Talented Richmond tall forward Ben Griffiths strengthened his claims for a place in the Tigers’ team for the season-opener against Carlton, with a lively performance against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium last Saturday.

Griffiths had 14 disposals and kicked 1.3 in his first pre-season game.

“It was really good to get back out there and have a really good hit-out,” Griffiths told ‘Roar Vision’.

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“I thought I moved pretty well . . . I got my hands on it a lot, I was just that last sort of one percent, I just needed to clunk them.  But I was really pleased with getting to the contest and getting my hands on it a bit.  I just need to kick some more goals.

“I started to slow down towards the end, but expected that, being the first game I’ve really had in a while.  So, took some positives out of it. 

“I just need to finish my work and, hopefully, I can put a really good foot forward for Round 1.

“It’s been a long pre-season . . . everyone’s pretty excited to just get into the real stuff now.”