Richmond’s Dion Prestia says Tigers pressure game has gone to another levelFebruary 6, 2018 12:17pm
Sarah Olle
FOX SPORTSONE of the toughest gigs in footy is going from the hunter to the hunted.
In other words, it’s difficult to get to the top.
But staying there? That’s an entirely different proposition altogether.
While clubs such as Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney have managed to sustain relative success for the past decade, others have fallen away as quickly as they’ve peaked.
The Western Bulldogs are one such example. Premiers one year, no finals the next.
Now Richmond, after its shock drought-breaking flag in 2017, is the hunted.
But premiership midfielder Dion Prestia believes the Tigers will be able to emulate the likes of Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney and carry their form through to the new year.
There will be no premiership hangover.
“I’m confident it won’t happen to us because coming back to the club, everyone’s running and training has been at another level,” Prestia told SEN.
“I feel we have some really good processes in place that we will go through this year and we have been working on them in the pre-season.
“We went through it a bit last year and this year we have taken stuff to another level.
“I think we will do everything in our power to have another successful year.
“We will go through the process of the season and hopefully that is the end result.”
While comparisons between Richmond and the Western Bulldogs continue to endure, there were key differences in their premiership years.
The Bulldogs broke the record books, after finishing the home and away season in seventh position. Richmond, conversely, finished third, a position many teams have won the flag from.
The Tigers’ pressure was their point of difference, with the club routinely chafing opposition with their tackling and running throughout 2017.
But Prestia suggested the club had taken its pressure game to another level over the summer.
“Our pressure was everything last year and that was only the start,” Prestia said.
“We have only done that game style for 12 months and we still have players at training that are just thinking about that pressure.
“We know we’ve got players like Jason Castagna and Dan Butler, that’s all they’re thinking about at training.
“With big Benny Griffiths not being available this year we’re probably going to have to play with that small forward line again, which I don’t think any other team did this year.”
Prestia hit his straps at the pointy end of 2017, averaging 27 touches throughout Richmond’s finals series.
It was his first season at Punt Road, after originally being recruited to the Gold Coast Suns.
And the 25-year-old is confident his best is still to come.
“This year has been totally different to the pre-seasons I have done over the past few years,” Prestia said.
“That puts me a long way ahead from what I have done over the past few seasons.
“I probably struggled a bit coming into last year, learning how everyone plays, the way we play and everyone’s running patterns.
“I was fit enough but I just couldn’t get my head around where to run, and what my midfielders and rucks were doing.
“That 12 months will really help me a lot.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/dion-prestia-says-richmond-has-only-hit-tip-of-the-iceberg-when-it-comes-to-pressure/news-story/dbf9a3a1a743514f06d44bd713a64468
