Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\nAsked if he was still on track to suit up against Carlton in the club\u2019s season-opener, Vlastuin was noncommittal, explaining the frustrating nature of his rehab. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s kind of day-by-day,\u201d he conceded. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome days I feel really good, and (I\u2019m thinking) Round 1 is a shoo-in, and two days later I pull up sh*t, and it looks a while off. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those kind of injuries you\u2019ve just got to (take it) session by session. Body\u2019s getting a bit older than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after earning a well-deserved All-Australian squad nod last year as one of the league\u2019s best interceptors, he still feels he\u2019s got multiple years left playing at a high level. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping, yeah. Confidence in my ability over a couple of years, I can still contribute to the team,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s not having the impact possession-wise or whatever it was last year, hopefully I can teach the younger boys a little bit as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s kind of the way I look at my role going forward a little bit, just try and pass on as much knowledge as I can, and then still perform myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Battle expecting fiery Origin game | 00:50<\/p>\n
And while he\u2019s been mostly off to the side, Vlastuin says it\u2019s felt like the majority of the playing group has stayed healthy throughout the summer. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty solid … we\u2019ve got a lot of numbers on the track, which is good. Last year, we had a lot coming back through rehab,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, I reckon, the majority have done the whole pre-season. So, yeah, it\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second-year tall Tom Sims still remains some way away from a return with a foot stress fracture, while luckless wingman Judson Clarke has a long stint to go recovering from his ruptured ACL, and Hugo Ralphsmith has been deterred by a hamstring injury sustained late last year. <\/p>\n
Asked which of the recruits had caught his eye, Vlastuin couldn\u2019t help but come back to the pair of top-10 draftees from last November \u2014 who, if the veteran\u2019s words are a fair indication, will be playing senior footy reasonably early on. <\/p>\n
\u201cSammy Cumming is dominating,\u201d he said. \u201cHe played really well today (in last Friday\u2019s match simulation). <\/p>\n
\u201cI hope he plays a lot of games this year, because he\u2019s going really well. And then (Sam) Grlj as well, he\u2019s in the backline, so I\u2019m getting to do weights and that with him \u2014 he speaks 200 words a minute, but he plays footy pretty much the same way. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s exciting, he\u2019s quick, he\u2019s got a lot of speed, a lot of talent. He takes on everyone, so he\u2019ll be exciting, and he\u2019ll be a very special player if we can harness it and teach him when to do it and when not to do it, but he\u2019s going really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grlj, who broke lines for fun for Oakleigh Chargers with his speed and dash, is looking to lock down a spot across the half-backline. <\/p>\n
No.7 pick Cumming, meanwhile, has played mostly in the midfield during match simulation. <\/p>\n
Tasmanian Devils aiming for VFL finals | 01:48<\/p>\n
Probed on breakout candidates from the wider playing group, with a focus on the bevy of 2024 first-rounders now into their second year, Vlastuin\u2019s picks wouldn\u2019t surprise Tigers fans. <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, not that he hasn\u2019t made (a name for) himself, but Sammy Lalor \u2014 if he stays fit \u2014 he\u2019s going very well. And Taj Hotton as well, both of them,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cProbably everyone will say them, to be honest with you. And Jonty (Faull) as well, he\u2019s been going really well up forward. I think he missed the whole pre-season last year, then he\u2019s got this full one into him, so he\u2019s going to be pretty good as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meantime, Josh Smillie, who\u2019s got massive wraps as a big-bodied midfielder in the Patrick Cripps mould but had a redshirt rookie season, remains out of main training as he continues to ramp back up following quad surgery last November. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we all are keen to see him get out there and have a good run at it. He\u2019s not into drills yet, but over the next couple of weeks he\u2019s transitioning into that,\u201d Vlastuin said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s kind of grown again and maturing a little bit body-wise, so hopefully he gets a clean run at it … of all the second-year (players), they kind of spoke about him last year that he was the best player (in his draft year) for patches, when he was on, he was just unstoppable. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo hopefully we can see that and consistency as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newcombe & Sicily to be co-captains | 00:32<\/p>\n
Taking a bigger-picture perspective, Vlastuin understands that he, like flag-winning teammates Tom Lynch, Nathan Broad and Dion Prestia, is in the twilight of his career. <\/p>\n
Thus, it\u2019s important that the club sees leadership growth from the middle wave of players to help tide along the raw youngsters. <\/p>\n
Vlastuin raised Tim Taranto \u2014 who entered the leadership group last year \u2014 as well as Jack Ross and even Seth Campbell as those who\u2019ve stepped up in that capacity. <\/p>\n
\u201cHim (Taranto), and Jack Ross as well. I really like what he (Ross) is doing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just that level head, played a fair bit of footy now, and he kind of showed towards late last year how good he can be, and he\u2019s had another pretty good pre-season as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe Seth Campbell a little bit \u2014 he\u2019s probably a little bit raw, but he\u2019s got a lot of talent, and people follow him up forward, so probably those two.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adem Yze\u2019s Tigers somewhat surprised the competition with five wins last year, but while some will expect another leap \u2014 potentially into the wildcard conversation \u2014 Vlastuin is clear on his role as a veteran on a young team. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t really spoken about it (expectations), to be honest. It\u2019s just trying to develop these young boys as quickly as we can,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it\u2019s not going to be me, \u2018Lynchy\u2019 or \u2018Broady\u2019 that take us to the finals, it\u2019s going to be Sammy (Lalor), Taj (Hotton) and Jonty (Faull). <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, yeah, just helping them as much as we can, and if we\u2019re still there, then that\u2019s a bonus for us, but it\u2019s kind of all about the young boys now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Vlastuin is no certainty to suit up for Richmond\u2019s season-opening clash with Carlton in Round 1, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,234462,233678,234466,234467,17988,3258,5334,234460,20213,233588,2105,2485,9130,4517,231413,7492,234455,168436,3231,9021,14423,218846,26596,234454,17985,3436,677,222600,7800,233506,701,234463,234461,234453,672,234452,234464,14400,57167,85,234458,234459,15706,9022,12120,234465,234457,9012,234456,38462],"class_list":["post-454418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-bigger-picture-perspective","tag-breakout-candidates","tag-broken-ankle","tag-broken-ankle-recovery","tag-dion-prestia","tag-exclusive-interview","tag-finals-berth","tag-flag-era","tag-foot-stress-fracture","tag-getting-sore","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-hamstring-injury","tag-hawks-defender","tag-hawthorn-hawks","tag-impact-possession-wise","tag-injury-rehab","tag-jack-jovanovski","tag-jack-ross","tag-josh-smillie","tag-match-simulation","tag-matt-roberts","tag-newcombe-ampampamp-sicily","tag-nick-vlastuin","tag-oakleigh-chargers","tag-oceania","tag-origin-match","tag-patrick-cripps","tag-quad-surgery","tag-queensland","tag-raw-youngsters","tag-redshirt-rookie-season","tag-rehab-mission","tag-richmond-tigers","tag-running-sessions","tag-sammy-cumming","tag-seth-campbell","tag-special-player","tag-sports","tag-squad-nod","tag-three-time-flag-winner-pulls","tag-three-time-premiership","tag-tim-taranto","tag-tom-lynch","tag-training-standouts","tag-wildcard-conversation","tag-young-boys","tag-young-stars-shine","tag-young-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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