A strong, settled defence has been a major component in Richmond’s resurgence this season.
The Tigers are ranked second competition-wide for points conceded on the back of stout defensive efforts from players such as Alex Rance, David Astbury Dylan Grimes and Nick Vlastuin, plus good rebound provided by Bachar Houli and Brandon Ellis.
“It’s really great . . . We haven’t had many changes in our backline at all over the last couple of years,” Grimes said on SEN.
“We’ve had a lot of players hit their straps, really.
“Dave Astbury has had his best season, I think Nick Vlastuin’s had his best season, and Alex Rance was All Australian captain as well.
“So it’s great to see those blokes get the recognition that we’ve rated them internally on the last few years . . .
“To play that amount of footy together, it helps a lot. And it’s something you can’t really manufacture overnight, that connection.
“We’ve got an enormous amount of faith in each other . . .
“The good part about those blokes is they’re just solid defenders, first and foremost, and then they win the ball and we’re able to work off them from there.
“You’re not rolling the dice or gambling on defence at all.
“They’re just locking their blokes away, which is critical and then we build our game from there.”
