FIRST-ROUND pick Taj Hotton is targeting a return by June next year, but Richmond will take a cautious approach with the highly rated teenager out of the Sandringham Dragons.

Hotton ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a training session at Haileybury College in May and underwent surgery a month later, wiping out most of his draft year. 

After being regarded as a top five prospect before the injury, Hotton was expected to be drafted in the mid-to-late teens in last week's Telstra AFL Draft, but the Tigers pounced at pick No.12 after picking Sam Lalor at No.1 and Josh Smillie at No.7. 

Richmond draftees Harry Armstrong, Luke Trainor, Josh Smillie, Sam Lalor, Taj Hotton and Jonty Faull pose for a photo on November 21, 2024. Picture: Getty Images

The 18-year-old underwent minor follow-up surgery in October and is set to start running again in the pre-Christmas training block.

New Richmond high performance boss Ben Serpell, who was appointed to replace Luke Meehan in October after working as a strength and conditioning coach at Geelong, following high performance roles with the Wallabies and the New South Wales Waratahs, is working on a rehab plan for Hotton at Punt Road. 

"Taj is super keen, but we will take the full 12 months to rehab him," Serpell told AFL.com.au on Friday. 

"We are still getting our heads around where he's at. He met with his surgeon midweek and we'll get the details from him and start to build a plan for that and hopefully have him out there relatively soon. 

"We'll probably take the full 12 months and look after the kid. He's got a long career ahead of him."

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Richmond endured a nightmare ACL run across Adem Yze's first season at the helm, losing young gun Josh Gibcus in round one, Judson Clarke in April, and Tylar Young, Sam Naismith and Mykelti Lefau in May. 

Gibcus, Clarke, Young and Lefau aren't expected to be available across the first month of the season. 

Lefau earned a spot on the rookie list last summer after producing an eye-catching audition across the pre-season supplemental selection period.

The New Zealander made a remarkable debut at the age of 25 in round two and played 10 games before tearing his ACL against Geelong in round 12, after kicking multiple goals in five games. 

Despite undergoing surgery most recently, Lefau is considered to be ahead of the others and is on track to return in the first half of the season.

"Mykelti looks fantastic. Like with most of them, we are trying to hold them back from themselves," Serpell said. 

"We know with ACL's that you can feel amazing and there's still some healing in the graft to go.

"We try not to rush them out because the worst thing that could happen is for reoccurrence. (But) he's looking amazing."

Mykelti Lefau in action during Richmond's training session at Punt Road Oval on November 15, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

All-Australian key forward Tom Lynch has also experienced a frustrating couple of seasons at the Swinburne Centre due to lingering foot and hamstring injuries. 

The 32-year-old returned to training with the first-to-fourth-year players, but will complete a modified training program this side of 2025, after managing only four appearances in each of the past two seasons.