NFL flavour to Tiger tale


Published on Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Richmond’s line-up will contain a strong Northern Football League presence in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final.

The Tigers will be vying for their first flag since 1980 when they come up against Adelaide in the premiership decider.

As many as six former NFL players will be part of Richmond’s side as it makes its first grand final appearance in 35 years.

Skipper Trent Cotchin headlines the former NFL contingent, with Josh Caddy, Dylan Grimes, Kane Lambert, Dion Prestia and Nick Vlastuin also graduates from the NFL junior program.

Cotchin played his junior football with West Preston-Lakeside and Reservoir before going on to play school football with Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (PEGS).

He was selected with pick No. 2 in the 2007 AFL National Draft and has gone on to become one of the AFL’s premier midfielders.

In November 2016 he was retrospectively awarded the 2012 Brownlow Medal with Sam Mitchell.

He is a three-time winner of Richmond’s best and fairest, the Jack Dyer Medal, and also claimed the Leigh Matthews Trophy Winner in 2012 as the AFL Coaches Association Best Player.

Caddy joined Richmond this season after 95 AFL games with the Gold Coast Suns and Geelong.

He has been an important figure in the Tigers’ resurgence in 2017, kicking 20 goals and averaging 18 possessions in 21 appearances.

The midfielder-forward played his junior football with Eltham and was selected by the Suns with pick No. 7 in the 2010 AFL Draft.

Vlastuin is also a product of the Eltham Football Club and has enjoyed a strong back half of the season upon returning from injury.

He has averaged 22 disposals per game since returning to the Tigers side in Round 17 and was among the best players in the 51-point qualifying final win over Geelong.

Grimes, who hails from Hurstbridge, has enjoyed a career-best season and has been a vital cog in the Tigers dour defence, which has conceded an average of just 75 points per game.

The versatile defender has played every game in 2017 and has recorded career-best figures for kicks and marks. He also didn’t concede a goal to his direct opponent in four consecutive games between rounds 10 to 14.

Initially hailing from West Lalor, Prestia also joined Richmond this year after 95 games with the Gold Coast Suns.

He has averaged 23 disposals per game in 2017 and produced his best performance for the year in the qualifying final – racking up 31 disposals and a goal.

Lambert spent time with West Preston-Lakeside’s under-19 team in 2011 before dominating at VFL level with Northern Blues and Williamstown for the next three years.

He made his AFL debut in 2015 and has since become a permanent fixture in the Tigers’ line-up, playing 51 matches.

Remarkably, Richmond’s list also contains another two former NFL players.

Both Ben Lennon (Macleod) and Jayden Short (Mill Park and Bundoora) have featured for the Tigers this year and were part of the side that lost the VFL grand final to Port Melbourne by four points.

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