Nick Vlastuin highlighted his importance to the Richmond side, and how much he’s been missed by the Tigers during this season, with a superb display in last Saturday’s victory over North Melbourne at the MCG.

The triple Richmond premiership star defender, who returned to the line-up after spending four games on the sidelines due to injury, was a tower of strength for the Tigers across the backline right throughout the contest.

He had an AFL career-high 30 disposals, five rebound-50s, six score involvements, a game-high 10 intercepts, 437 metres gained and took a game-high 14 marks.

Injuries have restricted Vlastuin to just 10 games this season and his absence has been sorely felt by Richmond.

The 27-year-old veteran of 171 games clearly demonstrated that with the major impact he had against the Kangaroos in Round 21 of the 2021 season.