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Training Pre-season 2026

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Late February is 2 weeks away.

If he is not in full training by then we will know Serpell is an inside agent for Geelong. We will then frog march him off the premises after allowing him to clear out his locker surrounded by ICE agents.
How can the club keep getting it so wrong with this kid?

The repeated mismanagement of his injuries is beyond a question. How can you wait over 3 months to make a decision to look at surgery only a matter of days before pre season training begins.

We’re talking about an over 12 month hamstring/quad injury!

Poor Juddy Clarke will have recovered from two ACL’s during the time it’s taken Smillie to get back from a quad
 
How can the club keep getting it so wrong with this kid?

The repeated mismanagement of his injuries is beyond a question. How can you wait over 3 months to make a decision to look at surgery only a matter of days before pre season training begins.

We’re talking about an over 12 month hamstring/quad injury!

Poor Juddy Clarke will have recovered from two ACL’s during the time it’s taken Smillie to get back from a quad
How has the club got it wrong? Just because they arnt giving the fans an update every 2 seconds?
 
How can the club keep getting it so wrong with this kid?

The repeated mismanagement of his injuries is beyond a question. How can you wait over 3 months to make a decision to look at surgery only a matter of days before pre season training begins.

We’re talking about an over 12 month hamstring/quad injury!

Poor Juddy Clarke will have recovered from two ACL’s during the time it’s taken Smillie to get back from a quad

Maybe because surgery is the last resort only after they had tried and tested every non-surgical possibility?
 
How has the club got it wrong? Just because they arnt giving the fans an update every 2 seconds?
He’s been at the club for over 12 months and we’ve seen him play 4 restricted VFL games. I think supporters are pretty entitled to be asking questions of a really high investment of a top 7 draft pick. Especially when it’s stated the injuries have been on the “minor” side. Yet we haven’t got a game out of him.

We were given timelines last year about returning to training which never eventuated and again we’ve been given a timeline of late January and a return to play practice matches but again this doesn’t happen.
 

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He’s been at the club for over 12 months and we’ve seen him play 4 restricted VFL games. I think supporters are pretty entitled to be asking questions of a really high investment of a top 7 draft pick. Especially when it’s stated the injuries have been on the “minor” side. Yet we haven’t got a game out of him.

We were given timelines last year about returning to training which never eventuated and again we’ve been given a timeline of late January and a return to play practice matches but again this doesn’t happen.
Have you emailed the club and serpell ?
 
He’s been at the club for over 12 months and we’ve seen him play 4 restricted VFL games. I think supporters are pretty entitled to be asking questions of a really high investment of a top 7 draft pick. Especially when it’s stated the injuries have been on the “minor” side. Yet we haven’t got a game out of him.

We were given timelines last year about returning to training which never eventuated and again we’ve been given a timeline of late January and a return to play practice matches but again this doesn’t happen.
Fans aren’t entitled to anything.
 
He’s been at the club for over 12 months and we’ve seen him play 4 restricted VFL games. I think supporters are pretty entitled to be asking questions of a really high investment of a top 7 draft pick. Especially when it’s stated the injuries have been on the “minor” side. Yet we haven’t got a game out of him.

We were given timelines last year about returning to training which never eventuated and again we’ve been given a timeline of late January and a return to play practice matches but again this doesn’t happen.
Yze updated the members at the AGM which was then listed on the website that was of the end of January they were aiming for him to be back full training in the next 3-4 weeks.

No rush here at all, would rather they over shoot the recovery to be extra sure everything is responding as it should before they up the training load than pull the trigger too early and undo the work / progress that has been made post surgery.
 
Yze updated the members at the AGM which was then listed on the website that was of the end of January they were aiming for him to be back full training in the next 3-4 weeks.

No rush here at all, would rather they over shoot the recovery to be extra sure everything is responding as it should before they up the training load than pull the trigger too early and undo the work / progress that has been made post surgery.
Yeah but i still think he should email the club

Just to be sure
 

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February 9 2026 and still Smillie hasn’t re-entered full training…

January 2025- Hurts hammy in first 5 seconds of the first intraclub.

April 2025- Begins on a modified running program and April 5th plays his first VFL game.

May 2025- Plays 4 straight VFL games averaging 16 touches and 4 tackles. Plays no more footy after Box Hill game on the 3rd of May.

August 2025- Richmond confirm Smillie had sustained a quad injury and began training to push back for senior football, where he re-aggravated the same quad and rules him out for the rest of the season.

November 2025- Richmond confirms that Smillie will undergo surgery to repair the injured quad despite it being a “minor” issue. Club stating “The plan is for Josh to be back full training toward the end of January and available for match play in February.”

January 2026- As of late January 2026 Smillie is still yet to return to full training.

February 9th- Smillie is yet to return to full training and reports are that the new plan is a return in late February.


This timeline is beyond concerning.
hes done m8
 
Cummy didnt play either?
Yeh. Cumming played and spent a fair bit of time through the middle. He’s a very natural footballer and you sense that he knows he can play at the level. Found the “pill” without any hassle today, good with his hands, nice mark and the only thing he needs to tidy up is his kicking, which has been reported. He missed Vlastuin with a 30 meter cross field kick into the back flank, which he was apologetic for.
 
How can the club keep getting it so wrong with this kid?

The repeated mismanagement of his injuries is beyond a question. How can you wait over 3 months to make a decision to look at surgery only a matter of days before pre season training begins.

We’re talking about an over 12 month hamstring/quad injury!

Poor Juddy Clarke will have recovered from two ACL’s during the time it’s taken Smillie to get back from a quad
My understanding of the quad injury, was that it was a bit different to the standard quad, where you can’t run or kick. Smillie was actually running at full pace prior to Xmas, but his kicking power was down. It was then he was referred to a specialist
Mismanagement or just a difficult diagnosis? I think the latter.
 
Yeh. Cumming played and spent a fair bit of time through the middle. He’s a very natural footballer and you sense that he knows he can play at the level. Found the “pill” without any hassle today, good with his hands, nice mark and the only thing he needs to tidy up is his kicking, which has been reported. He missed Vlastuin with a 30 meter cross field kick into the back flank, which he was apologetic for.
Thanks mate.
 

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My understanding of the quad injury, was that it was a bit different to the standard quad, where you can’t run or kick. Smillie was actually running at full pace prior to Xmas, but his kicking power was down. It was then he was referred to a specialist
Mismanagement or just a difficult diagnosis? I think the latter.
If we didn’t have 10 other high draft picks over the last two years I think there would be a lot more scrutiny on the Smillie handling.
 
February 9 2026 and still Smillie hasn’t re-entered full training…

January 2025- Hurts hammy in first 5 seconds of the first intraclub.

April 2025- Begins on a modified running program and April 5th plays his first VFL game.

May 2025- Plays 4 straight VFL games averaging 16 touches and 4 tackles. Plays no more footy after Box Hill game on the 3rd of May.

August 2025- Richmond confirm Smillie had sustained a quad injury and began training to push back for senior football, where he re-aggravated the same quad and rules him out for the rest of the season.

November 2025- Richmond confirms that Smillie will undergo surgery to repair the injured quad despite it being a “minor” issue. Club stating “The plan is for Josh to be back full training toward the end of January and available for match play in February.”

January 2026- As of late January 2026 Smillie is still yet to return to full training.

February 9th- Smillie is yet to return to full training and reports are that the new plan is a return in late February.


This timeline is beyond concerning.
perfectly formatted post

double-spacing makes it so much easier to read between the lines :p
 

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