Richmond’s rookie-in-waiting, Ivan Soldo, made a solid start to his Australian Football career last weekend.

The cousin of the Tigers’ No. 1 ruckman, Ivan Maric, who was signed by Richmond as a three-year, non-registered Category B rookie last week, lined up for TAC Cup team the Northern Knights in their clash with Gippsland Power at Morwell.

Soldo, a former state basketballer, played only the first half of the match, but acquitted himself admirably.

The 204cm, 106kg, 18-year-old finished with one kicks, two handballs, one mark and plenty of hit-outs in his ruck role.

“He took a little while to get going, but once he did, he really started to get involved in the ruck contests,” said Northern Knights coach Andrew Shakepeare.

 “He got some really good hits to advantage and started to find the drop of the ball getting into a few marking contests.

“So, it was a reasonable hit-out for his first game.

“His size is fantastic for AFL football, but also his competitive nature.

“He’s a pretty ferocious customer and we really enjoyed having that . . .”

Soldo has been given permission to play out the remainder of the 2014 season with the Northern Knights before officially becoming a Richmond rookie for the 2015 season.