Toby Nankervis on the two clutch moments at either end that inspired Richmond's winMay 28, 2017 11:10am
Riley Beveridge
FOX SPORTSBut such has been the young ruckman’s impact in his short, but impressive stint at Richmond thus far, he has become a player consistently relied upon by the Tiger faithful.
And in the dying stages of a tight, tense battle with Essendon — where Richmond had peppered without reward for a sustained period — Nankervis once again repaid the faith the club has shown in him since he arrived at Punt Road.
Receiving a handball from Shane Edwards, the 199cm Nankervis loaded up and delivered a clean left-footed shot from outside 50m, putting the finishing touches on a hard-fought and deserved Dreamtime victory.
“I didn’t do much before it, so I sort of needed that,” a beaming Nankervis told foxfooty.com.au after the match.
“I kicked it and it looked all right. I probably carried on a bit, but it just felt so good to get the win.”
But the young man’s impact wasn’t done there.
Despite his goal putting the Tigers 15 points up with just a couple of minutes on the clock, a sense of nervousness within the Richmond fanbase remained present.
Could you blame them? Having lost their last three games by a combined total of just 10 points, anything seemed possible.
Enter big ‘Nank’ yet again. Drifting back with the flight of the ball, the 22-year-old took a strong mark in Richmond’s defensive 50, took time off the clock and all but iced the game.
“I’d had a pretty quiet match,” Nankervis said.
“So in the last quarter I needed to stand up and I think I did that in a couple of big moments.”
While any victory is satisfying, this one was particularly sweet for Richmond’s long-suffering supporters.
Having started the season with five consecutive wins, the Tigers were desperate to get their season back on track after four losses on the bounce — the last three of which came in heartbreaking fashion.
So it was no surprise to see Saturday night’s efforts celebrated with a sense of relief, as well as jubilation.
“There’s so much relief after the final siren, more than anything,” Nankervis said.
“We’ve been playing such good footy for the last three weeks, so to put it all together — it’s so good.
“We just needed to get it kickstarted again and I think we’re ready to go again now.”
Having fallen five points short of the Western Bulldogs three weeks ago, Richmond then conceded a kick after the siren to lose to Fremantle by two points, before another late goal resigned the club to a three-point loss at the hands of GWS.
So when the scores were level with 10 minutes to play at the MCG — and having missed a host of routine chances to put the game to bed — Richmond fans were right to have their hearts in their mouths.
However, showing a resolve that hadn’t been present throughout the last month, the Tigers dug deep in the closing stages.
“I was pretty confident the whole last quarter,” Nankervis said.
“The footy we’ve been playing, it was bound to turn. We’ve been a bit unlucky in the last couple of weeks and we’ve copped some criticism, but the boys have come together and to get the win on the board is so good.”
Now 6-4 through 10 games, Richmond’s season is seemingly back on track.
However, the club never lost faith in its ability to compete with the best, even after such disappointing late defeats.
Now, back on the winners list, Richmond is ready to continue its journey towards finals footy.
“I don’t think we ever lost much confidence, that’s the thing,” Nankervis said.
“The margins that we lost by were so slim. The ball bounces a different way and we could’ve won the last three, you never know. But the confidence in the footy we play has never wavered.
“We’ve just had to tweak a few things and we’ve been working so hard, so this is reward for effort.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/toby-nankervis-on-the-two-clutch-moments-at-either-end-that-inspired-richmonds-win-over-essendon/news-story/aaafd3cdd8902a72ae9115ed9d7b575b
