Sam Lloyd will be Richmond’s Homecoming Hero at Thursday night’s match against Carlton at the MCG.

The Tigers are set to pay tribute to Lloyd in the lead-up to the big Round 14 clash.

Lloyd will walk to the Punt Road end of the ground, where he’ll be greeted by the Tiger Army.

He’ll kick a ceremonial goal, then sign the football and present it to a Richmond fan in the crowd.

Highlights of Lloyd’s playing career with the Tigers also will be shown on the MCG’s big screens.

01:59

Sam Lloyd, a clever forward, was Richmond’s third pick (No. 66 overall) in the 2013 AFL national draft, recruited from VFL club Frankston where he had kicked 38 goals from 17 games that season.

Three years earlier (2010), while playing for Murray League club Deniliquin, Lloyd had booted more than 100 goals for the season.

Lloyd made his senior debut with the Tigers in Round 4 of the 2014 season against Collingwood at the MCG. He had 22 disposals, kicked three goals, and was one of the team’s best players.

With eight senior games all-up in 2014 and 10 goals, followed by 12 appearances and 13 goals in 2015, Lloyd was making solid progress at the game’s highest level.

It was the next season, however, that Lloyd produced his best football at Tigerland. He played all 22 games and kicked 35 goals (35.13).

The highlight of his season (and the team’s for that matter) came in a tight Round 8 encounter with Sydney at the MCG.

Richmond, having suffered six consecutive losses, was trailing by five points with just seconds remaining in the match.

The Tigers surged forward, and Lloyd marked a pass from teammate Ben Griffiths, about 45 metres out from goal at the Punt Road end of the ground on an angle.

As the final siren sounded, Lloyd coolly accepted the huge responsibility that had been placed on his shoulders.

His set shot sailed between the big sticks to give Richmond a stirring one-point win, much to the utter delight of teammates, coaches and the Tiger Army.

Lloyd couldn’t replicate his 2016 form over the course of his next couple of seasons with the Tigers, although he did win the Norm Goss Memorial Medal as best afield in the 2017 VFL grand final.

Richmond narrowly loss that premiership-decider against Port Melbourne, but Lloyd was brilliant in a midfield role, finishing the match with 35 disposals, nine clearances and 10 tackles.

He departed Punt Road at the end of the 2018 season, traded to the Western Bulldogs, where he subsequently spent a couple of years.

Sam Lloyd playing profile

Born: March 3, 1990

Height: 180cm

Playing weight: 83kg

Recruited to Richmond from: Frankston/Deniliquin

Guernsey number: No. 27

Games at Richmond (2014-2018): 57

Goals at Richmond: 69

Below is a list of Richmond's Homecoming Heroes since its inception in 2014...

2014, Rd 2: Michael Green 2014, Rd 4: Kevin Bartlett 2014, Rd 6: Bryan Wood
2014, Rd 13: Kevin Morris 2014, Rd 14: Wayne Walsh 2014, Rd 16: Barry Richardson
2014, Rd 19: Rex Hunt 2014, Rd 20: Francis Bourke 2015, Rd 2: Bill Barrot
2015, Rd 5: Andrew Kellaway 2015, Rd 7: Mark Lee 2015, Rd 9: Derek Peardon
2015, R12: Dale Weightman 2015, R15: Matthew Richardson 2015, R17: Dick Clay
2015, R20: Barry Rowlings 2016, R6: Matthew Rogers 2016, R7: Jake King
2016, R8: Nick Daffy 2016, R12: Nathan Foley 2016, R14: Dan Jackson
2016, R17: Scott Turner 2016, R20: Jim Jess 2016, R21: John Ronaldson
2016, R22: Graeme Bond 2017, R2: Roger Dean 2017, R3: Richard Clay
2017, R8: Mick Malthouse 2017, R10: Michael Mitchell 2017, R13: Shane Tuck
2017, R14: Paul Broderick 2017, R18: Stephen Mount 2017, R20: Graham Burgin
2017, R23: Trevor Poole 2018, R3: Michael Roach 2018, R4: Michael Gale
2018, R7: Craig Lambert 2018, R10: Stephen Rae 2018, R16: Chris Naish
2018, R19: Tony Jewell 2018, R20: Gareth Andrews 2018, R22: Mark Eustice
2018, R23: Nathan Brown 2019, R2: Geoff Raines 2019, R9: Darren Gaspar
2019, R10: Andrew Krakouer 2019, R12: Jeff Hogg 2019, R17: Greg Tivendale
2019, R18: Ivan Maric 2019, R21: Tony Free 2021, R7: Chris Hyde
2021, R8: Kayne Pettifer 2021, R17: Lionel Proctor 2022, R2: Jacob Townsend
2022, R4: Joel Bowden 2022, R8: Brett Deledio 2022, R10: Phil Egan
2022, R13: Kelvin Moore 2022, R14: Sam Lloyd