Richmond ruckman Ivan Maric further underlined his value to the Tigers’ team with a trademark bullocking effort against Port Adelaide’s quality big man combination of Matthew Lobbe and Paddy Ryder in Sunday’s Round 8 clash at Adelaide Oval.

Maric finished with 19 disposals, including 11 contested possessions, a team-high seven clearances, seven score involvements, four marks and 22 hit-outs in Richmond’s gritty win.

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“Look, I’ve got a lot of respect for those two guys, especially Paddy.  Played a lot of footy against him in the last 10 or 11 years, and Matthew has improved out of sight,” Maric told 3AW post-game. 

“It’s always a big challenge playing against Port.  It was even a bit harder because Ty Vickery hurt his knee (during the second quarter), so it made us a bit shorter up the forward line.  But we managed to work around it and deal with it.”

Second-gamer Connor Menadue, who came on as the Tigers’ ‘sub’ to replace Vickery, showed some encouraging signs, with the highlight being a long, team-lifting goal from a set shot that he kicked in the last quarter.

Round 8: Menadue rises to the occasion

“The celebration by the boys (after Menadue’s goal) shows that he’s very liked at our football club for the fact that he came in, didn’t say much, and just worked hard,” Maric said.

“His running power and endurance is absolutely elite, and that’s going to be really exciting to watch over his career.”