In terms of raw numbers, Nick Vlastuin’s debut season of AFL football at Richmond was pretty impressive – 18 games, including the elimination final against Carlton, an average of 16.3 disposals and 4.8 marks per match, and a sixth-placed finish in the competition’s prestigious Rising Star award.

But, as Richmond’s Recruiting Manager Francis Jackson pointed out at the 2013 Jack Dyer Medal night, when he presented the Club’s Cosgrove-Jenkins award to Vlastuin, for being the Club’s best first-year player, the stats didn’t tell the whole tale of the influence the talented Tiger teenager exerted throughout his initial league season.

“He showed tremendous qualities in other areas . . . his fierce physical attack on the footy, his cool decision-making and efficient disposal under pressure, his courage to keep his eyes on the footy and contested situations, and his ability to get the job done – both on and off the field,” Jackson said.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick agreed with Jackson’s assessment of the Club’s first pick (No. 9 overall) in the 2012 National Draft.

“It’s like he’s played 100 games already,” Hardwick said.

“We love his decision-making, he’s composed with the ball and, more importantly, wins the ball, which is something a lot of players struggle to do, especially when they first come into the system.  We’re really pleased with what he brought to the table . . .”

Vlastuin, for his part, was typically modest in evaluating his first-up AFL season.

“I was pretty happy with it, overall,” said. “To get through a whole season, as a first-year player, has been pretty hard.

“The last couple of weeks, I was in survival mode . . . I’d been pretty sore and doing a lot of recovery.”

Not that anyone who saw Vlastuin’s bold efforts, particularly early on, in the elimination final against Carlton, would have known it . . .

Vlastuin thrived on the special September atmosphere and wants to experience it plenty more times throughout his playing career at Richmond.

“I’ve never heard anything so loud as that first “Yellow and Black” when we went through the banner,” he said.

“It just made you rise to the occasion . . . you had that little bit of extra run, and definitely more motivation to play well in the big game.

“The loss will spur us on . . .”

To that end, Vlastuin is focused on taking the next step in his league career, in order to benefit the Club.

“Getting through this year’s the baseline now, so I know I have to keep improving,” he said.

“The way I’m looking at it, if Richmond wants to keep moving forward, you get the most improvement out of the bottom six players.  So, I’ve got to improve if Richmond is to improve.”