Coming off a wooden spoon in Adem Yze's first season as coach, the Tigers are poised to turbo-charge their rebuild with a raft of high-end draft selections.
They have a total of seven picks available in the first round, as well as the often-sought first pick of the second round.
Sam Lalor speaks to the media before he was chosen at No.1 in the draft by Richmond. (Morgan Hancock/AAP PHOTOS)
Lalor has already been dubbed a potential replacement for Tigers legend Martin, with the 18-year-old handed his first Richmond jumper from triple-premiership captain Trent Cotchin on stage at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night.
An explosive goal-kicking midfielder, childhood Collingwood fan Lalor has modelled his game on both Martin and Magpies gun Jordan De Goey.
The Bacchus Marsh junior was drafted from Talent League club Greater Western Victoria Rebels, and captained both the Rebels and Vic Country.
Richmond had previously not had a No.1 draft pick since Brett Deledio in 2004.
Since then, the Tigers' highest selection had been Martin at pick three in 2009.
Martin retired in August as one of the greatest players in AFL history.
Lalor was also presented with the second Allen Aylett Medal as the competition's No.1 draft pick, after Harley Reid claimed the inaugural version last year.
The award is named after former North Melbourne champion and VFL president Aylett, who died in September 2022.
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