Tigers defender Nick Vlastuin on the ‘backline bandits’ that have flourished without Alex Rance
Banter, ribbing and a facial hair competition. That’s all helped drive Richmond’s premiership campaign but defender Nick Vlastuin says it hasn’t all been a barrel of laughs for the Tigers’ “Backline Bandits”.
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It started with a haircut.
Richmond defender Dylan Grimes strolled into Punt Rd Oval with a fresh new trim — one a fellow Tigers backman thought looked a bit familiar.
“About 10 weeks ago, Grimesy got a haircut and he’s got a heap of brothers and they always get the same haircut. I said to him, ‘That’s such a Grimes haircut’,” Nick Vlastuin said.
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“He was like, ‘Get stuffed, it’s not a Grimes haircut’.
“The next day he had an epiphany and was like, ‘S---, all of us brothers do get the same haircut’.”
Enter Vlastuin’s latest foray into facial hair and, naturally, a competition ensued.
Vlastuin — who made a lush red beard his trademark during the Tigers’ 2017 premiership campaign and only shaved his superstitious growth once the cup had been lifted — put Grimes in the shade in their moustache growing contest.
And expect Vlastuin to see out this year’s tilt with the “tash” in tow.
“His was pathetic for like five or six weeks,” Vlastuin laughed of Grimes’ effort.
“It didn’t (grow well). He got rid of it on the weekend, but he was growing it for like 10 or 12 weeks and it was just hopeless.
“He’d send me a picture of it every week. We were both growing the mos and he just gave up — he said it had gotten embarrassing to tell people he was growing it for 12 weeks and that’s all he had.
“It’s a bit of fun.
“Mine’s staying. You’ve got to keep something.”
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Banter, laughs and some serious ribbing.
It’s indicative of the feel-good flavour among the defenders at Punt Rd in a season which started with the heaviest of blows.
The leader of the pack — recently dubbed by Vlastuin on Instagram as the “Backline Bandits” — in Alex Rance was felled with a season-ending knee injury. The ripple effect forced all others out of their comfort zone at top speed.
Unease reigned.
“For three or four weeks, it was really weird,” Vlastuin said.
“We’d lose a contest or they’d get a goal and we’d be like, ‘I wish Rancey was here’.
“It just felt completely different.”
Rance undertook an intense rehab path and only 10 days ago pulled the pin on his attempt at a fairytale comeback for the finals.
They couldn’t win it without him, it was said.
But even Vlastuin — who has been in blistering form — admitted he has been surprised just how well things now gell in the defensive unit that has been without the five-time All-Australian since Round 1.
It’s meant a few job descriptions have had to shift, but the half-dozen defenders — which now includes Liam Baker after stints from the likes of Shane Edwards and Sydney Stack — have made lemonade from what had seemed the most sour of lemons.
“He was always just so good, so the rest of us had just kind of played one role around Rancey,” Vlastuin said.
“He could do everything. But since he went down, it’s forced all of us just to pick up 10 per cent of the slack so we’re all doing a few more roles.
“Grimesy used to just be a one-on-one lock down defender, but now he’s been forced into being able to come off and come third in and stuff like that. It’s forced us to be more uncomfortable during a game, just because we’ve had to do more things since he’s gone down.
“It forced us just to have a different dynamic.”
It’s the “perfect mix” of both playing styles and personalities.
Grimes likes firm direction and set rules on what to do in certain situations, while Vlastuin says he, Broad and Astbury are happy to deal with whatever comes their way.
“We all complement each other really well. Grimesy’s really defensive, Dave and Broady are right down there and then Bachar and Shorty are at the other end,” he said.
“They can still defend when they need to, but they know they’re in the team for offence so it really works in that sense.
“We’re not all the same square pieces — we’re all different pieces to the puzzle.”
Before Rance made the call to turn his eye to 2020, Vlastuin said he had wondered whether reintroducing the superstar would have been tempting fate.
“There was an inkling (he’d made up his mind),” Vlastuin said.
“But you sort of think … will it (bringing him back in) upset the apple cart? Do you play him in the VFL? They’ve been going really well.
“It’s just been working, so you just don’t want to take a massive risk.
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“Then we saw Dale Morris go down again in his return and I thought it’s definitely not worth the risk (of doing it again).”
Seven wins on the trot have led into today’s MCG clash with West Coast. The monster clash has been touted as a potential Grand Final preview with the two sides equal favourites to jag this year’s title.
Vlastuin still hasn’t watched the 2017 triumph, but it’s naturally regularly discussed, with the addition of Tom Lynch to the forward line only adding fuel to the Tigers’ fire.
“We’ve talked about moments on Grand Final day, but we’ve talked more about the lead-up to it,” Vlastuin said.
“We always talk about it, whenever we’re having a few beers we talk about stuff like that and footy trips that we’ve had with 30-something blokes.
“Lynchy’s always sitting there, and we always feel bad for Lynchy. He’s having to hear all these stories and you want to do it for him, as well.”
RICHMOND’S BACKLINE BANDITS
DYLAN GRIMES (28 years old, 146 games): rated above average for a key defender and has lost just 13 of 67 one-on-one conteststhis season.
DAVID ASTBURY (28, 124 games): takes the opposition’s No.1 key forward each week and rates above average for disposals.
NICK VLASTUIN (25, 136 games): ranks third among general defenders for intercept possessions and fourth for intercept marks.
BACHAR HOULI (31, 202 games): fifth of all defenders for metres gained and third for disposals
NATHAN BROAD (26, 49 games): fifth for a general defender for spoils and rates average for intercept possessions.
JAYDEN SHORT (23, 66 games): attacking defender, rating above average for metres gained and uncontested possessions.
LIAM BAKER (21, 17 games): rates as an above-average general defender in the past month. Above-average for intercept possessions.
Source: CHAMPION DATA
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