By David Nagel
Tooradin-Dalmore 2022 premiership star James Trezise has made an impressive start to his AFL career with Richmond.
With family and friends among the 39,860 in attendance at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, Trezise had 17 possessions as the Tigers went down to premiership contender Port Adelaide…13.16.94 to 8.15.63.
The classy left-footer complemented his 13 kicks and four handballs with three marks and five tackles in a performance that impressed Tigers’ interim coach Andrew McQualter.
Trezise made his debut alongside another first-gamer in Tom Brown.
“It was awesome to see wasn’t it, we hadn’t seen Brown or Trezise at AFL level before and I think straight away, particularly early in the game, they just looked like they belonged at the level,” McQualter said at his press conference after the match.
“They competed really hard; it’s a big challenge coming over here to this oval, it’s pretty hostile to come and play, so there’s some real optimism there from those two guys.”
McQualter said the Tigers were transitioning their list steadily after the recent retirement of star players such as Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin.
“I think you’d be pleasantly surprised from what you saw from a football perspective today from a few of those guys,” McQualter said of his younger brigade.
“I’ve got no doubt, over the off-season, they’ll set themselves up for a better year next year.”
Trezise was the seventh-ranked Tiger on the day, earning 77 fantasy points to sit behind Dustin Martin, Jayden Short, Ivan Soldo, Toby Nankervis, Nathan Broad and Shai Bolton.
Trezise was selected by Richmond at pick 13 in the 2023 AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft.
