Josh Gibcus let his arms drop, shook his head and slumped back on the bench in disgust.
For his own protection, the 22-year-old had just been subbed out of the final game of the season midway through the third quarter, ending early his first AFL match after being sidelined for 527 days through injury.
Richmond’s Josh Gibcus is raring to go in 2026.Credit: Justin McManus
Gibcus felt coach Adem Yze pat him on the back as he consoled him and explained the decision to limit his minutes, meaning the Tigers would play the final 40 minutes of their 2025 campaign at the MCG against Geelong without the defender.
But Gibcus’ lack of enthusiasm for the message was evident.
“He hated me,” Yze recalls with a laugh.
Gibcus in the gym at Punt Rd.Credit: Justin McManus
Having rediscovered the thrill of playing in front of Tigers fans at the MCG, Gibcus wanted to see just his third AFL game in three years to its bitter end.
The fighter within him wasn’t prepared to meekly accept the coach’s instruction to watch the second half from the back of the bench.
“I was a little bit disappointed coming off, but that’s more my competitive side coming out. I just didn’t want to come off. [I] just wanted to play and win and play my best for the club, and that was why I was showing disappointment on my face,” Gibcus said. “I wasn’t exactly mad at anyone, just within myself wanting to be out there. I have a good laugh about it now.”
The rationale was clear to Yze, as was his understanding of the player’s reaction.
“At half-time there was obviously a risk after cooling down, coming down after half-time. What is the point? We have a sub, he has had a taste of it, and even the lead-up week and the anxiety the night before. We have ticked the box that we want, and I thought ‘righto, let’s look after him because I won’t be able to live with myself if something happens’,” Yze said.
“But because he is a driven kid he hated it, which was awesome.”
Yze wore the moment without fuss, recalling it with a wry sense of humour.
“It was pretty cool. After he cooled down and didn’t want to fight me,” Yze said. “I love the kid.”
That love of Gibcus is shared throughout Punt Road, where everyone has their fingers crossed for him heading into the 2026 season.
Tiger Josh Gibcus has been plagued by injuries throughout his young career, but, so far, the signs are positive for him in 2026.Credit: Getty
All are aware of the hurdles he jumped to reach that match against the Cats in late August.
A tricky hamstring injury ruined his 2023 season, then a knee reconstruction in round one of 2024 wrote that season off. He returned to the VFL midway through last year, his season culminating in the final-round appearance at AFL level.
Three games in the past three seasons for pick No.9 in the 2021 national draft has not been a fair return after he played 18 matches, including a final, in his outstanding first year in 2022.
Yze still says “touch wood” every time he mentions the 22-year-old’s strong progress this pre-season.
But football’s forgotten man doesn’t blink when asked the obvious question about his health a month out from another round one against Carlton. He knows now how positive those managed minutes were for his preparation for 2026.
“This pre-season I have come in probably fitter and stronger than I ever have. I’m putting the last couple of years behind me after having a bit of a terror run,” Gibcus said.
“I’m confident in how my body is and how it’s holding up, especially this off-season. It’s probably the biggest off-season I’ve had in my career. I’m getting a lot of confidence out of what I can do.”
Has his prodigious leap been affected? “No”.
Does flying for marks hold any fears? “Maybe the first couple of times you might think about it, but now, no, I don’t think about it twice.”
Gibcus doesn’t exactly drink from the River Lethe, but he is not one to dwell on what’s gone before. That’s a good characteristic for a key defender to have, and also a positive when returning from injury.
With great support from family – parents Yvonne and Michael and siblings Ben and Amelia – friends, coaches and teammates, he can now describe the period as “both a blessing and a curse”.
Hearing Gibcus’ unadorned explanation of how he felt when he returned to the track for his prolonged rehabilitation from a knee reconstruction is a reminder, however, of how many simple things disappear from a footballer’s life when sidelined. It is, unfortunately, a reality many AFL players face.
Josh Gibcus is mobbed by teammates after Damien Hardwick announced he would debut against the Blues in round one in his first season.Credit: Getty Images
“After going through injury the next big thing is the exciting part, like running, and then doing one drill and obviously finishing off the main training session. That’s the exciting part of coming back from injury,” Gibcus said.
“To go back from doing literally nothing, sitting on my bed and doing leg presses and whatever to running and also on to training. It’s a lot of fun when you come back to those stages. The first game is very nerve-wracking even though I was only playing 25 per cent of the game. I was very nervous coming back and excited, so it was on both sides of the scale.”
Triple premiership defender Dylan Grimes was Gibcus’ mentor in the No.9 draft pick’s first season in 2022.
He can empathise with Gibcus better than most. Hamstrings restricted Grimes to just 26 games in his first four seasons. He did not miss a beat from that point on, finishing his career with three flags and 234 games to his name.
“The self-confidence and the belief you are ever going to get right takes a bit of a dent,” said Grimes.
“Don’t lose belief that it can all click – that is the same for anyone who has grappled injuries – it’s lonely, [you] second guess yourself from the sidelines, question whether you are ever going to make it, so my advice to him would be: ‘don’t lose belief’,” Grimes said.
His former mentor certainly hasn’t lost the conviction that Gibcus has a fine career ahead.
“He’s incredibly powerful and really athletic and he hasn’t really been given the opportunity to show what he can do. I think this year is exciting for him. He has put a huge amount of work in. I am excited, as all Richmond fans should be, to see what he can do,” Grimes said.
“Josh just has to string 50 games together and the rest will be history, and all the work he has done until now will finally come off because he is a bloody good player.”
Fit, and with his AFL comeback already behind him, Gibcus can enter the season as excited as any young player who knows they belong at the level. However, this Tiger won’t take anything for granted as he resumes his career in defence.
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