Vickery rewarded for consistency

GOOD consistent football has its rewards, and for young Tiger Tyrone Vickery that reward is his AFL debut.

Vickery was taken at No.8 in last year's NAB AFL Draft and has been playing both forward and in the ruck at VFL level for Coburg, the Richmond affiliate side coached by new Tigers coach Jade Rawlings.

Three kilos have been added to the Vickery frame since his arrival at the club where his father is the strength and conditioning coach, and he said consistent footy – both in the ruck and forward – in the last month had aided his selection.
 
"The gap between my best and worst has been much less and hopefully I can continue that at the higher level," he said at Punt Rd on Thursday.

"When I've got the ball, I pride myself on not turning it over. I also reckon I'm able to match it in speed and agility with players much smaller than me.

"I haven't really been told as yet (what positions he'll play) – I'd expect it to be a similar role to the role I've been playing for Coburg, because that's what got me into the side, so I suppose a combination of both."

Just as Vickery is stepping into a new environment, so too is Rawlings.

The 31-year-old is no stranger to the AFL environment, with 135 games at the top level under his belt, and a couple of years as an assistant coach at Richmond before taking over at Coburg this year.

Vickery said he expected Rawlings – who has coached him through the first half of the year at Coburg - to thrive in the AFL environment.

"Jade's been really good over the first half of the year for myself and the younger guys, so for him to be now coaching at AFL level and me to be playing, I suppose it'll make it pretty easy because I know how he coaches," he said

"He's got a very good temperament, he's able to handle a crisis and keep a clear head, but I suppose it'll all be tested out when it goes up another step at AFL (level), but I think he'll be a very good caretaker coach for the club."