In exciting news for Richmond fans, defensive duo Sydney Stack and Ben Miller have both put pen to paper on contract extensions to see them through 2022.
Both players have found themselves on the fringes throughout their short careers at Tigerland, with the former in Stack coming back into the side towards the backend of this season.
The 21-year-old had a tumultuous 2020, with a brawl outside a Gold Coast strip club followed by a COVID-quarantine breach putting his career in jeopardy.
However, the Perth native had a considerably better 2021, appearing in the final seven matches of the season in a new role down in defence.
Meanwhile, Miller has found opportunities few and far between since being drafted at pick 63 in the 2017 national draft.
The 22-year-old only debuted in Round 23 of season 2021 against the Hawks, however has impressed coach Damien Hardwick enough to earn a deal to stay on for season 2022.
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The Tigers General Manager of Football Talent, Blair Hartley, expressed his gratitude towards the pair's efforts and was happy they re-signed.
โBoth Sydney and Ben were able to work their way into the AFL line-up late this season, which should hold them in good stead for 2022,โ Hartley said to the club's official website.
โWe are excited about what they can achieve next year with another pre-season under their belts and look forward to working with them this summer.โ
The Tigers' defensive stocks were annihilated in season 2021, with consistent injuries to the likes of Noah Balta, David Astbury and Nathan Broad meaning the back six had no chance to gel properly.
With the retirements of the aforementioned Astbury and Bachar Houli plus the delisting of Derek Eggmolese-Smith and Ryan Garthwaite, Richmond now head into the off-season down on numbers in defence.
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Despite this, the signing of North Melbourne veteran Robbie Tarrant has been a welcome one amongst the Tiger faithful, with the 33-year-old set to bring experience and quality to Punt Road.
The emergence of Rhyan Mansell throughout the year coupled with the move of mercurial forward Daniel Rioli to half-back has given the club much cause for excitement over what the future holds.
Richmond head into this year's national draft with the strongest hand in the entire competition and arguably the best set of picks the club has ever had.
The Tigers hold picks 7, 15, 26, 27, 28, 83 after a pick swap on Monday with Collingwood - an absolute monster array of selections that the club will be hoping can set them up for the foreseeable future.
