At 23 years of age, and with less than 50 senior league games under his belt, quality defender Dylan Grimes hardly qualifies as a seasoned Richmond veteran.

But last Saturday at the Whitten Oval, when the Tigers faced up to the Western Bulldogs in the opening round of the AFL’s pre-season competition, Grimes was one of the most experienced players in their side.

Richmond took basically an under-23 line-up into the match, with 15 senior regulars being rested.

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Despite their tender years, the Tiger cubs showed considerable promise and an impressive work-rate throughout, before the more battle-hardened Bulldogs pulled away in the final stages, to win by 22 points.

Grimes liked what he saw from his young teammates.

“For us, it was all about the development of our younger players, and getting on with our ball movement that we’ve been practising through the pre-season,” Grimes said in a post-game interview with ‘Roar Vision’.

“We’ve implemented some new things, so it was really good to see patches of that throughout the game. 

“I think it’s always a great learning opportunity to play against players that are bigger than you and out-body you. I was lucky – that’s what I was exposed to in the first half of my career. 

“So I think they’ll run with the opportunity they’ve had today, to really learn how to play against some of the best players in the competition.

“If anything, it’s been a great learning opportunity today.  There are definitely some areas for improvement, but I think that hit-out’s held us in good stead for the rest of the NAB Cup and hopefully get into some good form right before the proper season starts.”