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Running It Straight: 6pm TuesdaysYze’s latest on injured Tigers ahead of Round 1
Andrew Slevison • March 3rd, 2026 10:28 am
Richmond coach Adem Yze has provided updates on several injured Tigers as Round 1 approaches.
The most recent Tiger to go down was Pick 7 from last year’s draft, Sam Cumming.
Cumming came into his debut AFL season with a shoulder issue sustained last year and aggravated the area in Friday’s AAMI Community Series meeting with Melbourne in Ballarat.
Yze says the talented youngster will be given four weeks to strengthen the shoulder before the club decides whether or not he is able to play or they’ll send him for inevitable surgery.
“Sammy Cumming had a shoulder injury last year. The medicos at his club at that time decided not to operate,” Yze said on SEN Breakfast.
“It wasn’t a huge shoulder dislocation but it was a sub-lax, so understanding he went through pre-season managed and with limited contact up until January.
“We understood there was a chance this might happen. The positive is it wasn’t a bad one on the weekend. We’re going to give him four weeks of strengthening to give the kid an opportunity to hopefully come in and play some footy, knowing that eventually we’re going to have to fix it.
“He’ll have a month of training and strengthening and if we feel like he’s able to play we’ll give him that chance. But because he’s such an important part of our future we won’t take any risks.
“If it means we operate we’ll discuss that as well. If there was a risk of doing more damage we wouldn’t put him through that, we’d go and do it right now.”
Another talented Tiger who was recently struck down is Taj Hotton who has a hip stress issue.
Hotton could be out for as long as four months in what is a major blow to the Pick 12 from 2024 who was lighting it up over the summer.
“Taj was a really unfortunate one. Out of nowhere he felt some pain in his hip,” Yze said.
“I had a laugh with him on the Monday when he was recovering form the game, he looked like he was 80 years old, not realising that was the flare up.
“He’s really battling with his hip. Our medical has done an amazing job with him to notice that and get on top of that early.
“That’s unfortunate because he’s a great pre-season.”
And another Pick 7, Josh Smillie, is yet to debut for the Tigers as he battles ongoing soft tissue problems, most recently his quad which required surgery.
“Josh had the operation on his quad so he’s going through that process. He’ll still be a few weeks away," Yze said of the midfielder.
“He’ll be integrated into full training in the next few weeks. We’re going to be really cautious with him.”
As the Tigers prepare to meet Carlton in Round 1 at the MCG on May 12, Yze also provided the latest on one veteran midfielder, Dion Prestia, and two important defenders, Noah Balta and Nick Vlastuin.
“Dion might struggle for Round 1. We’ve set a little plan for him, as we did last year,” said the third-year coach.
“He probably could get up for Round 1 but knowing him and the history around his body, if we just take a cautious approach like last year - he got through more games than he had over the last three years.
“He’s unlikely.”
Prestia is sidelined with a left hamstring strain.
As for Balta (hamstring) and Vlastuin (ankle), they are likely to take on the Blues in nine days.
“Noah Balta and Nick Vlastuin should be (right to play),” Yze said further.
“Noah had a slight hammy three weeks ago now so we’ve been really cautious. He’s back in full training and should be ok for Round 1 barring any hiccups in the next few weeks.
“Nick is similar. He had his (broken) ankle last year and a bit of a back flare up but he’s getting through training.
“We’ll just decide on whether he’s trained enough really. Physically, Nick and Noah should be available for Round 1 which is exciting.”
Listen to the full chat with Yze on SEN Breakfast for Tigers Takeover:
