Richmond development coach Mark Williams has praised the work ethic of young Tiger Matt Arnot over the pre-season period.
In a new Roar Vision feature series, “Choco Cub Watch”, Williams assesses where Arnot is at, as the 19-year-old prepares for his second season at Tigerland, which he hopes will encompass a senior league debut.
“Part of my role is to look after him and try and get him to the stage that he’s ready to play and he understands the game plan and also what’s required to be an AFL footballer. To his credit, he’s worked really hard at it,” Williams said.
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“He’s really diligent about coming to see me and looking at tape and making sure that he’s doing the extra things like that.
“He got a bit of an opportunity, to play against North Melbourne and Melbourne (in the first round of the pre-season competition) and he did okay there. He won some hard balls and got some balls out in traffic.
“I encouraged him that it was a good start, but he just had to keep working hard on the track.
“’Dimma’ decided to give him another opportunity, against Essendon (at Wangaratta) and he played really well.
“I thought he showed some real signs and, following that game, I think he can play in the midfield and do some good work.
“Everyone talks about Ricky Petterd’s nine-point goal (to win that game for Richmond), but Matty Arnot was the one that made the tackle and caused the ball to turn over, which Ricky picked up and kicked a goal from . . . I was really pleased.”
Williams believes Arnot has a number of attributes that will assist his quest to eventually become a senior regular at Richmond.
“He works well at clearances, he can push at the right time, get in front, and he can clear the ball pretty well, which is great. And, he’s a well-built, young man, who looks like he’s ready for AFL footy,” Williams said.
Williams, however, also pointed to an area of Arnot’s game that needs improving . . .
“He misses too many goals. In the game against Essendon, he missed three shots he should have kicked and if he’d got those, they all probably would have been writing about him in the papers. He just has to take those opportunities when he gets them,” Williams said.
