The following article was featured in the 2011 Fighting Tiger Yearbook.


Richmond coach Damien Hardwick’s quest to build fervent belief within the Club’s playing group is starting to bear fruit, as the young Tigers progress to the next phase in their exciting football journey.

One of those Tiger cubs - Reece Conca - exemplifies the growing belief among the players at Punt Road.

The Tigers’ No. 1 pick in the 2010 AFL National Draft (No. 6 overall) had a somewhat rocky start to his league career.

After a solid 15-disposal debut performance in the Round 1 loss to Carlton, Conca was handed the tough assignment of curbing the experienced, dangerous St Kilda goal-sneak, Stephen Milne, in the Round 2 clash at the MCG.

Conca tried hard, but the wily, slippery Milne got hold of him, kicking 4.7 in the drawn encounter.

A player of lesser character might have dropped their bundle a bit after that, however, Conca, with the strong backing of his coach, dug deep and proceeded to bounce back in style.

Two weeks after his Milne “mauling”, Conca had 23 touches against reigning premier Collingwood.  That was the start of six successive weeks where he gathered 20 possessions or more in a match, culminating in him receiving a Rising Star nomination following Richmond’s big Round 9 “Dreamtime at the ‘G” victory over Essendon, in front of more than 80,000 fans.

Conca finished that night with the impressive statistics of 14 kicks, nine handballs, eight marks, and was one of the Tigers’ best as they won a thrilling contest by 16 points.

“Obviously, getting a bag kicked on me by ‘Milney’ was devastating,” he said.

“But ‘Dimma’ was great; he’s really good one-on-one, it’s one of his real strengths as a coach.

“I was put into a midfield a bit more after that, where I was a bit more comfortable, and I started to find more of the ball and have more of an impact on games.”

Conca went on to play 17 of Richmond’s first 18 games of the season, before a leg injury sidelined him for the final four home-and-away rounds.

He showed impressive composure and maturity for someone as young and inexperienced, playing at the game’s highest level, and capped off his debut season by winning the Bill Cosgrove-Harry Jenkins award for being the Tigers’ best first year player.

Not surprisingly, the teenager from WAFL club Perth, thoroughly enjoyed his first year at Tigerland . . .

“It has been really good.  It’s a young, exciting group and I feel like I’ve fitted in quite well,” he said.

“There are a lot of players in their first three years at the Club, which makes it a bit easier to get along with the guys.

“It certainly helps to play good footy when you’re with a bunch of guys you get along with . . .”