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Richmond’s potential plans for the 2025 National Draft
Hayden Farquhar
Zerohanger.com
July 26, 2025 Should the Tigers split their top two picks? That is the question on many minds ahead of the AFL's 2025 National Draft as Richmond's current crop of talent continues to develop strongly this season.Richmond hold just two picks for the National Draft - currently picks 2 and 3 - which presents them with an opportunity to add more young top-end talent.
However, they could also look to add father-son prospect Louis Kellaway, and would be required to trade down in the draft to acquire him with a later selection.
Splitting the picks for a pair of later selections could allow Richmond to better fill some of their more immediate list needs too.
According to Craft of the Draft analyst Mitch Keating, the list management at Tigerland will need to make some big calls on draft night to get the most out of this year's talent pool.
"The Tigers are in an awkward position where they don't have a pick late enough and their selections are too early, so trading into the middle of the draft is difficult," Keating said.
"It's going to be a game for them to work out this draft even though they've got two top picks."
Despite the looming challenge, Keating highlighted it would be important for the Tigers to get Louis Kellaway through the door.
"Son of Duncan Kellaway, he's been one of South Australia's best performers for 2025," Keating said.
"He performs at any level he plays at. He's a good ball user, has composure and toughness."
Craft of the Draft analyst Jonty Ralphsmith believes there are some glaring areas that need to be taken care of for the Tigers in this draft.
"The Tigers need a small forward and they need some outside run," Ralphsmith said.
"They've got Jacob Hopper, Tim Taranto and got Sam Lalor and Josh Smillie last year. So, that big body midfielder is covered the next two or three years when you look at Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper carrying the load as Richmond rebound.
"What they probably lack is that outside run. Taj Hotton, to me, will go into that midfield at some stage in his career and provide that firepower and spark. But for me, he's more of a 10-15 minute midfield spurt player. In terms of your first receiver to complement the larger bodies, I think they do need that still."
Who the Tigers end up selecting is highly dependent on their draft hand.
If they stick with their two picks inside the top four, Ralphsmith believes they could look at selecting Sam Grlj or Willem Duursma, but with a later pick could select a player like North Adelaide's Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier, who averaged 15 disposals per game at the AFL U18 Championships this year.
https://www.zerohanger.com/richmonds-potential-plans-for-the-2025-national-draft-165814/
