Emerging Richmond small forward/midfielder, Matt Arnot, spent only half a game on the field in his return to AFL football, against Collingwood at the MCG last Friday night, but still managed to gain some valuable experience.

Arnot, who started as Richmond’s ‘sub’, was introduced to the action at the start of the third quarter, and promptly proceeded to add some much-needed bite to the Tigers’ line-up through his pace and aggression.

He finished the match with 10 disposals, three tackles, a goal, and a decent boost to his confidence levels.

The strongly-built 20-year-old responded in impressive style to what coach Damien Hardwick wanted to see from him when he received his on-field opportunity.

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“ . . . tackling pressure, creating forward-half turnovers, which was probably one of my main focuses, and run and carry with the ball as well,” Arnot said on this week’s edition of ‘Talking Tigers’.

“I was pretty happy to kick a goal as well, to make an impact offensively.

“You want to make an impact around the stoppages through hard work, hardness, pushing blokes over and giving us a bit of a spark.  That was my objective . . .

“I was tagging (Scott) Pendlebury last 15 minutes of the fourth quarter, so that was a really good learning experience, to see how an elite midfielder of the game goes about it.”

Arnot made his AFL debut for Richmond last year and played four games all-up in the 2013 season, before being grounded with a severe back injury.

Having shaken off that problem, shown good form in the VFL, and regained his place in Richmond’s side, Arnot is determined to maximise his playing attributes.

“I’m a half-forward, more of a defensive-mindset forward, but can go in the middle and win the contested footy,” he said.

“Winning that inside ball is probably one of my main strengths.  Running is as well, especially from zero to 50 and then onwards . . .

“Eventually, as I go further in my career, I’d like to be more of a midfielder.

“I’ve got no problems with my fitness – I think I can match it with some of the best – it’s just a matter of trying to get in there (the midfield).

“As long as I’m in the side and contributing to where we want to go, for the end of the year, I’m happy.

“I’m sure if I play four, five, six games in a string together, then I’ll be a different sort of player.

“I’ll be taking a few more risks that can reward us offensively.

“That just comes with time, I think.”