FIRST PICK

Back in 2004 when Richmond were staring the unpalatable thought of winning the wooden spoon in the face a kid from Kyabram by the name of Brett Deledio was dominating the junior competition and recruiters all over the country were nominating him as the number 1 draft pick. Come draft day the Tigers agreed and named him as the first pick in the national draft overall.

Brett had a lot to live up to, as every number 1 draft pick does, his skill and pace were evident early and he had one of the most stunning debut seasons on record. He played all 22 home and away games, averaging 17 possessions per game. He won Richmond's best first year player, the AFL Players Association's best first year player, the National Bank Rising Star award (the first number 1 draft pick to ever do so in his debut season), to underline his pace he also won the sprint at half time on Grand Final Day and he was also selected to represent Australia against Ireland in the International Rules series.

The attention that all this generated worked in a couple of ways. It heightened supporter expectation and it also put him on the radar of opposition clubs as a player to shut down for the Tigers. Understandably Deledio did struggle a little with the extra attention and despite averaging 19 possessions a game and having the pace to blow away known speedsters like the West Coast's Chris Judd, supporter perception was that he was not up to the level his debut season had promised.

He had a good game against the Bulldogs and starting off half back against the Lions made it very hard for him to be tagged and after setting up play in the first quarter he used his pace and skill and moved forward picking up possessions at will and kicking a wonderful running goal. His 3rd season promises to be extraordinary.

Chris.