Lachlan Street will lead Richmond as captain for a fourth VFL season, supported by Mutaz El Nour, Joel Garner, Liam George and Nick ‘Bob’ Girolami.
Street was appointed captain of Richmond’s VFL side for a fourth consecutive season following a vote by his teammates during their pre-season camp in Dromana.
The 26-year-old enters his seventh season at the Club this year.
“You've got your own way of leading,” VFL coach Jake Batchelor said of the inside midfielder in front of the playing group recently.
“You don't want to get in the way of people's growth, (and) you've got a real open mind to letting players figure things out themselves.
“You’ve got a really good balance of being firm with our standards and expectations, and you've done it well for the last three or four years, which has been great to watch from afar.”
“I hope we’re all understanding how lucky we are to be in this room with a really great leader.”
Supporting Street as vice-captains for a second straight year is Mutaz El Nour and Joel Garner.
El Nour, 23, and Garner, 25, have become integral to the Club through their respective roles as Bachar Houli Foundation Programs Coordinator and Indigenous Player Development Manager.
El Nour, the 192cm hybrid defender, is heading into his fifth VFL season - his third at the Club.
Former Port Adelaide defender Garner remains a core part of the leadership group, having stepped in as co-captain in an interim capacity in the absence of Street last season.
“You both had to step up last year…whether you thought you were ready or not, you both did a great job last year and led the team really strongly,” Batchelor said.
“Once again what we've seen so far when (Lachlan) Street's not out there, we've got two real vocal leaders who lead by example and have really high standards for what we want to achieve as a football team.
“You both supported ‘Streeta’, but also the whole program really well last year and now you get an opportunity to do it again.”
Rounding out the 2025 VFL leadership group is Liam George and Nick ‘Bob’ Girolami.
George, 19, had an impressive debut season at VFL level last year.
After making his debut in Round 2 against the Swans at the Swinburne Centre last year, the half-forward didn’t miss a game for the remainder of the season.
“You're a different leader, but that's what I love about you already, and I reckon a lot of people in this room love about you as well,” Batchelor said of George.
“You do things your own way. You know when to be the clown and the larrikin, but you also know when to work really hard and when to bring others along with you.
“You're a really consistent VFL performer so far, so it's your role to not really change too much.
Girolami forms part of the leadership group in his second season of VFL with the Tigers.
Due to a foot stress fracture suffered in Round 2 last season, the 22-year-old has featured just twice for the Tigers.
“You're very personal with people. You like your one-on-one coaching with players, you've taken control of a part of our program in terms of the marking and the contested side of things,” Batchelor said.
“We need a diverse leadership group. Every team does, so the fact that we can bring you two in and give different ideas, different voices and challenge these three existing leaders, I think it's a really good benefit in addition to our football program.
"We’re really lucky to have you join, but once again the rest of the group, we're really lucky to have all five leading us in an official capacity.”
