Richmond’s “elder statesman”, Chris Newman, has given his seal of approval to Tiger young guns Brandon Ellis and Nick Vlastuin, who starred in last Sunday’s 34-point victory over Melbourne.
Newman is convinced the two teenagers have what it takes to carve out long, successful league careers.
“Brandon’s obviously got a big engine and he loves pre-season. He wins all the running tests and everything we have. And, he really used that to his advantage on the weekend,” Newman said on this week’s episode of the Club’s official podcast, “Talking Tigers”.
“You could see him covering a fair bit of territory and, if he does that, then he’s more often than not going to be out getting the footy.
“So, hopefully, that’s a sign of things to come for Brandon, and I think that’ll come with the more games he plays.
“Nick was terrific (last Sunday). The thing that impresses me is he follows up. He’ll dispose of the footy and then link up, and get ‘one-twos’, which you saw him do a few times. That is really impressive for a young kid.
“They’re both really good kids . . . they listen, they don’t really say a whole lot, but they just sit there, and they try and learn as much as possible.”
