Richmond confirms that first-year midfielder Josh Smillie will not be available for the opening rounds of the 2025 AFL season.

Smillie has not progressed as well as hoped through recent training sessions, so the Club is taking a cautious approach to the next steps of his rehabilitation.

“Repeat scans have shown that while Josh has not re-injured his hamstring, it has not healed as well as we would have liked,” Richmond High Performance Manager, Ben Serpell said.

“Rather than push him towards those early games, we will ensure he has a good block of training and strength work behind him before he returns to play.”