Richmond has a pleasant ‘problem’ in the lead-up to the opening round of the 2017 season, according to senior coach Damien Hardwick.
The Tigers have vacancies on their senior playing list for two rookie-list elevations, and several young players pressed their promotional claims in last Saturday’s final JLT Community Series hit-out against Collingwood.
“We’re pretty fortunate in a way. We’ve got a number of rookies playing well,” Hardwick said in his post-match press conference following Richmond’s seven-point loss to the Magpies at Moe.
“(Jason) Castagna’s been playing some good football. Mabior Chol, I thought today, was terrific in bits and pieces. We see what he can do going forward. And then big (Ivan) Soldo . . . the big ‘fella’ at the end was really exciting for us as well . . . kicked 1.2.
“So, it’s a great position for us to be in . . . They’re good questions to have coming into Round 1.”
Castagna had the equal second most score involvements (eight) by any Tiger player in last Saturday’s match, the equal most tackles (four) and kicked a goal.
Chol had 12 disposals, including nine contested possessions, five score involvements and a goal.
Soldo, who spent the first half on the bench, finished with seven disposals, four marks (including two intercept grabs), four score involvements and a goal.
http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2017-03-14/richmonds-rookie-riddle
