Former Richmond champion Matthew Richardson believes current-day Tiger star Brett Deledio doesn’t receive the recognition he deserves from outside the Club.

Deledio is about to enter his 10^th season of AFL football, after being taken by the Tigers as the No. 1 pick in the 2004 National Draft.

The 26-year-old (he turns 27 on April 18) veteran of 195 league games has a long list of impressive football achievements, including two Jack Dyer Medals, the AFL’s Rising Star award and All-Australian selection.

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Richardson, however, feels that Deledio tends to fly under the radar, to some extent, in terms of external acknowledgment.

“In the last six years, he’s finished no lower than fourth in the Best and Fairest.  He won it in ’08 and ’09, was second in ’11 and ’12, third in 2010, and fourth last year, so that’s real consistency,” Richardson said on this week’s episode of Richmond’s official podcast ‘Talking Tigers’.

“He’s also very versatile, and in modern football you need to be versatile.  He can play down back, he can go on ball, we know he can kick goals.  The fact he can play anywhere is a great strength, in my book. 

“And, he’s got leg speed like no other, which is very important in footy now, with metres gained and breaking the lines.

“Brett does that as well as anyone.  He’s a 100-metre player – runs, take a couple of bounces and kicks it 50 metres.

“He’s also very strong overhead, and he’s durable, having missed only four games in his entire (AFL) career.

“So, I’m not sure what else he needs to do to convince some people.”