Richmond is expecting young midfielder Ben Lennon to spend more time in the seniors in 2015, after a first season spent developing at Tigerland.
The 19-year-old was the Club’s first selection in the 2014 National Draft, and played seven senior games in his debut season.
He kicked two goals in his first game, when he came on as the substitute against Melbourne in Round 9.
In the following two weeks, he gathered 16 disposals each, stringing together five straight games before a stint with Richmond’s VFL team.
Despite only managing a further two senior appearances in the second half of the season, he did plenty at the second-tier level to suggest a promising AFL career is ahead of him.
“We’re quite excited about Ben, and what he can offer over the next 12 months,” said the Tigers’ VFL coach, Tim Clarke.
“He was frustrated himself by not playing more senior games, but if you watched him at the start of the year and then watched him at the end of the year, he became a much better player.
“He trained much better out on the track. You noticed him, where at the start of the year he did some flashy things.
“He really started to have a presence out on the training track.
“He always performed really well at VFL. You can always be very critical of a player, and the things he needs to work on.
“He consistently kept getting the ball, kept putting the ball inside 50, and kept doing the right thing.
“We’re quite confident that he’s going to be a really good player, as he starts to fill into his body.”