Tiger tall overcomes the self-doubtNathan Schmook
AFL.com.au
May 20, 2016 RICHMOND forward Ben Griffiths says he is starting to believe he can be an important part of his team after his breakout performance last Saturday night breathed life into the Tigers' season.
Griffiths, whose confidence has wavered this year, kicked a career-best five goals in Richmond's one-point win over the Sydney Swans, playing a match-winning role.
It was just his second game back after a stint in the VFL, and the 24-year-old said he now knew what he had to do to become the consistent forward the Tigers were desperate for him to be.
"I'm just starting to really believe how important I can be to the team," Griffiths told AFL.com.au.
"With a lot of injuries can come some self-doubt, and when you're not performing to the level you know you can, it can get frustrating.
"Everyone goes through a bit of self-doubt at times.
"I saw getting dropped as a really good opportunity to go back and really work on the basics."
Griffiths was arguably the most important player on the ground against the Swans, kicking three of his five goals in the fourth quarter to get his team into a position to win the game.
He said confidence and getting to as many contests as he could was the key to his performance.
"You've got to have that confidence and belief in your own ability to perform at the highest level," Griffiths said.
"Early on this season it (confidence) was pretty up and down, but I went back and I saw it as a really good opportunity to fine-tune a few things and really earn my spot back, which I feel like I did.
"It's about finding out what I did and doing it week-in, week-out from now on.
"For me it's all about the contest. I got to as many as I could and my game all flows from there."
Much like Griffiths individually, the Tigers as a team know that their win against the Swans will only have meaning if they can back it up against the winless Fremantle on Saturday night at Domain Stadium.
Griffiths said the Tigers took half an hour to enjoy last week's team-bonding win before moving into recovery mode.
"We can either rest on our laurels or work with what we've done," he said.
"We've had a solid block of training and we're seeing it come out in games now.
"We've got to take that into this week.
"We know Fremantle is incredibly good defensively and we need to come out with the right attitude and build on the momentum we gained last week."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-05-20/tiger-griffiths-overcomes-selfdoubt-to-believe-in-his-importance
