Tylar Young, who has been one of Richmond’s success stories of the 2023 season, took his game to an even higher level in yesterday’s clash with Melbourne at the MCG.

The tall defender, in his 15^th senior appearance with the Tigers, had AFL career-high numbers in several key statistical categories.

He had a career-high 19 disposals (previous best 14 in Round 7 v Gold Coast), career-high 11 intercepts (previous best eight v Gold Coast, Round 7) and career-high 407 metres gained (previous best 351 v West Coast, Round 18), to go with an equal career-high eight contested possessions, five marks, six rebound-50s and eight one-percenters.

The 24-year-old, in his debut season of AFL football, is ranked No. 8 across the competition for one-percenters per game.

What he displayed against the Demons yesterday was his development from being a purely close-checking, spoiling defender to a backman with the capacity to win the ball back from the opposition and provide some valuable rebound.