Luckless Richmond key defender David Astbury has spoken of the incident that led to him suffering the second kneecap dislocation of his AFL career . . .

Astbury dislocated his left kneecap in the Tigers’ Round 9 clash with Melbourne at the MCG.

He’d been in the best form of his five-season league career at the time, establishing himself as an important member of the team’s backline.

“I remember a handball came from Colin Garland to Jack Viney and as he went to get around me, I went to push off my left foot to cut right, and my knee sort of collapsed inward,” Astbury said.

“First thing I did was put my kneecap back in myself.”

Three years earlier (Round 12, 2011), in a match against Sydney at the SCG, Astbury’s kneecap was mangled, following a collision with Swans midfielder Ben McGlynn, so he, at least, was familiar with what was going on this time.

“It happens really quickly and you get this wave of emotion come over you,” he said.

“You’re just gutted that, you’re not going to be able to play the rest of the game, most likely you’re going to have to have surgery, and you’re going to miss a fair part of the season.”

Astbury, who has managed just 37 games for Richmond since making his AFL debut in 2010, refuses to let this latest injury setback get him down.

“Everything at the moment is really positive, and that’s reflective of my mindset,” he said.

“I saw the surgeon on Monday and he gave me some really, really positive feedback on how the knee’s looking and the prospect of playing again this year . . .

“I wake up every day looking forward to seeing how much I’ve improved.

“I’m very optimistic about playing AFL again this year and making sure that I’m launching into 2015 on a positive note.”