A heavy emphasis on contested-ball work throughout the last pre-season, was the catalyst for talented Tiger ‘tall’, Ben Griffiths, producing the best football of his five-year AFL career in 2014.

Griffiths played 16 senior games with Richmond, was ranked No. 1 at the Club for contested marks per match (18^th in the competition overall), and he capped off his efforts by winning the Tigers’ Most Improved Player award on Jack Dyer Medal night.

The role he played up forward, and providing ruck back-up for Ivan Maric, was pivotal in Richmond’s late-season surge.

“For me, it was all about contested ball,” Griffiths told Tiger great Matthew Richardson in a special ‘Roar Vision’ post-season interview.

 “I’ve always been told that I had athletic ability to compete, and all that, but I’d never been able to string it together.

“They said this (last) pre-season just go with ‘Choco’ (Richmond development coach Mark Williams) and do everything.

“I put in a lot of hard work with ‘Choco’. . . I did a lot of extra sessions and one-on-one stuff, and I really felt it gave me a lot of confidence in games.

It’s really good, but I’m not getting complacent, though.

“Obviously I want to improve again next year, as well as improve my consistency, which I feel let me down throughout the middle of the year.

“I took a step forward, but there’s a lot of work to go.”

Griffiths is clear what he needs to do, in order to take another significant step next year . . .

 “Probably one of my better abilities is to take pack marks and I think now, going forward, I need to start implementing those pack marks inside forward 50,” he said.

“I think up the ground, along the wings, and that sort of stuff, I was pretty good, but inside-50, I just need to get my targets up higher.”

Griffiths signed a new two-year deal with Richmond at the end of the 2014 season, resisting overtures from rival league clubs, who had expressed interest in securing his services. 

“I was really stoked.  I wanted to stay at the Club and I had no intention of leaving,” he said.

“So, to get that finalised, I was completely over the moon.

“I’ve heard they (other league clubs) were interested, but I was pretty clear with my manager I didn’t want to go anywhere.  I really felt like I was starting to create a role for myself.

“I think to leave what Richmond’s building over the last five years would just be a waste . . . I really felt like my place is at the Richmond Football Club.”