Richmond coach Adem Yze has provided an update on young midfielder Sam Cumming, who underwent shoulder surgery in early August. 

Cumming played 14 games in his debut campaign and averaged 15.4 disposals, establishing himself as a key pillar in the Tigers' engine room. He had a standout performance in the Round 16 clash against Collingwood, amassing 27 disposals, 12 contested possessions and four clearances.

Speaking on Talking Tigers, Yze confirmed Cumming's surgery was a success, while he also outlined the toughness and grit displayed by the No.7 pick this season to play through pain.

"A smile comes across my face when you mention his name, he's an amazing kid, really tough and a great teammate," Yze said.

"He earned the respect of his teammates from the minute he walked into our footy club, and then he had the unfortunate little setback with his shoulder, but you wouldn't have known it...he was playing at 70% for the 14 games that he played. 

"Obviously we'd prepared him, he had a clear understanding of what date he was going to go in because what we wanted to do was obviously get as many games and make sure that he didn't have any interruption but at the same time, let's book in your surgery so it doesn't impact on your pre-season. 

"There was always going to be a couple of games that he was going to miss. 

"During that time, I asked him, 'how did it feel out there? Was there any parts of your game [you felt you missed]?'...because there were times you could see when he went to the right side that he wasn't tackling, because he is a bull. He's a maniac and he's going to be really exciting for our footy club. 

"And he did say that, 'there was a couple of times I didn't feel like I could tackle, and I was a little bit worried about it when I was going for my marks' because he can go forward, he's strong overhead, so we sort of missed that. 

"For a young kid to get through a season and do that, with that in the back of his mind, it's just the type of guy that we've got, and that's why he went so high in the Draft. 

"He'll be obviously better for it, he's got through that and like I said, hopefully it doesn't impact [pre-season]. He'll be probably non-contact up until Christmas, but the minute he walks in, he'll be able to run and do everything with a yellow hat on without that impact. 

"We'll have to hold him back a little bit because now he's pain-free, he's going to try and hurt everyone in training, which is pretty cool."