Richmond are in the infant stages of their rebuild. The off-season saw a number of key figures leave for greener pastures, the list including seven premiership players, but none outside Dustin Martin were more than notable than forward dynamo Shai Bolton, who has finished in their top three goalkickers for the past three years.
The other two names topping the charts? Retired great Jack Reiwoldt and Tom Lynch, a stalwart of Richmond's forward line whose body is beginning to let him down with greater and greater frequency. With Bolton gone, Riewoldt retired and Lynch at times unreliable from an availability standpoint, who are Richmond's goalkickers going to be in 2025?
Looking at their leading names from 2024 in a snapshot, it is evident that Richmond's goalkicking woes stem deeper. Liam Baker finished third on their goalkicking leaderboard with just 14 majors and has now departed the club for the West Coast Eagles. Swingman Noah Balta - who ranked fifth for goals at Punt Road in 2024 - is facing a four-game suspension for off-field misconducts and looks set for a year down back.
Exciting talent Mykelti Lefau is also facing a delayed start to his second season while he continues to recover from an ACL injury that wiped out much of his debut season.
That leaves Rhyan Mansell as their lead goalkicking threat thus far after his 21 goals in 21 games last year.
An important place to start when identifying their potential goalkickers is to recognise who their tall targets will be. Putting Lynch - who can be one of the single most game-tearing forces in the competition - to the side, the tall options become a little more scarce.
Jacob Koschitzke came across from Hawthorn ahead of last season in what is looking more and more like his final chances at the AFL level. In 2024, he couldn't establish a rhythm or position and managed just 14 games and 12 goals to go along with it.
Samson Ryan has continued to make inroads as a future building block in the ruck or up forward for the Tigers. With more opportunities available, Ryan may be able to solidify himself as a pillar for the foreseeable future.
Youngster Jacob Bauer has upside, but a clean run and consistency have evaded him in the past.
Although their key forward stocks are limited, Richmond are brimming with medium and small-sized forwards. In his fifth season, it seems Mansell has finally settled in the forward line where his goal sense has been noticed. Maurice Rioli is still finding his footing, but comes from a long lineage of footballing pedigree and has shown more than glimpses of the sort of player he can become. Seth Campbell stepped up in 2024 and, despite track reports suggesting more time in midfield could be on the cards, Richmond's hands will be tied as they look for class and composure in the forward 50.
Tim Taranto was brought across from the Giants in a last-ditch effort to chase one more flag. That ship has officially sailed and the accumulator might be poised for a similar role that put a demise to his tenure at the Giants. Track watchers have noticed the former Giant training deep in the forward line, which could be a sign of things to come. It isn't beyond him, and it was a role he filled remarkably well in the absence of Toby Greene in the past.
For a team in Richmond's position, drafting more forward talent never goes astray. That started at Pick 1 with the selection of Sam Lalor. Stop me if you've heard this before, but the newly anointed No.1 pick has drawn comparisons to - you guessed it - Dustin Martin.
Strong inside the contest, Lalor has the ability to drift forward and create scoring opportunities for himself and teammates alike with classy decision making.
Josh Smillie, the seventh selection in last year's draft, doesn't quite bring as much forward craft to his immediate game, but he's got a tantalising physical profile, checking in at 195cm, and managed to leave a scoreboard impact during his draft campaign. With his size, Richmond will hope he can develop into a more damaging threat forward of centre.
Two other prized selections, Jonty Faull and Harry Armstrong, profile as key attacking pieces. Faull kicked 27 goals across his Talent League season while Armstrong booted a tremendous 60 goals across 19 games in 2024. Despite oozing with potential, it is hard to see any of these four being the level of contributor that will bring stability to Richmond's attack, at least for the year ahead.
Meaningful games under the wings of prospects such as Judson Clarke, Steely Green and Tyler Sonsie may also provide some reward for the Tigers. However, looking at 2025, Richmond will likely be a team that struggles to capitalise on the inside 50 opportunities they generate.
This shouldn't come as any surprise, as the off-season exodus transformed the age demographic from the fourth oldest list to the second youngest, a clear indication of the direction the club is heading.
Perhaps a game plan catered towards ensuring the ball comes to ground to give their plethora of small forwards ample opportunities to attack their opponents will be implemented for this season. Hopefully Richmond can transform into a formidable defensive outfit, because their attack at this stage looks grim. In the bigger picture, they can hopefully rely on the growth of Armstrong and Faull to usher in a new era of dominance.
