Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has praised the efforts of the four young players the Tigers brought into their line-up for yesterday’s clash with Collingwood at the MCG.
Tall forward Liam McBean, 20, and speedy utility Connor Menadue, 18, made their senior league debuts, while the Club’s first pick in last year’s National Draft, Corey Ellis, 18, was playing just his second game, and big defender Todd Elton, 22, also was making just his second appearance, after debuting back in 2012.
Here’s Hardwick’s assessment of the inexperienced quartet . . .
Round 7: McBean & Menadue jumper presentation
On McBean: “Liam presented really well. He probably didn’t get used a couple of times when he was open . . . What we do notice anyway is he makes his way to smart places on the ground.”
On Menadue: “Connor had a quarter (after coming on as the ‘sub’), and you could see his running capability from there.”
On Ellis: “Corey was really impressive for mine. He’s just a smart player and he’s going to grow from that, it’s his second game.”
On Elton: “Todd, to his credit, battled on (after lining up on star Magpie key forward Travis Cloke) . . . We really like him. He’s got some athletic traits that we really enjoy, and we think he’s going to be a good player for us for a long period of time.”
Hardwick said the Tigers were extremely pleased with the development of this youthful group of players.
“They probably played a little bit earlier than we would have liked, considering we got some injuries to our next-tier players down.
“But it’s great for those players to experience a win like that.”
