Richmond rookie Sam Lalor has been subbed out minutes into the Tigers' clash with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, reaggravating his hamstring injury that had left him sidelined since Round 11.
Lalor appeared to sustain the injury just one minute and 17 seconds into the first quarter while laying a tackle on Tom Atkins. He looked to be in serious discomfort, grimacing as he left the field. The Tigers officially ruled him out of the match shortly thereafter, replaced by Maurice Rioli Jr.
Tigers coach Adem Yze provided an update on the reigning Pick 1's injury.
Sam Lalor has been subbed out with a hamstring injury.#AFLCatsTigers pic.twitter.com/ExgYl5GewJ
— AFL (@AFL) July 5, 2025
"He's done the same one, and I think the mechanism's something that's hard to train. So yeah, it looks like a bad one, which is really disappointing," Yze said.
"He loves his club, and he loves his teammates, and he just wants to help. So when you see him go out of the game straight away, it flattened us.
"Not only flattened his teammates, but flattened us as coaches, because not only the talent, but he just deserves a good go at it."
Richmond were cautious in not rushing Lalor back into the senior side, managing his loads and even giving him more time on the sidelines to ensure his readiness.
"We were really cautious with him by giving him an extra week and bringing him in a week later. But I think that mechanism wouldn't have mattered when it happened," he said.
"The numbers that he was producing from training were ... like I said, he was ready the week before.
"So yeah, we've got to help him through that. We don't want this to happen again. We want him to have a long career without these little hiccups."
