Hailing from a small town on the south coast of Tasmania, young forward Mackenzie Ford has brought her voice to Richmond.

In just her second year at the Club, Ford has already demonstrated leadership skills through her on-field performances, as well as by rallying her team through the season's struggles.  

“I think my voice has always been something that I have had, all through growing up,” Ford said on the Moments That Make Us podcast.

“Being the younger sibling, sometimes you’ve got to be loud to be noticed.

“But I think it is probably one of my greatest attributes in footy. If I’m using my voice and communicating well, I’m usually playing my best footy.

“I just think it helps bring me into the game as well.”

Ford prides herself on bringing contest and pressure, which was evident in the sides’ Round 6 clash with the Saints, where she recorded eight disposals, six tackles, one goal and 191 metres gained.

“I think just going into the game, I really wanted to play a pressured game,” Ford said.

“Get my hands on the footy early, pressure and keep the ball in the forward line to create opportunities for ourselves.

“I think when I play my best footy is when I’m not actually thinking and everything falls into place.

“To be able to get forward and then use a bit of my speed and back myself into kick that goal was pretty awesome.”

After featuring in every game this year, Ford credits her form to an exceptional pre-season campaign, during which she focused on returning to the basics.

“Just executing my fundamentals, I think being able to execute under pressure has been a big focus of mine,” Ford said.

“Backing myself and having the confidence to know that I can showcase my abilities and skills on games day and get the job done.”

A mentor of Ford’s has been specialist coach Brendan Fevola, who has entered the Richmond fold this year, offering wisdom and a sense of play for the group.

“I think he has added great value to us as the playing group and to the Club in general,” Ford said.

“He brings such a good balance of knowing when to have fun, but also his wisdom and his knowledge have been unreal for us this season.

“Even though we aren’t putting the scores on the board on gameday, we are getting to work on training days, and we are really getting down to technique. He has been awesome at that.”