Key Richmond defender David Astbury provides ‘Roar Vision’ with an appraisal of his 2016 season.
Continuity a key
“It was a good year from a durability standpoint. I was available every week this year and played 19 senior games and amongst them played some pretty good footy . . . I think I’m growing as a player and really enjoyed my time at senior level this year.”
Rutten inspires confidence
“Over the last few years I’ve been a little bit too defensive, too dour . . . I got given a bit more of a licence to back myself in the air to mark the ball, more than spoil it, and a lot of that came from ‘Truck’ Rutten (the Tigers’ backline coach). And I spent a lot of time with ‘Rancey’ (Alex Rance), ‘Grimesy’ (Dylan Grimes) and ‘Tigger’ (Nick Vlastuin), in particular, as the back four defenders . . . I think we really benefited from some time together.”
Silver lining amid the disappointment
“We make no excuses . . . 2016 was a disappointing one. But I suppose with every trying situation there’s a silver lining, and we got some game-time into some players who we think are going to be really positive performers. So I’m pretty excited to see what the future holds for guys like Oleg Markov and Jayden Short. These type of guys really came out of their shells as people, and they got to express themselves out on the big stage.”
Keen to have Mac back
“Before Kamdyn (McIntosh) got injured earlier this year, he was in outstanding form. He’d become a real solid contributor in the back half, and had that flexibility to go on a wing as well. He’s going to be a pretty important player to us . . . looking forward to having him back. Corey (Ellis) took a real step before he got some groin issues this year. He’s a really silky, modern-day type of player and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can produce long term.”
Striving for greater consistency
“Across the off-season and pre-season, it’s more about just improving yourself physically . . . I think I had some really big games winning the ball and marking the footy (in season 2016), but sometimes I probably didn’t have the impact that I would have liked. So it’s probably more about just having the consistency at that level. I want to become more powerful, get lower to the ground and be more agile. So I’ll visit my off-season program and really refine what I want to improve on.”
