Richmond defender Sam Banks is set for a special homecoming this weekend, returning to Tasmania where he will face Brisbane in front of family, friends and local crowd.
Banks, who grew up in the tiny rural locality of Whitefoord in the southern Midlands – home to just 60 people, said heading back to play in his home state is a highlight of the season.
“Being able to catch up with the family as well as play in front of some pretty passionate Tiger fans down there is always good, so I’m looking forward to the weekend,” Banks told Pulse.
“Hopefully we can bounce back from last week’s performance, but it’ll be good to get down and see the family, and hopefully, the weather turns it on for us.”
“I’m starting to get a few messages now, so we’ll hopefully get a few sorted and get as much family and all my close mates and stuff like that there as well. I can’t wait.”
The 22-year-old’s football journey began on the family farm, where he learned the ropes of farming and football.
“My pop and uncle own a farm in the area, and a lot of my mates are still involved with it down there,” he said.
“They weren’t too keen on me staying there, they were pretty happy for me to concentrate on my footy and college and things like that.”
Banks played his junior football at Sorell and Central Hawks before moving onto Clarence Football Club.
“Still a lot of my close mates play senior footy there [Sorell], and my dad played there, my brother played there, so I still follow those boys closely,” he said.
“I played up at Central Hawks as well when I was pretty young with a fair few schoolmates, who I’m also still really close with, so they were good memories.”
He captained the Tasmanian Devils from Under 16s through to Under 18s but suffered a broken wrist in his draft year that threatened his AFL dream.
Richmond drafted Banks with pick 29 in 2021 and headed to the mainland, following in the footsteps of Richmond legend, Royce Hart, who grew up in the same town as Banks, living only 150 meters down the street from him.
Hart is regarded as one of the game’s greatest centre half-forwards, having gone on to become a four-time VFL premiership player and taking home the Club’s prestigious Jack Dyer Medal twice.
Banks made his AFL debut in Round 17 of the 2023 season and has now played 50 AFL games including seven this season.
Banks said when he grew up in Tasmania, there wasn’t much of a chance to connect to an AFL team, but times had changed for the better.
“I think it’s something that when I grew up, there wasn’t really a chance to do it, so for a big club like us to be able to go down there and all the fans come, I remember last year, Captain’s Run, we had a massive, massive crowd there for that,” he said.
“It was one of the better Captain’s Runs we’ve had, so it’s awesome to see all the fans come out, and we can’t wait to do it again this weekend.”
He said the Tigers reviewed their last loss to Sydney quickly and used the bye last weekend to recharge for the Hobart visit.
“Hopefully, we can go into the game against Brisbane on Sunday, pretty fresh and put up a good fight against them,” he said.
Richmond has a long history with Tasmania.
In August 1912, 27 years into Richmond’s existence, the club journeyed on its first interstate trip ever – to Tasmania.
As part of their visit, the Tigers defeated a combined Southern Tasmanian team in Hobart by 20 points, in front of 4,000 spectators.
When the club won their first VFL premiership in 1920, they were on a ship just three days later for a 10-day trip to Tasmania.
The club said at least 50 Richmond players or coaches over the years were either born in Tasmania or recruited from the state.
North Melbourne played AFL matches in Tasmania from 2012-2025 and recently Hawthorn announced they would be ending their 25 year partnership with Launceston next year to make way for the Tasmania Devils entry into the AFL.
Richmond will play Brisbane at NINJA Stadium at Bellerive on Sunday June 14 at 1:10pm.
Tickets are available from Ticketek.
