Richmond assistant coach Justin Leppitsch provides Richmond Media with an insight into Nick Vlastuin's form this year.
His consistency
“He's obviously a highly competitive player and one of our best possession gain players and intercept players, so (his consistency) is really important to the way we function.”
His character on the training track
“He is quiet. At times, he can be that aggressive competitive Nick, and at other times, he can be quite reserved and cool and quite chilled…He’s a ripper guy and much loved.”
Ranked No. 1 at Richmond for intercepts and marks
“They’re a little bit linked because most of his intercepts are marked. Even on the weekend (Round 17 against GWS), he had nine possession gains. A really important player for us down there.”
Stepping up in Alex Rance’s absence
“He probably has become a bit more reliable in the intercept part of the game, because Alex is one of our best possession gain players. Nick’s had to step up in that role a little bit more and so has Dylan Grimes. (Nick’s) being playing a really good role for us this year.”
His time spent through the midfield this year
"At times Nick can do that midfield role really well because he’s a good contested ball winner but also can get back and help out. We’ve only used that sporadically throughout that year but it’s a good tactic to have up our sleeve when we need.…It can give us a spark at times, if we need to use Cotchin or Martin in other roles as well we can use him to give us another option inside if we’re getting beaten in there."
One-on-one defence
"He’s an undersized defender, often can play on a key as well. It’s difficult for him being an undersized defender and having to also compete in the air, but he does it pretty well. At times he’ll get outmarked, only purely for a height factor, but obviously pretty good at his aerial technique."
