THE ARRIVALS of Riley Collier-Dawkins and Jack Ross at Punt Road could signal a potential future overhaul of Richmond's midfield with the big-bodied pair targeted specifically for their bash-and-crash prowess.
Collier-Dawkins, a 190cm/91kg line breaker, and Ross, a 186cm/85kg ready-made midfielder, were the Tigers' first two picks in last week's NAB AFL Draft, with the club keen to increase their engine's depth following some off-season departures.
While both have admitted they still have some developing to do, in a physical sense Collier-Dawkins already measures taller than Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin and Kane Lambert, while Ross is a comparative height and weight with room to grow.
They might not play straight away in 2019 but Ross said this week they'd both been encouraged to retain their bombastic traits at contested situations, which could see the Tigers' midfield develop a harder edge in years to come.
"Riley and myself, being that little bit bigger, they were really keen on getting that bigger bodied midfielder who can kind of crash in," Ross said.
"They just want us to go about our footy the way we played our 18 year and all the way through our juniors, which is just to have a crack and burrow in."
Ross is already keen to learn from Martin, who will resume training on Monday with the rest of the Tigers' senior players.
Both players have arrived at Punt Road having already spent time with fellow ex-Oakleigh Charger Jack Higgins.
Ross got an even bigger insight into Higgins' draft preparation when the two attended Caulfield Grammar – Ross in year 10 and Higgins year 11 – in 2016 and were part of the school's firsts team.
"Coming out of his top age year, he was in red hot form," Ross recalled.
"As soon as he stepped into the AFL, he's just got that addictive nature about him and as soon as he started training, you could tell he was just going to embrace it all and put it out on the field, which he did.
"It's pretty awesome, I always knew he had it in him."
Higgins played 20 games in his first year as a Tiger, which was no easy feat given the team was coming off a premiership and enjoyed a blessed run with injuries throughout the season.
And, it's what the forward/midfielder was able to do in his debut season that has Ross the most excited about what he too could achieve in 2019.
"For me, I'm looking at VFL and slowly developing and getting my fitness level up, which is probably a little bit behind the eight ball at the moment, then slowly moving into AFL senior games," he said.
"But looking at him and the way he's gone about it gives me good hope."
Ross has already had to overcome setbacks in his playing career, having been cut from Vic Metro's squad this year after he captained the Under-16 side in 2016.
Rather than drop his head and give up on his draft potential, he responded by focusing on school footy and playing as well as he could in the TAC Cup.
Across the year, he played 12 games for the Chargers, with his averages of 22 possessions and five clearances a game enough to win him the club's best and fairest.
"It was a bit unfortunate, being the one guy that was cut from the Metro, but you can't really sit on it for too long, you take a week or so and get over it and get training again and you just kind of prove them wrong," he said.
"I just used it as a motivating factor, really.
"I didn't see [the best and fairest] coming at all, I played school footy primarily through the year at Caulfield Grammar so I only played a handful of games.
"I was happy with my form and probably used that Vic Metro hurt to come off that and play the way I did."
