James Trezise’s major impact throughout his debut season of VFL football with Richmond resulted in him being taken by the Tigers with their second selection (No. 13 overall) in last night’s AFL mid-season rookie draft. Here is how Richmond’s VFL coach Steve Morris assessed Trezise’s impressive progress in his weekly player reviews on the Club’s website.
Round 1 v Northern Bullants
Key statistics: 13 disposals, five tackles, four marks, four rebound-50s.
Coach’s comment: “Debuted for the footy club and at VFL level, and he certainly looked right at home. Love the way he plays. He had five tackles on the day and he's really tough at the contest and the man. He made a couple of uncharacteristic errors by foot, but I was really happy with the way he started. He’s made a very big impression in his early days at the footy club.
Round 2 v Coburg
Key statistics: 11 disposals, six tackles, three marks.
Coach’s comment: “Was again rock solid in defence. He's such as athletic player and can get to contests that others just can't. His toughness is really underrated, we loved seeing him step in and finish the game with six bone-crunching tackles.”
Round 3 v Footscray
Key statistics: seven disposals, seven tackles, two marks.
Coach’s comment: “Played down back for the first three quarters and we swung him forward late. I thought he was really solid down back and had some really good opportunities up forward that he would usually capitalise on. But he's a really key part of us moving forward.”
Round 4 v Carlton
Key statistics: 16 disposals, four marks, one goal.
Coach’s comment: “He's a super exciting player. He showed his versatility when he helped us out in the ruck in the second half after having lost Tom Brindley to illness. The X-Factor that he has was on show in and around the footy, and he kicked a beautiful goal from long range in the first quarter.”
Round 5 v Casey
Key statistics: 19 disposals, seven marks, seven tackles, six rebound-50s.
Coach’s comment: “Our 'Mr Fix-It'. We put him down back when Mutaz El Nour went down early in the game, and he was as solid as a rock. He led the team with seven tackles. He’s ruthless, tough, and is in super form."
Round 6 v Gold Coast
Key statistics: 17 disposals, seven marks, two tackles.
Coach’s comment: “Outstanding game once again. He’s coming ahead in leaps and bounds. He's strong in the contest aerially, uses his athleticism to his advantage and has great flexibility.”
Round 7 bye
Round 8 v Geelong
Key statistics: 29 disposals, 10 marks, six rebound-50s, four tackles.
Coach’s comment: “Best game for the year for James. He’s been improving each week, but I thought he was fantastic defensively. He’s an extremely good one-on-one player and won the ball back a number of times for us on the day.”
Round 9 v Essendon
Key statistics: 16 disposals, five tackles, four rebound-50s.
Coach’s comment: “We played him up forward in the first half and he had little influence, however his second half was just outstanding. He won some really important contests and nullified some others and tackled really well.”
Round 10 bye
