The 19-year-old, who played in all five of the Tigers’ wins this year, says the side will now concentrate on resetting its structures and shelving what has become a two-match losing streak with big defeats by North Melbourne and Collingwood.
“We’re coming off the back of two pretty disappointing losses now after making some real inroads,” he told richmondfc.com.au after the 82-point loss to the Pies on Saturday at the MCG.
“We’re lacking a little bit of belief at the minute but it’s something we need to build on.
“We can turn it around. We’re such a young group, we’re going to have inconsistent patches. We’re in a bit of a form slump but we can turn it around.”
Astbury has bounced up and down the field this year, fulfilling roles at both ends of the ground.
However, the absence of Will Thursfield and Kelvin Moore on Saturday saw him spend the whole day in defence, which is where he thinks he’ll stay.
“I’m a bit more settled down there and the coaches seem to think I make pretty sound decisions,” he said.
“It’s going to suit me. Down back will be my role now.
“In juniors, I played across half-forward but I didn’t really have a position because I played in just about all of them.
“It’s one thing that helped me get drafted, a bit of versatility.
“I like it down back. We’ve got a good group of players with ‘Newy’ [Chris Newman] and [Brett] Deledio and [Luke] McGuane.”
Astbury is excited about the prospect of being a part of a developing team that is starting to show signs of improvement.
“It’s been a little bit of a rollercoaster,” he said.
“There’s nothing better than winning and singing the song, and we’ve got that desire so I think we’ll bounce back pretty soon.
“We’ve got such a young and vibrant group, down the track we’re going to go places.
“I’m just looking for the fast-forward button to get things moving. I can’t wait for some future success.”
