Vlastuin's dream within reachBy Jennifer Phelan
afl.com.au
Monday, February 25, 2013PLAYING an AFL game has been a dream for Richmond youngster Nick Vlastuin since he was four years old and chasing an Auskick ball in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs.
On Friday night in the first round of the NAB Cup, he enhanced his chances of achieving that goal as early as March 28 with a performance that caught the eye.
It wasn't unexpected. The 18-year-old had already impressed in both the Tigers' clash with the Indigenous All Stars in Alice Springs and their intra-club the following week.
After an injury-free pre-season that followed his acquisition by Richmond at NAB AFL Draft selection No.9 overall, he's got himself in the best shape possible to run out against Carlton in round one.
"He's a massive chance, and it would be a good story considering our midfield, it's a pretty strong midfield," assistant coach Danny Daly told AFL.com.au last week.
"Damien Hardwick loves that sort of stuff so if you were to do the round one team now, he'd be in the 23 or 24 no problems at all."
That was before Friday night's games against Melbourne and North Melbourne.
In the 15-point win over the Demons, Vlastuin took some time to settle but stood out late in the first half when he delivered a neat kick to Tyrone Vickery.
Against the Kangaroos, he was a positive in the four-point loss with some sound work in the centre and a moment when he skilfully spun around Shaun Atley to punt the ball inside 50 and contribute to a Shane Edwards goal.
"He's doing everything right thus far," coach Damien Hardwick said afterwards.
"[Vlastuin] is really impressive, he's very, very hard, which we like, he uses the ball extremely well and he's only going to get better from here on in."
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So who is the Tigers' new red head, who was recruited as a medium defender but was starting in the centre bounces on Friday night and has a hardness comparable to Trent Cotchin?
Vlastuin captained Vic Metro last year and won All Australian honours after averaging over 16 disposals a game.
He was a member of the AIS-AFL Academy for two years, and credits the week he got to spend with Hawthorn as part of the elite program to why he has adapted to a professional environment so quickly.
Since landing at Punt Road, he's been doing about 90 per cent of the training load, which was enough for him to spend his initial days off sleeping.
But now the focus has changed from time trials to match stuff, he's able to do things other than that in his free time.
He surfs, with school holidays spent on the New South Wales coast on a borrowed surfboard instilling that interest.
He has shares it with Tiger teammates David Astbury, Daniel Jackson and Ben Griffiths, and his best mate who has a beach house in Torquay.
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He hates being inside, and while he doesn't know what he wants to do post-football, he knows "it won't be behind a desk".
He lives at home with his mum and dad, Cecily and Chris, and his older sister Rachel – who is studying physiotherapy at La Trobe University – in the house he grew up in.
Their brother Tim lives in Sydney. He's six months into a career with the Australian Army as a graphical engineer, after a "gap year that went on for three".
They live in Eltham – a "Collingwood" area – so the kids grew up supporting the Pies. Collingwood premiership captain Tony Shaw even lived a few doors down.
His mum was born in outback New South Wales and his dad in Dutch New Guinea before the Vlastuins moved to Australia after World War II.
As for goals this year, Vlastuin only has to look as far as defender Brandon Ellis, who played 21 senior games in his debut season of 2012, for inspiration.
"If I got to do that, I'd be stoked," he said.
"It would definitely mean a bit [to play round one]. I just want to play footy at the highest level.
"I don't want to put a figure on it. I'll just hopefully do well in the NAB Cup and then get an opportunity."
After the hit-outs against Melbourne and North Melbourne, Vlastuin told the club's website he felt "pretty comfortable" towards the end of the second game after settling into the pace.
Vlastuin has applied himself to improving his endurance – an area considered a work in progress when he was drafted.
His step up in training as a Tiger has already produced impressive results.
"Coming into an AFL system for the young kids, it's always an issue with their endurance and Nick, like all of the young kids, still has a way to go," Daly said.
"But, I think he's about 25 seconds better than his first time trial that he did just after Christmas when they came back so he's on the right track."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-25/dream-within-reach.workstation
