While Richmond debutants Taylor Hunt and Kamdyn McIntosh justifiably received plenty of plaudits for their excellent efforts through the midfield in the Round 1 win against Carlton at the MCG, an experienced Tiger continued to fly under the radar.
Shane Edwards again played a key role for the Tigers rotating through the forward line and midfield.
He had 21 disposals, including a whopping, game-high 15 contested possessions, a game-high seven clearances and seven score assists.
Catch up with all the news, videos and stats from the Round 1 win, at Richmond’s game-day hub
Although many outside Richmond may not yet fully appreciate Edwards’ value to the team, he’s clearly held in high esteem within Tigerland’s four walls.
“He’s a gun, pure and simple,” Richmond assistant coach Mark ‘Wilbur’ Williams said on ‘The Richmond Review’.
“His creation of play is outstanding. He sees things five minutes before other blokes see them. He’s just amazing with what he sees.
“Sometime he has to hold on to the ball longer, for other blokes to recognise what’s going on.
“His hands were outstanding tonight. He got blokes into space, and he was at the start of a chain a lot, especially centre-forward turnovers.
“We just marvel at what he does, and rate him really highly.
“I thought tonight he joined the dots. He was the guy who got a ball from pressure to space, put other blokes out in space and got them going . . . he played a fantastic game.
“When he goes in the centre, he sets us alight. He has fantastic work-rate forward, but we can also rely on him as a centre bounce player to get in there and win clearance for us.”
