Noah Roberts-Thomson Debuts as St Kilda Vs Richmond Loops in Round 10

Richmond heads into st kilda vs richmond at Marvel Stadium on Sunday needing a second win of the season, with Toby Nankervis still sidelined and Noah Balta plus Oliver Hayes-Brown set for the ruck battle. The matchup now runs through whether Richmond can hold up against Tom De Koning and Rowan Marshall.

Marvel Stadium ruck battle

Adem Yze said Richmond’s ruck work has taken a step forward over the last month, and he pointed to the numbers behind it. “Noah Balta’s gone in there and working with Ollie Hayes-Brown, our ruck craft is getting better, our synergy within that is getting better,” he said at Richmond’s morning press conference.

He also said, “Our stoppage numbers, our ruck numbers, and our clearance numbers have gotten better and better over the last month, so that battle's always going to be really important.” The Tigers will need that trend to hold against De Koning and Marshall, because Richmond is still asking Balta and Hayes-Brown to cover the ground left by Nankervis’s absence.

Noah Roberts-Thomson debut

Richmond’s 54th pick in the 2025 draft, Noah Roberts-Thomson, will make his debut against the Saints on Sunday. He arrives off a Round 7 VFL game for Williamstown in which he had 18 disposals and four goals.

Hayes-Brown brings three AFL games into the contest, while he finished with nine hit-outs against Adelaide last week. Balta added eight hit-outs and 268 meters gained in the same game, giving Richmond a workable pair in the contest even before the first bounce.

Yze said, “Noah and Ollie have given us some opportunity in there. You want to win territory, you want to have the opportunity to lock the ball in your front half and to do that, you need to win clearance.” He added, “We'll be up against it on the weekend, it'll be a good battle inside, and hopefully that gives us the supply that we want.”