Richmond’s nightmare injury run has claimed another victim, with confirmation that cursed star Josh Gibcus has been ruled out for the season.
Gibcus, 23, was a top-10 draft pick back in 2021, but after playing 18 games in his first year, he has sadly only managed another four with various injuries taking a brutal toll on his career.
Richmond are in crisis, winless for the year, on the bottom of the ladder, and an injury list that seems to be growing by the day.
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And the Gibcus news has followed the revelation that emerging superstar Sam Lalor suffered a “partial Achilles injury” at training on Thursday and young gun Josh Smillie suffered a fresh tear to his quad injury.
Lalor was the 16th player on the Tigers’ injury list and now, after the Gibcus blow, they have just three AFL-listed players (Liam Fawcett, Samson Ryan, and Noah Roberts-Thomson) available for their VFL team (which is playing tonight against Frankston).
Richmond fans are apoplectic.
One upset fan, on social media, even tagged the CEO Shane Dunne recently and called for a “full scale review”, while sharing a screen shot of the club’s injury list.
The latest Gibcus news has made fans even more incensed after the club admitted he was assessed for an ACL strain during the VFL game against Melbourne last Saturday, but was sent back on.
In fact, Gibcus was returning from a knee issue, left the field within the first seven minutes of that VFL game, but returned around 10 minutes later.
The commentators at the time noted that Gibcus looked “disconsolate” on the sidelines while in the hands of trainers.
“Could be a big story brewing here at Casey Fields from a Richmond perspective, of course, that injury list is already so long,” the commentators said.
Richmond’s high-performance boss Ben Serpell said after the Gibcus assessment, his ACL “was seen to be intact, so he went back on the field”.
“Unfortunately, Josh presented for the injury clinic in the next couple of days, so we sent him off for an MRI, and we saw that, unfortunately, Josh Gibcus has sustained an ACL sprain, which is not to be confused with a rupture,” Serpell said.
“To be clear, this is not the same knee that Josh underwent reconstruction surgery for not long ago.”
Gibcus will have surgery to stabilise the knee in around two months. In the meantime, he has to wear a brace.
The total recovery time is expected to be six months, if things go according to plan.
While many fans felt sorry for the luckless Gibcus, many are demanding action.
“There needs to be a genuine look at how our blokes are being managed. With such a depth of young talent there is a real risk some of these kids will turn their backs on the club. Not enough game time, not enough opportunity or mismanagement are all real risks,” one fan said on social media.
And another: “Maybe on (Seven’s) The Agenda Setters this could be one of the big items to talk about, especially if we get soundly beaten by the hapless Eagles. There has to be an issue with the training methods.”
And another: “Previous ACL history. Came off ground with knee complaint. Sent back out. This is embarrassing, Richmond.”
And another: “We are a deadset disgrace.”
And another: “On another note, how’s our royal commission coming along?”
And another: “Mate, the club has gone from being the best run club to the worst run club. In a matter of five years they are a joke.”
Meanwhile AFL expert Kane Cornes has put Serpell “in the gun”.
“Your injury list at the Tigers is bordering on crisis levels, absolute crisis levels,” Cornes said on SEN.
“Nankervis hammy, Smith groin, Rioli hammy – there’s a few that aren’t Ben’s fault like Harry Armstrong’s foot, Ralphsmith’s knee is clearly not his problem.
“But Smillie quad, we’ve got Hotton hip, and the biggest one was Lalor with Richmond confirming a partial Achilles injury at training yesterday. This can range from anywhere between six weeks to 12 months, I’ve read.
“So Ben Serpell, the high performance manager at the Tigers, you’re in the gun.”
Cornes also said it was time for a full-scale investigation.
“I’ve had so many Richmond fans reach out to me – and they hate me, Richmond fans – but they’ve actually reached out to me and said, ‘Can you do us a favour and put our medical and high performance team in the gun?’,” Cornes said.
“This is a crisis, an absolute crisis. Honestly, something needs to be done.
“The San Francisco 49ers, who’ve had an injury curse over there in the States, investigated all sorts of things to the point where their training facility is next to an electromagnetic field. I don’t know if Punt Road is next to anything. Is it next to anything untoward here?
“Tigers fans are pulling their hair out. Ben Serpell, you’re in the gun.”
