
|
38. Tom Sims |
MCL |
Round 18-20
Sims sustained an MCL injury in the Round 9 VFL game. Read Article |
|
50. Campbell Gray |
Hamstring |
Round 19-23
Gray suffered a high-grade hamstring strain in Round 10. Read Article |
|
16. Josh Smillie |
Quad |
Round 20-22
Smillie sustained a small re-tear of the injury he acquired in February. 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 |
19. Tom Lynch
Lynch sustained a larynx fracture in Round 11.
Read Article
34. Harry Armstrong
Harry Armstrong suffered a bone stress in his foot during the Round 3 match with Fremantle.
Read Article
3. Dion Prestia
Prestia suffered hamstring awareness in Round 16 against Collingwood.
Read Article
4. Sam Lalor
Lalor suffered a partial tear to his Achilles during a training session in the lead-up to Round 8.
Read Article
38. Tom Sims
Sims sustained an MCL injury in the Round 9 VFL game.
Read Article
50. Campbell Gray
Gray suffered a high-grade hamstring strain in Round 10.
Read Article
16. Josh Smillie
Smillie sustained a small re-tear of the injury he acquired in February.
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 ArticleLast Updated:
