Richmond have settled on a teenage star likened to Dustin Martin as the AFL’s No.1 draft pick, using the coveted selection on Victorian midfielder Sam Lalor.
Coming off a wooden spoon in Adem Yze’s first season as coach, the Tigers are poised to turbo-charge their rebuild with a raft of high-end draft selections.
They have a total of seven picks available in the first round, as well as the often-sought first pick of the second round.
Lalor, who has already been dubbed a potential replacement for Tigers legend Martin, was presented with his first Richmond jumper by retired triple-premiership captain Trent Cotchin on stage at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night.
An explosive goal-kicking midfielder, childhood Collingwood fan Lalor has modelled his game on both Martin and Magpies gun Jordan De Goey.
The Bacchus Marsh junior was drafted from Talent League club Greater Western Victoria Rebels, and captained both the Rebels and Vic Country.
Lalor revealed Richmond recruiting staff had told him 48 hours before the draft he would be the No.1 pick.
“There’s obviously a lot of pressure, but I think with Richmond this year they’ve got a lot of picks, so not all the spotlight’s going to be on me, which is what I’m looking forward to,” Lalor told Fox Footy.
“And I think just getting into a really good club like Richmond is gonna be so good and I can’t wait.”
Richmond allowed youngster Harry Toce – the son of former national recruiting manager Chris Toce, who died from cancer last month – to enter Lalor’s identification in the draft system.
“He’s backing me in, so that was awesome. Really enjoyed it,” Lalor said.
Richmond had previously not had a No.1 draft pick since Brett Deledio in 2004.
Since then, the Tigers’ highest selection had been Martin at pick three in 2009.
Martin retired in August as one of the greatest players in AFL history.
Lalor was also presented with the second Allen Aylett Medal as the competition’s No.1 draft pick, after Harley Reid claimed the inaugural version last year.
The award is named after former North Melbourne champion and VFL president Aylett, who died in September 2022.
