Tigers try to find room for top draft pick Nick Vlastuin by: Eliza Sewell
From: Herald Sun April 03, 2013 2:39PM
RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick says top draft pick Nick Vlastuin is AFL match ready, but he's no certainty to debut against St Kilda on Friday night.
Hardwick said Vlastuin’s omission from their Round 1 side was because of the Tigers new-found depth.
"The coach is very excited about his prospects as well (as the fans),'' Hardwick said.
"It's a tough one. Funnily enough, he's probably the most ready Round 1 draft pick we've had, but because of the depth of our side, the talent that's available at the moment, he's just missed out.
"He'll force his way in, I've got no doubt. He was very good at the weekend again. Whether he makes his debut this week, three weeks’ time, he's going to play at some stage.''
Hardwick said he would have to make some "tough calls'' at match committee.
"No doubt you like to reward winning form,'' Hardwick said of team selection.
"In saying that we've got players like (Dylan) Grimes that are available to play, Ricky Petterd will put up his hand, Chris Knights, Nick Vlastuin, some quality players as well.
"We've got some options.
"It's very important (depth), if you don't play well, you go out.
"Whether we make changes this week or not we'll certainly make a few tough calls in match committee this afternoon.
"It's probably something that we haven't had for a period of time. It's certainly good when you go to our Coburg side and you watch them play and you certainly see a lot of players that are capable of playing AFL football.
"We've got ourselves in a good situation.''
Hardwick said he had addressed the last quarter of Richmond's five-point Round 1 win against Carlton, when the Tigers almost let a 36-point three-quarter time lead slip.
"We've just got to make sure we don't take that form into quarter one on Friday night,'' he said
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/teams/tigers-try-to-find-room-for-top-draft-pick-nick-vlastuin/story-e6frf9mx-1226611792576
