Athleticism, competitiveness, speed and versatility . . .
These are the key football attributes Richmond’s two picks AFL mid-season rookie draft picks, Matt Coulthard and James Trezise, have in common.
Although quite different in size (Coulthard 176cm, 69kg and Trezise 188cm, 76kg), it’s those shared qualities that attracted them to the Tiger talent scouts.
As the Club’s national recruiting manager Matt Clarke explained in an interview with Richmond Media: “Matt’s a small forward, outside midfielder, potentially. We’re really excited by his leg speed and his running power when we’ve seen him play. His ability to get up the ground and get back to goal has been really impressive . . .
“James’ competitiveness is what stands out with him . . . He’s athletic, he’s powerful, he works really hard, he’s got great speed, he’s pretty versatile. Played most of his footy at Tooradin as a forward, and now he’s come into our program playing really well as a back. So, we can see him playing multiple positions.
“Both of them are really good competitors, both really good athletes . . . We always want to go down the path of guys that instinctively compete. Both Matt and James do that. And they’re both really good athletes. So, we think they can fit in multiple areas of the ground . . . We need some depth in that small forward/high running forward position and Matt should do that. And James has got the ability to play as a rebounding back, we think he might be able to play wing, he’s also obviously got some forward craft as well.”
Coulthard has been given the No. 26 guernsey at Richmond, while Trezise will wear the No. 36.
