Richmond coach Adem Yze says Tigers young gun Sam Lalor has “a heart of gold” as his strong start to the season continued in Sunday’s clash with North Melbourne.
The number one draft pick booted two goals to go along with his 16 disposals in Richmond’s narrow defeat to North.
Lalor is averaging 14.4 disposals, 6.8 contested possessions, 3.6 marks, 1.0 goals, 5.1 score involvements, 2.1 inside-50s, 2.8 tackles and 173.8 metres gained across the first nine games of his AFL career.
Among the competition’s rising stars, he is ranked No. 1 for contested possessions, No. 1 for goal assists, No. 3 for handballs, No. 3 for goals, No. 3 for score involvements, No. 4 for clearances, No. 4 for centre clearances and No.4 for tackles.
“Sammy Lalor is an outlier, to look like he belongs on an AFL field straight away is unusual,” Yze said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“Watching him at training, you always feel like he could have an impact straight away because he is a big boy, he was a man when he walked into our building.
“He is such a great character. He has leadership qualities and he drives standards at our footy club and has a heart of gold.
“He is always supporting his teammates. He is really close with his family and then what he does on the field, he is just highly talented.
“We are really lucky to have him and he is starting to grow.
“He is so honest with his game. He knew last week that he didn’t play well enough and he always wants to impact the game at any stage and that’s what we are trying to do. We will give him opportunity inside.
“On the weekend he was really impactful every time he went inside our forward 50.”
Port Adelaide premiership player Kane Cornes is also a massive Lalor fan, as these comments by him following the talented Tiger teenager’s performance in Round 10 clearly indicate.
“Lalor’s the future…he’s the future of the whole of the competition,” Cornes said.
“He kicked two goals, his mark - that was a five-on-one contested mark in the goal square. What first-year player does that?
“He just rarely makes a mistake. You’ve got to watch him really closely. Just does the right thing at the right time.
“It’s really good management for the footy Club. It wasn’t a consensus that he was going to be the No.1 pick, but that was the man Richmond identified, and they’ve absolutely nailed it.”
