![\"Tiger](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/226ad5ad9f0dfe483c9509afd507afef7eb102c4.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe rationale was clear to Yze, as was his understanding of the player\u2019s reaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 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 \u2018righto, let\u2019s look after him because I won\u2019t be able to live with myself if something happens\u2019,\u201d Yze said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut because he is a driven kid he hated it, which was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yze wore the moment without fuss, recalling it with a wry sense of humour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty cool. After he cooled down and didn\u2019t want to fight me,\u201d Yze said. \u201cI love the kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
That love of Gibcus is shared throughout Punt Road, where everyone has their fingers crossed for him heading into the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
All are aware of the hurdles he jumped to reach that match against the Cats in late August.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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Yze still says \u201ctouch wood\u201d every time he mentions the 22-year-old\u2019s strong progress this pre-season.<\/p>\n
But football\u2019s forgotten man doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis pre-season I have come in probably fitter and stronger than I ever have. I\u2019m putting the last couple of years behind me after having a bit of a terror run,\u201d Gibcus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m confident in how my body is and how it\u2019s holding up, especially this off-season. It\u2019s probably the biggest off-season I\u2019ve had in my career. I\u2019m getting a lot of confidence out of what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Has his prodigious leap been affected? \u201cNo\u201d.<\/p>\n
Does flying for marks hold any fears? \u201cMaybe the first couple of times you might think about it, but now, no, I don\u2019t think about it twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gibcus doesn\u2019t exactly drink from the River Lethe, but he is not one to dwell on what\u2019s gone before. That\u2019s a good characteristic for a key defender to have, and also a positive when returning from injury.<\/p>\n
With great support from family \u2013 parents Yvonne and Michael and siblings Ben and Amelia \u2013 friends, coaches and teammates, he can now describe the period as \u201cboth a blessing and a curse\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hearing Gibcus\u2019 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\u2019s life when sidelined. It is, unfortunately, a reality many AFL players face.<\/p>\n
![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9b1a55a667b64d8854bdbec8bacc80f3d79be738.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 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\u2019s the exciting part of coming back from injury,\u201d Gibcus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo go back from doing literally nothing, sitting on my bed and doing leg presses and whatever to running and also on to training. It\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Triple premiership defender Dylan Grimes was Gibcus\u2019 mentor in the No.9 draft pick\u2019s first season in 2022.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe self-confidence and the belief you are ever going to get right takes a bit of a dent,\u201d said Grimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t lose belief that it can all click \u2013 that is the same for anyone who has grappled injuries \u2013 it\u2019s lonely, [you] second guess yourself from the sidelines, question whether you are ever going to make it, so my advice to him would be: \u2018don\u2019t lose belief\u2019,\u201d Grimes said.<\/p>\n
His former mentor certainly hasn\u2019t lost the conviction that Gibcus has a fine career ahead.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe\u2019s incredibly powerful and really athletic and he hasn\u2019t 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,\u201d Grimes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJosh 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019t take anything for granted as he resumes his career in defence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The rationale was clear to Yze, as was his understanding of the player\u2019s reaction. \u201cAt half-time there was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-481065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}