Richmond have confirmed that Josh Gibcus will undergo surgery on Thursday to repair his upper right hamstring tendon after suffering an injury at training earlier in the week.
The injury blow comes after an impressive debut season for the young defender, managing 18 games in 2022, averaging 9.2 disposals across the year.
The 19-year-old was selected by the Tigers with Pick 9 in the 2021 National Draft, making his debut soon after in Round 1, 2022.
The hamstring injury, which was suffered on Monday, is expected to keep Gibcus on the sidelines for the early rounds of the 2023 season.
Gibcus joins what is a sparse injury list down at Punt Road, with just Tom Lynch (plantar fasciitis), Nick Vlastuin (rib) and Jack Graham (toe) the other Tigers of concern.
Richmond's 2023 campaign gets underway on Thursday, March 16 against Carlton at the MCG.