Richmond rookies elevatedRichmond rookies Jamie O’Reilly and Robbie Hicks have been elevated to the senior playing list for the remainder of the 2010 season.
The pair was given their opportunity after season-ending injuries to Nathan Foley (ankle) and Adam Thomson (groin).
O’Reilly, 22, is Richmond’s first-ever Irish recruit. He was spotted by the Club’s Recruiting Manager Francis Jackson early last year, while playing Gaelic Football for County Down, and subsequently invited to train with the Tigers later in the season. That led to him being selected by Richmond as an international rookie (pick 70) in the 2009 Rookie Draft.
He has been groomed as a rebounding half-back/midfielder, and has steadily improved at VFL level this season, playing 11 games for the Coburg seniors.
Hicks, 18, and a graduate of the TAC Cup competition with the Calder Cannons, was selected with Richmond’s first pick (number seven overall) in the 2009 Rookie Draft.
He is a speedy, small forward/midfielder, who is clever around goals, reads the play well, and has clean skills on both sides of his body.
Hicks was a Vic Metro under-18 representative in 2009, and performed impressively at the Draft Camp later that year.
He broke into the Coburg senior line-up in Round 9 this season and has kicked 12 goals from six appearances, including a haul of four against the VFL’s 2009 runner-up, Port Melbourne, on July 3.
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/tabid/6301/default.aspx?newsid=98632
