AFL Draft: Toce’s latest gift as Tigers enter draft to remember

Chris Those’s parting gift to Richmond Football Club is Sam Lalor. The beloved hiring manager has made a lasting impression at Tigerland in seven short months.

Toche moved from Moorabbin to Punt Road in March but fell ill with aggressive cancer in early June. He battled his illness and tragically passed away five months after his diagnosis. But he didn’t let that stop him from doing what he loved.

This year, Toce attended youth football games in between chemotherapy treatments. He passed away on the final day of the trade period, a day that saw Richmond receive a stunning eight top-24 picks.

Wearing a Tigers polo with “CT” stitched across the chest, list chief Blair Hartley told the media at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night that Toce had submitted the blueprint to select Lalor first overall.

Before getting the job at Richmond, he was tasked with ranking the 2024 cohort the year before the draft, and he and Lalor were numbered. 1.

“As part of his application for this position, he was required to assess the draft pool for this year, and this was done in February and March,” Hartley said.

“Sammy (Lalor) was highly touted at the time, but probably not at the end.

“He rethought the whole vision and came out with Chris as number one.

“We made sure we were there for every game he played.”

Lalor has the qualities of the best midfielders in the game. He is a fierce competitor with the physical size, strength and bravado of a game-breaker. He dominates the jump ball, hits targets, scores contested balls and scores goals.

READ: Top pick Sam Lalor interested in jumper Dusty No. 4

Hartley doesn’t like to be compared to the recently retired Richmond great, but Lalor’s game bears an uncanny resemblance to Dustin Martin.

Richmond has really gone up and Lalor is no exception. No. 7 Josh Smillie has what it takes to be the next great midfielder at 190cm and taller. They pounced on early-season sensation Taj Hotton despite a torn cruciate ligament and secured key positions in Jonty Faull, Luke Traynor and Harry Armstrong.

Their most successful move may be a trade of the final first-round pick, giving North Melbourne’s future first-rounder the 27th pick and a future second-rounder. This gives Richmond a huge chance to land Dyson Sharpe and/or Willem Duursma, the top contenders in 2025.

The Tigers held all the cards on the first night and it was hard to imagine them not capitalizing. But their surges, coupled with smart moves and patient investments, are the decisions of a unified recruiting team led by Hartley.

As long as he is in yellow and black, Sam Lalor will represent the enduring legacy of Chris Tose. He has had a huge impact on the six players the club selected in the first round of the 2024 AFL Draft. This is a favorite recruiter’s parting gift to the game he loved.

With Chris in their hearts, the Tiges achieved this.