Suffering a premiership hangover won’t be an issue for Richmond says Dion Prestia, as the Tigers have notched things up a level in the preseason.
After the Western Bulldogs failed to qualify for the 2017 finals after winning the flag in 2016, many have wondered how Richmond will deal with the pressures that come with defending a championship.
According to Prestia, though, there is nothing to worry about, as the squad has been building on the foundations of success they laid last season.
“I’m confident it won’t happen to us because coming back to the club, everyone’s running and training has been at another level,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“I feel we have some really good processes in place that we will go through this year, and we have been working on them in the preseason.
“We went through it a bit last year and this year we have taken stuff to another level.
“I think we will do everything in our power to have another successful year.
“We will go through the process of the season and hopefully that is the end result.”
Prestia was a key cog of Damien Hardwick’s midfield core last year, accumulating 23.5 disposals per game and applying 4.4 tackles per contest.
The 24-year-old reckons his second season in Tiger colours will be even more productive, after a strong preseason base that has often been missing throughout his career.
“I’ve actually done a preseason,” Prestia said.
“Coming into the club last season, I was a bit underdone with everything I came off.
“This year has been totally different to the preseasons I have done over the past few years.
“That puts me a long way ahead from what I have done over the past few seasons.
"I probably struggled a bit coming into last year, learning how everyone plays, the way we play and everyone’s running patterns.
“I was fit enough but I just couldn’t get my head around where to run, and what my midfielders and rucks were doing.
“That 12 months will really help me a lot.”
Richmond’s pressure small forward line is no longer a secret to the competition, but despite that, Prestia doesn’t expect it to change the way they go about it.
“Our pressure was everything last year and that was only the start,” he said.
“We have only done that game style for 12 months, and we still have players at training that are just thinking about that pressure.”
Listen to Dion Prestia’s chat with Garry Lyon and Tim Watson on SEN Breakfast in the player below!