Richmond assistant coach Andrew McQualter provides ‘Roar Vision’ with an insight into the importance of star midfielder Dion Prestia to the Tigers’ team.

Good injury management reaps rewards

“He has had a bit of a frustrating year this year. He came back in and played four games, I think, and then hurt himself again. But he had a massive training block. I think we were a bit lucky, with the position we were in, we could afford to train him for a little bit longer before we brought him back into the side. And I think we’re seeing the rewards from that now . . . It’s also a credit to our fitness guys for getting him in the physical shape where we backed him in to be able to play AFL.”

Instant impact upon his playing return

He’s had a good spread across all those different categories . . . He’s winning the ball well for us, defending well . . . he’s having a great impact.”

Key on-field attributes

“His running ability and probably his cleanliness are his greatest strengths. He’s a great runner. He works really hard. He’s fit, he runs hard, he does a lot of work around that. He covers the ground well.”

Top defensive-pressure player

“He’s got really fast feet, so he has the ability to get in opponents’ faces really quickly. He’s got elite reaction time, something which you don’t see too often, or don’t talk about. But his reaction time is very good, which allows him to pressure the ball-carrier a lot. It’s that implied pressure . . . sometimes it’s not even getting the tackle, it’s just forcing a tougher decision for the ball-carrier, I think.”

Major asset to the midfield mix

“At the moment, we’ve just got a good mix of guys that are capable of playing inside and outside, and Dion definitely complements that . . . He’s a very good player.”