Young Richmond midfielder Jack Ross took some significant steps in his AFL football development this season.

His impressive development was underlined in the Tigers’ elimination final clash with Brisbane at the Gabba last Thursday night.

He was one of Richmond’s best players in the narrow loss, finishing the match with 23 disposals, nine contested possessions, eight marks, three inside-50s, one goal, an AFL career-high and equal game-high three goal assists, team-high eight score involvements, four intercepts and 296 metres gained.

In his 15 senior appearances for the season (several as the medical substitute), Ross averaged 16.7 disposals, 4.6 marks, 3.1 inside-50s, 4.9 score involvements and 282.5 metres gained.

But if you look at his last three games of the season, those averages were substantially boosted – 21.0 disposals, 6.6 marks, 1.0 goals, 4.3 inside-50s, 10.0 score involvements and 338.3 metres gained.

What stood out with Ross’ game in 2022, particularly at the tail end of the season, was his hard running and ability to create opportunities for teammates through efficient disposal.

Ross’ recent two-year contract extension at Tigerland is just reward for the improvement he made throughout this season.