Richmond great Matthew Richardson has paid tribute to Jason Castagna in the lead-up to the triple Tiger premiership small forward reaching the AFL 100-game milestone against Sydney at the MCG on Saturday.

Castagna, 24, was recruited by Richmond with its second pick (No. 29 overall) in the 2014 AFL rookie draft from NAB league club Northern Knights.

At the time he was a dashing defender, and that’s how he started his football life at Tigerland.

It wasn’t long, however, before the Tigers realised Castagna’s playing attributes were best suited to the small forward’s role.

He’s gone on to become one of the best small forwards in the competition, averaging 12.0 disposals, 3.5 marks, 4.7 score involvements, 4.7 tackles inside 50, 199.7 metres gained and just over one goal per match across his 99 games.

“He’s playing in possibly the hardest position on the ground as a permanent small forward,” Richardson said on this week’s episode of the Club’s podcast ‘Talking Tigers’.

“You’re not being targeted a hell of a lot. You’ve got to go and find your own footy.

“What he does, he wins his own ball because of his huge work-rate.

“His running patterns open up so much for our forward line.

“He never stops presenting, he can mark the ball in the air and on the lead, he can get it at ground level, and he’s just a smart player.

“Players that can find space like he does inside 50, they’re so valuable.

“And he good for a goal and a half a game, which is very hard to do as a small forward.

“So, you can’t speak highly enough of him.

“I just think he deserves what he gets because it’s all based on work-rate . . . If you work hard, good things happen. And I think that’s what happens with George.

“He works that hard that he just has to end up getting the ball.”