Dion Prestia says it took time getting used to Richmond style but now he knows his role

DION Prestia has shrugged off external criticism to loom as a key for Richmond in the AFL grand final. And he’s willing to do whatever it takes to ensure success for the Tigers.

RICHMOND midfielder Dion Prestia is prepared to sacrifice his own game to take a tagging role if required to help quell Adelaide’s damaging midfield in Saturday’s Grand Final.

Fresh from limiting Giant Josh Kelly’s impact in the second half last week, Prestia said he was ready for a similar role if coach Damien Hardwick issued him with a lockdown challenge.

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“I’m happy to do what’s needed,” Prestia said. “I guess from the game against Brisbane (in Round 17) I was able to shutdown (Dayne) Zorko and I was able to start playing that role.”

Prestia has played on a number of “explosive midfielders” in the back end of the season, but in-and-under Crows Rory Sloane and Matt Crouch present different propositions for him.

“I did a little bit of it on the Gold Coast, more on explosive midfielders, like a Zorko type who can break lines, or a Kelly, who can do that, or Zach Merrett, who is a good user.

“Rory (Sloane) is hard in-and-under, and so is Matty Crouch, so I am not really sure which way we will go.”

The Tigers have only played the Crows once this year, in Round 6, when Adelaide won by 76 points. Prestia had a number of different opponents in that game, spending some time on Sloane, as well as Brad and Matt Crouch, but admits that won’t provide much insight into what will happen on Saturday.

“I could even do a similar thing to last week, seeing how the game goes, and I can go to someone if I need to,” he said. “They have got a very talented midfield and so do we.

“Round 6 is a totally different ball game. We play differently now.”

Tiger Dion Prestia in action during the preliminary final. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The 24-year-old can barely believe how his first year at Punt Rd has panned out, after seeking a trade from Gold Coast to be closer to his parents, and two sisters.

“I was always confident we would make the finals,” he said. “(But) to be honest, if you told me this time last year that we would be playing in a Grand Final, I probably would have laughed.”

Prestia shrugged off a slow start to the season, knee soreness and unfair external criticism to become one of the key reasons behind Richmond’s resurgence, working in tandem with Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin and others in the midfield.

“I knew within myself I could play better,” he said. “I was always playing my role and still helping the team. But it was a different game plan to the one on the Gold Coast.

“It was always going to take a bit of time to learn the strengths of my teammates. The best thing I did was to get rid of all social media.”

Prestia in action against the Crows in Round 6. Picture: Sarah Reed

“I saw some of the criticism, but it was all about how many possessions I was getting ... that’s not the thing that matters. If I can get 20 possessions, and we win, then I’m happy.”

Prestia said the chance to play in a Grand Final alongside Josh Caddy — whom he has known since he was 13 — was special, given their parallel football journeys.

“I was only talking to Josh about it the other day, and thinking 12 months, I was hopeful of coming to Richmond, and he wasn’t here, now we’re about to play in a Grand Final,” he said.

“It’s pretty crazy coming from (playing at the) Gold Coast to Richmond.

“It is a totally different environment when you are winning. Even when we lost those three games in a row, nothing changed, our reviews were all the same. That was our biggest learning experience. I am so pumped about the situation we are in right now.”