Top Richmond backman Dylan Grimes provides ‘Roar Vision’ with an assessment of the team’s, and his, 2018 season.

The Tiger Army

“We were so lucky this year to have the support of 100,000 members. The noise that they make on game day is fantastic . . . so many faithful fans that turn up every week, rain, hail or shine, screaming loudly for us. As players, it just means so much to us to have their support.”

Individual season appraisal

“It was probably my most consistent year to date. I added one or two more elements to my game this year that helped a little bit . . . tried to be a bit more attacking with my marking. I base my game around my contest work and beating my player first and foremost. That’s really my main focus – to beat my man, play my role and then let that grow from there. This year, I enjoyed doing that . . . taking a forward out of the game and trying to win the ball back for our team. I’m lucky in a sense because I’m not a hugely attacking player and we have some really offensive guns in our backline . . . To have Bachar (Houli) and ‘Shorty’ (Jayden Short) willing to run the extra mile and take the game on really suits me to be a stopper. I just try to get the ball in their hands as much as I can because they’re the really damaging backs. I certainly have enjoyed challenging myself against the best forwards in the competition . . . as a defender that’s how you measure your game, when you’re playing on a good opponent.”

How the backline unit fared

I think this year we got challenged with different looks. Players from opposition teams are more aware of the strengths of our players – the ability of ‘Rancey’ (Alex Rance) to win the ball back, Dave’s (Astbury) marking ability, and then you’ve got Shorty and ‘Broady’ (Nathan Broad) and Bachar’s attacking power. As we grow as a backline unit, the more opposition teams are going to try and take that away from us. It’s been a big learning year this year for us . . . I think now that we’ve played a lot of footy together, you start to grow as a backline, start to show more of your strengths, and become a real defensive force. We did that pretty well this year, but we still have a huge amount of growth within us, and that’s what’s so exciting for us as a backline group.” 

Individual areas of improvement

“I’d love to continue to develop the offensive side of my game. I really enjoy the defensive aspect of my footy . . . playing on good forwards and trying to nullify their games. So I don’t want to change that, but I think it’s necessary for me to continue to develop the offensive side, be more attacking, and learn from those guys in our backline that are so good at that . . . I’m really excited about season 2019 already and looking forward to the challenge, for sure.”