Forward line

[one-eyed]

Every AFL team’s forward line ranked 1-18

Hayden Farquhar
zerohanger.com
December 16, 2025

Richmond

Ranked: 18th

The Tigers ranked dead last in almost every goal scoring metric imaginable in 2025, scoring the fewest points, creating the least shots at goal and taking the fewest marks inside 50 per game.

That's due to the lack of a spearhead target inside forward 50 outside of Tom Lynch, though the premiership hero has been unreliable as he's ever been, converting at a shocking 41.4 per cent in front of the sticks this year. Among the 44 AFL players who averaged at least 1.5 goals per game, that accuracy is the worst.

Richmond can obviously grow in this area of the field in 2026, with the likes of Jonty Faull, Harry Armstrong and Thomas Sims flashing promise this year, with Armstrong notably winning six of his 14 offensive one-on-one contests. However, not even the one-win Eagles struggled to hit the scoreboard as infrequently as the Tigers in 2025, hence their ranking in 18th.

They saw great positives in young small Seth Campbell, who led their goalkicking in 2025, while Rhyan Mansell was equally potent.

https://www.zerohanger.com/every-afl-teams-forward-line-ranked-1-18-171765/

[Andyy]

Would like to see all of Lynch, Armstrong, Faull, Hotton, Alger and Lalor in the forward line.

Sims rotating.

Campbell up to the wing.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

I am tipping we won’t be ranked 18th this time next year. Particularly on those metrics

[the claw]

where do you think we will be ranked. We have just two experienced forwards on the entire list.

the other problems we have is winning enough ball 2nd last for disposals and actually getting the ball inside 50 we were last for that metric.
Delivery inside 50 was also a big problem. It wont be until the kids are actually played and improve enough until this improves.

The senior and mid core were the problem and we only have kids with little experience who will take time hence all the talk about fast tracking the kids we have.

We may not come 18th but it will be a problem for some while yet.

[camboon]

I remember watching Franklin and Roughhead in their first year playing Brisbane at their best and thinking I’m not sure these blokes will make it , it’s not unusual for key forwards to take a few years.
I thought our first year keys showed a lot without Lynch and I have confidence they will step up.

[the claw]

I remember watching Franklin and Roughhead in their first year playing Brisbane at their best and thinking I’m not sure these blokes will make it , it’s not unusual for key forwards to take a few years.
I thought our first year keys showed a lot without Lynch and I have confidence they will step up.

Not sure about stepping up but they should improve and be a bit better.
 Buddy had a game that made it a bit easier to have an impact early on in many ways like Richo early on he played a lot like  a hff.
Regardless he did manage 31 goals in year 2 from just 14 games.

[Hard Roar Tiger]

I think with a decent run with injury and probably something around the 16-18 games from Lynch we will be pleasantly surprised at the improvement of a forward line that contains Lynch, MRJ, Seth Campbell, Faull and Armstrong with cameos from some more than handy up and comers in Lalor and Hotton.

[the claw]

Heres a list of the Forwards we have it includes players whose primary role is mid but are proficient forwards. Have named my senior preference first and reserves team second.

KPF  Lynch, Armstrong, Faull.
KPF Lefau, Fawcett, Sims.

General Fwd. Mansell, Algar,
General Fwd. Green, Rioli, Peucker

Mid Fwd. Hotton, Lalor, Cumming, Campbell, Taranto.
Mid Fwd. Clarke, Sonsie, Ross.

I have named 10 players who can play forward in the senior section including the kpf's.

Can reduce that by one if Campbell plays on a wing which im adamant about.

Most named are still juniors. Hence i firmly believe no matter what we think of him as a player, Mansell will play as a general forward. He is  sort of a good fit for the youngsters atm with his aggression at the man and toughness.

Hotton i think will play primarily as a forward with decent mid time a bit like we did with Bolton.
Algar is the most promising forward we have of the rest, he too may in time end up playing primarily as a mid or even hbf.

That leaves three primary  mids Lalor, Cumming and Taranto rotating thru their and the bench with Campbell on a wing.

It only leaves the question are Green Rioli and Ross better options as general forwards or mid/fwd than those named i  dont think they are.
The Talls well i think all will get exposure at some time i just went with our best Lynch and the two kids who showed the most last year.

Rather than looking for ways to play  seniors im looking at ways to play the kids ie Campbell to a wing and Algar into the 23.A move like this actually addresses things that were not great last year although you could argue Campbell to a wing is like  robbing peter to pay paul.
I think Algar and Hotton are highly promising forwards though and it ensures we get games into them while addressing what was a horrible centre line last year that was slow and poorly skilled.

[one-eyed]

We're the second worst side in the comp at retaining the ball inside 50.

Club     Kick inside 50 to retention %

Geelong            52.6%
W.Bulldogs        50.4%
St Kilda             49.5%
Adelaide            48.9%
GWS                 48.7%
Gold Coast        48.6%
Hawthorn          48.6%
Collingwood       48.5%
North Melbourne 47.4%
Carlton              46.5%
Melbourne         46.2%
Sydney             46.2%
Fremantle         45.9%
Essendon          45.5%
Port Adelaide     45.3%
Brisbane           44.1%
Richmond         42.3%
West Coast       40.4%

https://www.zerohanger.com/the-money-kick-who-is-the-afls-best-kick-inside-50-172028/

[the claw]

I would hazard a guess and say that is because of the way we bring the ball in and fail to hit targets inside fifty.

[JP Tiger]

We scored at 42.3% which put us at 17th place overall.  The best rating was Geelong at 52.6%, which makes for just over a 10% difference between the best & second worst ...

That screams a significant result at me - NOBODY IS ANY GOOD AT KICKING INTO THEIR FORWARD 50!  It's not just us, everybody is just ordinary at doing it.   

Even the best side are losing possession 47.4% of the time!  It's close enough to pot luck, even for the best at it.  That leaves plenty of room for a rapid improvement!         

[Hard Roar Tiger]

We scored at 42.3% which put us at 17th place overall.  The best rating was Geelong at 52.6%, which makes for just over a 10% difference between the best & second worst ...

That screams a significant result at me - NOBODY IS ANY GOOD AT KICKING INTO THEIR FORWARD 50!  It's not just us, everybody is just ordinary at doing it.   

Even the best side are losing possession 47.4% of the time!  It's close enough to pot luck, even for the best at it.  That leaves plenty of room for a rapid improvement!         

I also see it as significant opportunity for us. As the midfield improves I am optimistic it will trigger improvement to the forward line.

[the claw]

We scored at 42.3% which put us at 17th place overall.  The best rating was Geelong at 52.6%, which makes for just over a 10% difference between the best & second worst ...

That screams a significant result at me - NOBODY IS ANY GOOD AT KICKING INTO THEIR FORWARD 50!  It's not just us, everybody is just ordinary at doing it.   

Even the best side are losing possession 47.4% of the time!  It's close enough to pot luck, even for the best at it.  That leaves plenty of room for a rapid improvement!         

Those stats were for retaining the ball inside 50 not kicking into it.
 Our delivery into the forward half has been horrid. We consistently miss open targets, thats when the forwards actually find space,and work to make space.  We kick to packs often outnumbers two on ones or just blindly throw it on the boot under pressure we kick it along the ground creating more pressure.
The ball doesnt stay in the forward half because we generally kick it to the oppositions advantage AND THEY JUST BRING IT OUT EASILY.

We have slow mids we have running players who are ordinary by foot or just make dumb decisions. we have running players who are slow and cannot break lines and create space, we have blokes who poo their pants every time an oppo player runs at em and they panic kick or handball to a team mate under more pressure, all of this and more
Another one  our failures to come away fast and clean from stoppage. We are 2nd last for clearances.

If you want  forward half improvement,  fix what happens up the ground first. We may get significant improvement if the kids can take big steps but most likely it will be incremental hence i dont think it will be quick.

Our problem we will continue to play the usual slow culprits and poor kicks, and our kids are just that kids who will take time to develop no matter how quickly we wish them to develop quickly.

We have recruited some real quick players with very good skills that will help but the question is will they play them.

Players like Grlj, Retschko, Cumming, Algar, Hotton, Lalor Smillie Campbell McAuliffe, Even N R-T and Peucker  have attributes that most of our older players dont have  that will go some way to addressing most of the above shortcomings  both forward and thru the midfield and even the backline. The sooner we play them as a collective the better.

I will ask again will they play them ? do they have the courage to go with these kids who have such good attributes for roles we are lacking in.


Just my opinion
We pick the number of experienced players we think we need to help the kids in each area of the ground i think we have 11 all up who are needed and thats enough and we build the rest of the team around them with kids.

Most weeks last year  we played played around 11 younger players each game. imo we need to do that every  game again especially with most of them with a proper preseason and injury free to start with.

Rapid improvement well i cant see it improvement yes but we have to give our kids time to properly develop before heaping expectations on them.

[one-eyed]

2026 Positional Preview: Forwards

Assistant Coach, Forwards, Chris Newman, previews the exciting young prospects set to light up Richmond’s attack.

By Henry Milic
RichmondFC.com.au
Feb 2, 2026

In the lead-up to the 2026 AFL season, Richmond Media will assess how each positional group is tracking in the pre-season. Today, we focus on the forward line with Assistant Coach, Forwards, Chris Newman. Click here to read the backline preview and click here for the midfield preview.

The future of Richmond’s forward line is here, stacked with youthful talent and exciting prospects ready to break out onto the scene.

Former Richmond captain Newman is fostering the development of the forward line, with his players poised to take the next step up in 2026.

“We're starting to ramp up a bit of gameplay now,” Newman told Richmond Media.

“Pre-Christmas, a huge focus was around the technical side of the game, making sure our fundamentals are sound.

“Really breaking down the craft of small forward and tall forward, and then now sort of trying to put it all together with our couple of matches and getting some exposure to all players, whether it's Lynchy (Tom Lynch) or one of the first-year players.”

Throughout the 2025 season, five debutants took a spot in the forward line in Harry Armstrong, Liam Fawcett, Jonty Faull, Tom Sims and Jasper Alger.

Each debutant hit the scoreboard, proving themselves at the elite level and becoming viable options in attack.

“The young boys have been fantastic, they're all good kids and good people, so I think that's the number one thing that we've tried to recruit,” Newman said.

“Blair (Hartley) and the team have tried to recruit good people first and foremost, and they've certainly fitted into the group really well.

“They all train really hard, and they all bring certain footy qualities that are going to be really important to play their role.

“They can all run, and they've all got a really good football brain and good footy IQ, so I've been really impressed with what they've been able to bring.”

One constant in Richmond’s forward line over the last seven years has been two-time premiership player and 2022 Jack Dyer medallist, Lynch.

Newman praised the 33-year-old for his ability to help build up his younger teammates, especially the likes of Armstrong, Fawcett, Sims, and Faull, who has taken over the No. 8 guernsey, previously worn by Jack Riewoldt.

“They are the least experienced but they're really hungry to learn, even from someone like Tom Lynch,” Newman said.

“The taller guys work with him a lot, and they do a lot of craft. He sits down, he watches videos, he does a master craft, with the aerial stuff in particular, so they gravitate towards him.

“Someone like Rhyan Mansell, too. He's one of the more experienced forwards that we have who's really shown some strong leadership throughout not only this summer but throughout the last year or so.”

Newman was impressed with how well the second-year players have developed their game in such a short time, going from strength to strength this pre-season.

Most notably, Alger has returned to the Swinburne Centre fit and firing, impressing with his aerial contests and attack on the football.

“Physically, (the second-year players have) got stronger, and I feel like because of the exposure that they had last year, it has helped their knowledge this pre-season,” Newman explained.

“Jasper's another one that's really impressed this summer, he's one of those guys that has that footy chip and knows how to play, particularly tall and small.

“He is really good in the air and at ground level. He's presented really well from pre-season and some of the training sessions that we've had, he's been a standout.”

Small forward Seth Campbell enjoyed a breakout season in 2025, finishing fifth in the Club’s Best and Fairest count and winning Michael Roach Medal as the leading goalkicker.

Newman said the 21-year-old has already shown leadership qualities only 43 games into his AFL career.

“Seth presented really well, back from the off-season, and he wants to take his game to the next level,” Newman said. 

“He's a next-level type of energy guy. He's been really strong in some of the drills we've been doing, and he's trying to drive and improve his leadership as well.

“The more games that he plays, the more footy knowledge that he'll get and the more he can pass that on, and that's what he's trying to work on in particular.

“It'll still take a little bit of time on the leadership side of things, but he looks pretty sharp on the track.”

Small forward duo, Steely Green and Maurice Rioli, have both been lighting up the track this pre-season, impressing Newman with their pressure acts and sharp foot skills.

“Steely Green's another one that's looked really sharp, who once again, looked after himself in the off-season and came back having a good block of training,” Newman said.

“Maurice Rioli's the other one that's showing some really good signs too, putting on a lot of pressure as he does and he is working really hard on his game.”

Off the field, Richmond has bolstered its forward line coaching panel by appointing three-time Hawthorn premiership player, and two-time All-Australian, Luke Breust, as a development coach.

“He's been massive for us, especially the small forwards. They've really gravitated towards him,” Newman said of Breust.

“Luke has played as a small forward for 15 or 16 years, maybe longer, and has really come in and tried to form relationships with all those guys and he has done that really easily.

“Some of the craft and knowledge that he's been able to pass on in these early stages has been really important for us and will be really important for those guys in their development.”

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/1949039/2026-positional-preview-forwards