Richmond confirms that young midfielder Josh Smillie has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.

The Club had been working towards Smillie returning via the VFL in the next two to three weeks but has made the decision to not risk the youngster.

Richmond has a VFL Bye in Round 19, meaning there would have only been two matches remaining for the 20-year-old to return in.

“Josh has worked extremely diligently in his rehab from quad surgery in the pre-season and the unfortunate set back that he had earlier this year,” Richmond Executive General Manager, Football Performance, Tim Livingstone said.

“He has returned to the main training group in recent weeks and has been completing most drills.

“However, given his limited training exposure to date, there is still some risk with exposing him to game like conditions in the short term.

“We have therefore made the ultra-conservative decision not to return to play in 2026 so we can focus entirely on setting him up for a full pre-season.

“Ultimately, we all agree that this is the best decision for the long-term.

"We will give Josh our full support and we know he is driven, excited and looking forward to starting pre-season fully fit.”