Jayden Short is forever indebted to Richmond teammate Kane Lambert.
The pair were both selected by the Tigers in the 2015 rookie draft and over the course of the last few seasons, have become vital players in the yellow and black.
Lambert has played in two premierships while Short endured 2017 heartache, missing out on the flag, which was the catalyst for his personal redemption.
“It hurt me a fair bit. I’d seen how good it was for the 22 players,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“I just wanted to be a part of everything the Richmond Football Club was involved in.
“I set myself a goal to try and play every game and make myself a lock in the team.”
The 24-year-old would quickly force his way into the Richmond side in 2018 before playing in last year’s Grand Final demolition of GWS after recovering from an elbow injury sustained early in the 2019 season.
How that breakthrough came about was largely due to the influence of Lambert, who had been frequently overlooked before getting his chance at the age of 23.
“I lived with Kane Lambert for two-and-a-half years I saw how hard he had to work,” Short added.
“I was only a 19 or 20-year-old kid and you tell yourself, ‘It will happen, just give it a bit of time’, but the harder you work the luckier you get.
“That’s the motto Kane lived off. I just strived to do everything he did and trained the way he did, eat what he ate and just lived the lifestyle he lived.
“It paid off in the end and I’m very grateful for him.”
Short and Lambert took an off-season trip to Vietnam, but such is their diligence to continue improving, there was not much downtime as they went about preparing for the club's 2020 title defence.
“With Kane it can sort of go anywhere when you are training,” Short said further.
“It could go from a 10km session to a 15km session pretty quick. You just don’t ask questions, you just do what he does. He’s got that persona. I just love hanging around with him.
“The way he goes about his footy and his life is just amazing, so I was lucky to live with him and to learn from him.”
Short and premiership teammate Josh Caddy signed two-year deals on Tuesday, tying them to the club until the end of 2022.
Listen to Short on SEN Breakfast below:
