Toby Nankervis continued his excellent start to the 2021 season with a strong showing for Richmond against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG last Friday night.
The warrior-like triple Tiger premiership ruckman had 20 disposals, 13 contested possessions, three clearances, five intercepts, four tackles and 18 hit-outs in the team’s 22-point victory.
It was the fourth match in-a-row that he has finished with 20 disposals or more.
After seven rounds of the season, Nankervis has a compelling case to be rated the second best ruckman in the competition behind Melbourne captain Max Gawn.
He is averaging 17.9 disposals, 4.6 clearances and 22.1 hit-outs per game.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was full of praise for Nankervis in his post-match press conference last Friday night.
“I think Toby Nankervis for us is really, really important,” Hardwick said.
“He’s had a great year. He’s probably a little bit under-rated outside our four walls, but within he’s very, very important to the way we play.
“He’s hard, he’s tough . . . He’s undersized, but he competes really well.”
