Richmond pair Mykelti Lefau and Maurice Rioli Jnr have both extended their time at Punt Road till at least the end of 2026.
The duo signed two-year contract extensions committing to the Tiger Army.
Lefau debuted in Round 2 this year after arriving at the club through the 2023-24 Pre-Season Supplemental selection after showing strong form in the club's VFL team.
The 26-year-old had a great 10 games for the club, kicking 14 goals before he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during round 12 against Geelong.
This is the forward second ACL tear after he did it in 2022 in the VFL.
The New Zealand-born athlete only moved to Melbourne in 2012, previously playing for St Kilda City where he found out he should take AFL seriously. This then followed stints at Casey's VFL side and he was also a former Melbourne Storm development squad NRL player.
Lefau is known for his athleticism, forward pressure and aerial craft, and will help fill the gap of Dusty Martin's retirement in the forward line when Lefau recovers from his injury.
Rioli has played 35 games for Richmond since debuting in 2021. The 21-year-old arrived at the club through the 2020 AFL Draft father-son selection.
The forward was having a great start to the year like Lefau before suffering a significant ankle injury in Round 10 resulting him in missing three months of footy.
Rioli has since returned and played in the VFL for the past two weeks.
The son of Maurice Rioli Sr was in some great form this year before his injury with a career-high 17 disposals, and six tackles in Round 4 against Sydney. Also kicked two goals and had 14 touches in the ANZAC Day Eve clash against Melbourne.
Richmond General Manager, Football Talent Blair Hartley said it was exciting to have Lefau and Rioli extend their time at the Club.
โMykelti and Maurice have exciting skillsets and showed this year that they make us a better team,โ he said.
โMaurice has worked hard on his game across his four years with us and should take great confidence into next year from the form he was able to produce when fit and firing.
โFor Mykelti his contract is a great reward for the hard work he has put in behind the scenes since joining our AFL program.
โWe have great faith he will return fitter and stronger in 2025, and we are looking forward to having his unique versatility back in our team.
โBoth players have great upside in their game, and we are delighted that we will see more of them over the coming years.โ
