David Astbury has picked up where he left off last season and is thriving in his role across Richmond’s backline.

Astbury, who played in all the Tigers’ games throughout their 2017 premiership year, is averaging 16.8 disposals, 6.8 marks and 4.2 rebound-50s per match after four rounds of the 2018 season.

The dependable tall defender is ranked 12^th in the competition for intercepts, 17^th for marks and 20^th for rebound-50s.

He was awarded three votes in the AFL Coaches Association’s Player of the Year award for his sterling defensive efforts throughout last Saturday’s clash with Brisbane at the MCG.

Richmond great Matthew Richardson paid tribute to Astbury on this week’s edition of the Club’s official podcast ‘Talking Tigers’.

“He’s a really good guy and a great person around the Club . . . There’s a lot of great character in that playing group, and Dave’s one of those guys that brings the group together,” Richardson said.

“Playing-wise, to that back six, he’s really important.

“He allows (Alex) Rance to play the game that he plays because he can cover off the most dangerous, biggest forward for the opposition.  And he doesn’t just shut them down, he wins the ball back.

“He’s a great contested mark. And the amount of times he can mark that long ball down the line – not just spoil it, but actually win it back for the team.

“Winning the ball back for your team is just about the most important thing now, and he does that regularly with his marking – intercept marking and contested marking.

“And when he gets it now – he gets it 15-20 times – he uses it well.

“I don’t reckon he tries to do too much with the ball. He knows what he needs to do, and he just does the predictable things, which is what your teammates want . . .

“He’s very predictable to his teammates and he’s just so reliable now – rock-solid.”