Unsurprisingly, Ivan Maric has taken a modest, level-headed approach to his recent appointment to the Richmond playing leadership group after just one year at the Club.

Maric’s Tiger teammates had no hesitation in voting the big-hearted ruckman into the group on the back of his inspirational efforts throughout the 2012 season, which culminated in him finishing third in the Jack Dyer Medal.

It’s a deserved honor for the ex-Crow, but one he clearly intends taking in his stride . . .

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“I just want to make sure it doesn’t change anything about me or how I go about it in regards to training and setting standards around the footy club,” Maric told the ‘Herald Sun’.

“They voted me in for how I acted last season, so I don’t want to change that. I want to keep improving and building relationships with the guys and supporting the other leaders.”

The soft-tissue trouble he encountered late in the season has meant Maric is yet to join in full pre-season training, but it’s more of a precautionary measure, given the big bloke’s value to the side.

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“I’m feeling good. I’m just taking a bit longer to ease into training because I was really battling towards the end of the year with my groin,” he said.

“So I’m just really trying to strengthen everything up so these problems don’t happen. “I didn’t have an operation, it was more rest and rehabilitation.”

Such was Maric’s instant impact at Tigerland this year, he was quickly elevated to cult status among the Yellow and Black faithful.

It’s fair to say, however, that he’s a reluctant hero . . .

“I suppose that attention, I don’t really like it,” Maric said. “I like and appreciate people recognising that I was playing my role and that’s a good part of it.

“But I just really wanted to stay focused on what I needed to do each week, and that was to play well. I didn’t want to get caught up in everything that was happening.

“You can’t control how people see you and who they like and dislike and things like that.

“I really wanted to make sure I was getting all my positive feedback from my coaches and teammates and not so much from the TV and the newspapers and stuff like that.”

Maric is confident Richmond now has sufficient depth of talent within its playing ranks to mount a bold challenge in season 2013 - but it’s a matter of action rather than mere words . . .

“Look, we’ve got the players, we’ve got the talent, we’ve got a few more mature recruits in Chris Knights, Troy Chaplin and Aaron Edwards and that’s really strengthened our list,” he said.

“We’ve got it, but it’s all about doing it now and just putting our heads down, training hard and wanting it.

“And it’s about doing it on game day. I’ve only been here 12 months and I’m sick of hearing how every year it’s the same thing.

“I just don’t want to be part of a group that didn’t achieve anything or didn’t have finals success.”