Emerging Richmond defender David Astbury has revealed how he prepared for playing on dangerous Carlton key forward Jarrod Waite in last Thursday night’s thriller at the ‘G’.

In the absence of the Tigers’ No. 1 key defender, Alex Rance, due to injury, the inexperienced Astbury was handed the difficult assignment on Waite.

He responded in fine style, not only restricting Waite to just one goal, but picking up 18 possessions, with a game-high 10 marks.

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“I watched him (Waite) play Port (Adelaide) last week and, especially early in the game, he is a genuine confidence player,” Astbury said on RSN.

“Early against Port, he got a few runs at the footy and took a couple of awesome, contested marks.  You could tell he was getting by off his own emotion of the game.

“I thought it was just a matter of making sure that I was physical with him, and not let him have that run and jump at the footy.

“Even if I gave away a free kick, he’s probably not going to get the confidence of taking those big pack marks, which we all know he’s capable of. 

"So, that’s probably the main tactic that I took into the game.”

Astbury also spoke about how Richmond tried to contain Carlton’s forward-half bombardment during that hectic final term on Thursday night . . .

“When the ball’s coming in like that, it’s just important that you get the ball long and wide, to make sure you clear the area and try and get the stoppage from there,” he said.

“There were a number of stoppages, probably 70 (metres) out from Carlton’s goal, where we’ve just gone long, to try and clear the ball, give ourselves some breathing space, and get a numerical (advantage) behind the footy.

“But then, from there, nothing really changed.

“If we win the stoppage, we need to make sure that we try and take care of the ball a little bit more.

"I think at times, especially late, we went back into our shell and didn’t use the ball well.  We probably should have used the ball a lot shorter and maintained possession.   I think we blazed a little bit too much.

“So, I’m sure that’s something Damien and the coaches will address this week.”