Dion Prestia on SEN / "We’ll be a lot more aggressive this year"

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Dion Prestia on SEN's Breakfast with Garry, Tim and Hamish ...

AUDIO: https://audioboom.com/posts/5590118-dion-prestia-on-breakfast-with-garry-tim-and-hamish

* Jack's leadership,
* The "Caddyshack"
* The Tiger Army with The Meatball

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Dion nominates veteran Tiger for promotion

Ben Waterworth,
FOX SPORTS
Feb 10, 2017

RICHMOND recruit Dion Prestia has given new teammate Jack Riewoldt a resounding endorsement, claiming the star forward should “definitely” be part of the Tigers’ leadership group.

Prestia revealed that the Tigers’ playing group hadn’t voted on its team 2017 leaders yet, but Riewoldt has already put his hand up for a leadership role while Dustin Martin is also being considered for a shock promotion.

Prestia, who was traded from the Gold Coast Suns to sign a five-year deal with Richmond last year, hinted that the Tigers’ leadership group wouldn’t change too much from the five-man team it had in 2016, although Brett Deledio will need to be replaced.

But Prestia said Riewoldt, who was dumped from the group ahead of the 2014 season, deserved another chance to lead in an official capacity following an impressive and influential pre-season.

“I know a lot of people say he might be a sook, but he’s just so competitive and just wants to win,” Prestia told SEN.

“I did a little bit with him in rehab when I first got there and it was just obvious that he just wanted to help you. Everything that he did, whether it was just a small five-minute task or session, everything was just done really well.

“He’s pretty intense but he’s great to train with.”
Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt has had an impressive pre-season. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Richmond’s 2016 leadership group was led by skipper Trent Cotchin and supported by Deledio, Ivan Maric, Alex Rance and Shane Edwards.

Prestia said Maric, Rance and Edwards had all impressed him since arriving at Punt Road and deserved to be retained in the group.

The ex-Sun also revealed that the Tigers might unveil a fresh, attacking gamestyle in 2017, after Damien Hardwick’s methodical, keepings-off approach drew external criticism last year.

“Compared to 2016 I think it’ll be a bit of a different gamestyle,” Prestia said.

“There’s been a lot of changes, I feel, at the club in the last off-season player-wise and also coaching-wise.

“I don’t think it’ll change a whole lot, I think every team’s pretty similar in a game style. But I think we’ll be a lot more aggressive, I feel, this year. That’s what I’ve picked up from last year.”

Prestia, now living in Richmond, said he had quickly settled into Melbourne life after settling on the Tigers as his preferred club last year.

The 24-year-old attracted interest from Hawthorn, Essendon and Melbourne during the 2016 AFL exchange period, but chose the Tigers because they were a “better fit at the time”.

“Obviously Dustin and Trent are great players, but also their midfielders probably don’t get a lot of notice like Anthony Miles and Shaun Grigg, Reece Conca’s had a really good pre-season,” Prestia said.

“It was more that it was there but they probably didn’t perform as well as what they’d like to last year. And I agree I think they underperformed, as they’d played finals the last three years before that, so I was confident they’d be able to bounce back.

“I think our midfield is pretty strong don there and also having Jack Riewoldt at one end and Alex Rance at the other end — they’re two superstars.”

http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/jack-riewoldt-deserves-promotion-to-richmond-leadership-group-says-dion-prestia/news-story/046619ed1b4f257daa22e8ab7833e00a

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'I'll be fully in there': New Tiger ready to rip in intraclub

AFL.com.au
Feb 10, 2017

RICHMOND recruit Dion Prestia has overcome the knee injury that ruined his 2016 season and will play in the Tigers' intraclub on Saturday.

 The former Gold Coast midfielder has been managed carefully through his first summer at Punt Road, having not played since round 16 last year.

 The 24-year-old underwent knee surgery in July last year to fix the cartilage problem that he had battled with throughout the season.

 But Richmond fans will be able to get their first glimpse of Prestia in the yellow and black at a short intraclub game during their weekend training run.

 "[The knee] is going well. I've probably been held back a little bit just because of my history, but we have an intraclub tomorrow and I'll be fully in there," Prestia told SEN on Friday.

 The Calder Cannons product was the subject of intense speculation throughout his six years at the Suns, with the hard-at-it midfielder regularly linked to a return back to Victoria.

 He confirmed Hawthorn, Essendon and Melbourne were the other clubs in the mix for his services at the end of last year.

 Prestia's father is a strong supporter of the Demons and was encouraging his son to choose Melbourne once he had decided to leave the Suns.

 "He wanted me to go to Melbourne," Prestia said.

 "He was asking me 'Is Melbourne a chance? Is Melbourne a chance?' But it was just the way it panned out really. Melbourne's midfield was already pretty set up already and they've got some good young players, and so does Richmond.

 "We just felt that Richmond was a better fit at the time."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-02-10/ill-be-fully-in-there-prestia-ready-to-rip-in-intraclub