Richmond great Matthew Richardson believes the Tigers’ captain Toby Nankervis is flying under the radar with how well he’s performing in the early stages of the 2024 season.
Richardson paid a glowing tribute to Richmond’s triple premiership ruckman on this week’s episode of the Club’s official podcast Talking Tigers.
“You don’t really hear people talking about Toby Nankervis. I think his form is really, really good,” Richardson said.
“I think he’ s a terrific leader by example with his grunt around the footy and his hard-nosed approach.
“People lead in different ways. This is just me watching from afar, and I don’t know what happens behind the four walls from day to day, but on game day he is just leading from the front.
“I reckon he knew on the weekend that they (St Kilda) had a tall forward line with (Max) King and the marking players down there, and his work behind the footy was outstanding.
“He took three or four intercept marks, which was important against St Kilda with that tall forward line and (Richmond defender) Tylar Young giving up probably six or seven centimetres to Max King.
“In the situation we’re in at the moment, with young players and a bit of transition on the list, I don’t think he could be doing any more from a leadership point of view on the ground . . . Simply outstanding, I reckon.”
Nankervis finished last Sunday’s Gather Round match against the Saints with 21 disposals, 14 contested possessions, five marks, eight intercepts, three inside-50s, four clearances, an equal game-high eight rebound-50s, an equal team-high seven tackles and 292 metres gained.
So far this season, he is averaging 17.5 disposals, 10.2 contested possessions, 2.8 marks, 5.2 clearances, 4.0 rebound-50s, 3.5 score involvements, 4.2 intercepts, 6.5 tackles, 25.2 hit-outs and 217.5 metres gained per match.
