PATRICK Retschko didn't have Blair Hartley's number saved in his phone when Richmond's GM called the day after he was delisted by Geelong. Minutes earlier he'd been crying while changing into his suit ahead of the Carji Greeves Medal. Suddenly his AFL dream had a pulse. 

Despite finishing fifth in the Cats' VFL best and fairest in his first season on the rookie list at Kardinia Park, Retschko wasn't offered another contract. Geelong had just reached another Grand Final and list spots were naturally tight. Very tight. 

Retschko walked into his exit meeting not expecting that outcome. He quickly realised things weren't going his way when he sat opposite Cats coach Chris Scott, GM Andrew Mackie, recruiting boss Stephen Wells, head of list strategy Simon Murphy and player development manager Shannon Byrnes.

The conversation didn't last long. Retschko headed back up the highway to Melbourne and caught up with Geelong's first-to-fourth-year players later that night at Ballers Clubhouse in the CBD. He left early in tears, overcome with the fear his AFL dream was over.

It wasn't. 

Richmond met with him a few times and committed to taking him as delisted free agent in November. Then they changed their mind. They weren’t prepared to wait that long. 

Now half a season on, Retschko is playing for the club he grew up worshipping and has just earned the round 11 Rising Star nomination after starring for the Tigers in the Dreamtime at the 'G game, using the motivation of being cut to fuel his second chance.

"I was a little bit filthy walking out (of the exit meeting) because I felt a little bit hard done by. I was pretty upset because I felt like I'd put my best foot forward and I'd made a huge effort to get to know the boys around the club," Retschko told AFL.com.au.

"That night we had like a one-to-four years catch up, and because I lived in Melbourne I rolled up by myself and some of the boys started rolling in. I couldn't hack it, I started uncontrollably bawling, like out the back of the joint. I ended up leaving early because I just couldn't stop crying.

"We had the B&F the next night, so I was rolling into the B&F and Blair Hartley gave me a call on the way. My manager Robbie [D'Orazio] kind of gave me a little idea that he was was gonna call, but I wasn't expecting it on the way to the B&F: I'd actually shed a few tears when I was getting into my suit, thinking the last thing I wanted to do was roll up to a B&F after being delisted, and the boys had lost a Grand Final."

Deadline Day last year was dominated by big names, especially late. Charlie Curnow was the last deal to be lodged with three minutes left. Zach Merrett didn't get his move. Christian Petracca did. Clayton Oliver was traded. So was Jack Steele. But Jy Simpkin wasn't. Among them all, Retschko was traded out of nowhere to Richmond in exchange for pick No.99.

"That day I was actually having a few boys over, because I told 10 people that I'd got the spot (as a delisted free agent) and I was starting (at the club) when the draftees would start. Then Blair rang me asking how I was feeling. He rang me the night before, asking if we were good to go and then he's like, 'Oh, actually, we want to trade for you, we want to get you in to be able to start a little bit earlier'," Retschko said.

"He told me to flick onto trade radio, so I pretty much ended the call, spoke to Mum in the car, then turned on trade radio. Riley [Beveridge] and Cal [Twomey] were talking about me and I was like, 'Far out, I cannot believe this is happening'. My phone just started blowing up, because it was just came out of nowhere, and I didn't even think it could happen that way after being delisted."

Retschko grew up a diehard Richmond supporter in a family full of them. Landing at Punt Road was a dream come true. When he turned up at the Swinburne Centre, he quickly made an impression with his elite work rate to put his magnet in contention across the pre-season.

Adem Yze picked him to make his debut against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in round six, then he played for the first time at the MCG the following Friday night in the Anzac Day eve marquee game against Melbourne. He has been back twice, including last Friday night where he collected 27 disposals, 499m gained and nine score involvements in the win over Essendon.

The Oakleigh Chargers product used to sit near the 50m arc at the Punt Road end of the ground with his family and makes sure he looks over to those seats during the warm-up to remind himself how lucky he is to be on the other side of the fence now.

"I was never able to play on the 'G as a junior. My first game was Anzac Day [eve]. I always like to go out on the ground 90 minutes before. It kind of hit me a little bit more that the fact I was playing on the 'G and I had probably watched 100 odd games there before actually stepping out on the ground," he said.

"Eventually when I had my chance it felt a little bit overwhelming, so I kind of like stood there and took it all in and was able to spot where I used to sit, which kind of grounds me to be fine, like don't take myself too serious at the same time, like remember the process and whatnot."

Late on Friday night, Richmond’s media department helped recreate a special moment in Retschko’s life. Almost a decade earlier, the then 11-year-old ran down to the fence to get a photo with former Indigenous star Michael Mitchell, who won the mark of the year and goal of the year in the same season in 1990. 

"So it's 2017 Dreamtime, that's when the Tiges are starting to get a roll on that year, and we're sitting in our seats and Dad made a comment like, 'Oh, he was my favourite player when I was your age'. So I ran down to the fence and shook his hand," he said.

"The lady who took it is actually now my player sponsor, so it's pretty full circle, but it was just complete luck that she took the photo. Obviously she couldn't identify me, so she started coming to games and looking in the seats and the areas to see if she could find me, but eventually she couldn't so she chucked it up on Facebook and through two or three connections it made its way to mum and dad. She printed it out for me back in 2017 so she hand delivered it to us, which was nice."

Playing for Richmond means more to Retschko than others. He was there in 2017 and 2019. He knows the history of the club intimately. Now he feels lucky to wear the yellow and black jumper. 

"I think it's a little bit more special because I feel like I understand what the club's gone through, who's passed through these doors and how special it is to actually wear the jumper," he said.

"My mum, dad, brothers, cousins, uncles, and aunties are all steeped in the history of Richmond, so it's just easy to come home and appreciate the fact that everyone has a huge buy into it, whether it's the losses or celebrating the wins when we're no struggling or when we're winning flags, it's easy to understand just what goes into it."

The 2024 draft class is crucial to the rebuild at Richmond. The Tigers selected six players in the first-round – Sam Lalor, Josh Smillie, Taj Hotton, Jonty Faull, Harry Armstrong, Luke Trainor – and Tom Sims with the first pick on night two. 

Retschko was drafted the same year and played with or against all of them except for Faull. He roomed with Sims at an athletics championships back when he was one of the best 800m runners in the state and went to Caulfield Grammar with Jasper Alger, who was taken with the Tigers' last pick that year. Now he hopes to add to that important core at Punt Road.

"From day one I have just wanted to get to know the boys and earn their respect. There's a lot of high-end talent here and they are the foundation of the future. I want to be part of that, so I'm kind of building towards that, to be honest, like these accolades are good fun and a nice bit of recognition, but at the same time I just want the respect of 'Ooze' (Adem Yze) and all the coaches around here," he said.

Retschko played alongside Murphy Reid and Nick Watson at Caulfield Grammar and the likes of Finn O'Sullivan and Jagga Smith at the Oakleigh Chargers after committing to footy full-time at 16 after rupturing his ACL while running 100km a week chasing an athletics dream. He knows they have superior talent, but hopes his insatiable appetite for work will allow him to have a long career at the highest level.

2026 Telstra AFL Rising Star nominees

Opening Round: Leo Lombard (Gold Coast)
Round one: Jagga Smith (Carlton)
Round two: Jobe Shanahan (West Coast)
Round three: Willem Duursma (West Coast)
Round four: Cooper Trembath (North Melbourne)
Round five: Jacob Farrow (Essendon)
Round six: Phoenix Gothard (Greater Western Sydney)
Round seven: Sam Grlj (Richmond)
Round eight: Jack Whitlock (Port Adelaide)
Round nine: Sullivan Robey (Essendon)
Round 10: Josh Lindsay (West Coast)
Round 11: Patrick Retschko (Richmond)