Halfway through his first season in Richmond’s senior line-up, speedy, skilful small forward Dan Butler has received an AFL Rising Star nomination (following his lively Round 11 display against North Melbourne). Butler fronted the media today to discuss his impressive progress in 2017. Here’s what he had to say...

On now playing regular senior-level league football

“It’s pretty exciting. Obviously I haven’t had this opportunity over the past two years, so it’s really nice to be in the team and playing some good footy . . . It’s a pretty exciting time and we’re all loving it out there at the moment. We’re playing some good footy as a team, so that’s the main thing.”

On being unable to break into the Tigers’ senior side until this year

“You get a bit frustrated with yourself and you have to keep asking what you need to do to get in the team. But I’m really happy to get the opportunity this year.” 

On key areas of his game he worked on

“The main thing was probably just my fitness base. I’d probably been a bit unfit over the past two years. So I put a pretty big emphasis on that over the off-season and pre-season, and also clean hands and goalkicking.”

On receiving his Rising Star nomination

“It’s pretty nice. It was good to get the nomination, but it was even better to get the win (v North Melbourne in Round 11).”

On his partnership up forward with other talented Tiger cubs Rioli and Castagna

“It’s pretty exciting. We try to bring a lot of pressure every week and it’s good. It doesn’t really matter who’s kicking the goals, as long as we’re putting the pressure on and the team’s kicking goals . . . That’s all we want to do.”

On his friendship with ‘George’ Castagna

“We got drafted together and we moved in together at the end of last year. So we’re pretty good mates and it’s good to be playing together.”

On the table-tennis tattoo dare

“We’re pretty competitive at out our Kew house, so we decided to have a bit of a competition. It was the first to 150 table tennis games, and the loser had to get a table tennis bat and the other person’s initials engraved . . . I was lucky enough to get the win. We’re thinking of doing another competition, but we’re not quite sure what yet.”

On his 21^st birthday last Saturday

“It was a pretty big day, and then played the game (against North) that night. My family and friends were all there, so it was a great night, and really good to get the win. That’s what I would have dreamed about growing up, playing footy, especially on my 21^st birthday. It was an absolute honour.”

On his Bondi road trip during the week

“Me and Jase (Castagna) and Nathan Broad went to Bondi on a bit of a road trip. It was good to get away and have a bit of a surf and swim and stuff like that . . .”

On his goals and expectations for the rest of this season

“I just want to keep playing my role for the team, keep putting that pressure on up front with Dan and Jason. And who knows how far we can go . . . We’re a pretty exciting young group, so we’ll just wait and see what happens.”

On measuring his own performance

“The main thing I look at is my pressure points and tackles. That’s my job for the team – to put pressure on, and anything else is just a bonus.”