Richmond development coach Mark Williams has spoken in glowing terms of the prospects of rookie defender Ben Darrou.

Darrou, who is in his second year on the Tigers’ rookie list, has developed rapidly as a key backman, who can also hurt the opposition offensively.

“Ben is one of the shy, quiet, gentlemen, if you like, of the team,” Williams said in the latest instalment of ‘Choco Cub Watch’ on ‘Roar Vision’.

“He’s quietly confident, but he probably needs to build on that, although I think he’s come out of his shell a lot.

“He understands that being a gentle giant is great off the field, but on the field he needs to take up the aggressive giant tag, and he’s really built that into his game.

“His preparation is second to none at the Club.  He studies the opposition, and he does all of his preparation to make sure he leaves no stone unturned to be a great player each week.

“Greg Mellor has done a wonderful job with him, being the defensive coach.”

According to Mellor, experienced Richmond defender, Troy Chaplin, has also been critical in the fast-tracking of Darrou’s development.

“Troy has been outstanding.  He’s obviously an experienced key defender.  He’s not only looked after Ben Darrou, but Todd Elton as well,” Mellor said.

“He would go through a couple of their key edits of the game, but he’d also sit down and go through his game.  Not so much when he had the ball, but when he didn’t have the ball.

“He talks about his starting points, and little tricks they can do.”

Watch the latest edition of Choco Cub Watch in the video player above.