Richmond ruckman Toby Nankveris says he is ready for another shot at Crows big man Sam Jacobs
RICHMOND ruckman Toby Nankervis has done something none of the other 43 players in Saturday’s game have — he’s actually warmed up for an AFL Grand Final.
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RICHMOND ruckman Toby Nankervis has done something none of the other 43 players in Saturday’s game have — he’s actually warmed up for an AFL Grand Final.
This year marks the first time since the very first premiership playoff that no player has had past Grand Final experience, but Nankervis has come the closest as an emergency for Sydney last year.
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He had played for the Swans in the semi-final win over Adelaide, but lost his spot for the preliminary and narrowly missed selection in last year’s Grand Final loss to Western Bulldogs.
“I prepared to play, I gave myself every opportunity and warmed up with the boys,” Nankervis recalled this week. “It was frustrating, but I desperately wanted the boys to win.”
“I had so much care for the group that to see it not go our way was disappointing. Even though I didn’t play, I still felt involved in the day, but hopefully this year is going to be very different.”
Fast forward 12 months — almost to the day — and Nankervis will carry Richmond’s ruck hopes into a Grand Final against Adelaide’s Sam Jacobs, and he is still pinching himself in the change of fortunes.
The 23-year-old left the Swans after last year’s Grand Final — eager for a new challenge, even if he was sad to leave behind a club which gave him his AFL start — but he hasn’t looked back across 23 games this year.
“It’s just unbelievable,” he said. “Going into the year not really having an expectation in myself or the team, it is amazing how far we have come.”
“I have had so much fun and learnt so much. I’ve still got so much to learn ands that’s the great thing, I still feel like I am getting better each week. I suppose I am getting the chance to play on the best ruckmen each week so that help.”
The Tigers’ efforts to recruit Nankervis have paid good dividends, having secured him for pick 46, and he says they have afforded him every chance to improve his football stocks.
“After the footy finished last year, I sat down with ‘Dimma’ (Damien Hardwick) and a few of the other coaches, and it was a decision based on what was best for my footy,” he said.
“They’ve been fantastic for me.
“Ivan Maric has been massive. In the preseason, we did everything together, we tried to bash each other for six months and the way he prepares is the most professional I’ve seen.”
Nankervis knows the task he has against Jacobs this Saturday is a huge one, given the Crows big man had 50 hit-outs against him in the Round 6 clash earlier this year.
“He is the sort of ruckman you always look at, because he is so durable and such a good player,” Nankervis said. “He was pretty stiff to miss out on All-Australian selection this year.”
“We didn’t play well as a team, (but) we have a very different team then in terms of personnel. He (Jacobs) got me last time, but I am looking forward to playing my role on him this week.”
Quietly-spoken and understated off the field, Nankervis is a competitive beast on it, albeit smaller than most of the ruckmen in the competition, at 199cm.
“I just love competing,” he said. “I know I don’t have the great athleticism that some of these other ruckman have, but I try to use that competitive edge as much as I can.”
He and Jack Riewoldt will be aiming to carry on an old tradition of Tigers recruited out of Tasmania going on to win premierships with the club. At least one native of Tassie has played in each of Richmond’s five flags from 1967.
“There’s a couple of boys out of Tassie, so there will definitely be some support down there,” Nankervis said.
He grew up in Georgetown, in northeast Tasmania, and played his junior football there before playing with the town’s senior team as a 17-year-old. “You learn a lot ... it was awesome, the whole town was supporting us,” he recalled.
“Then I moved to North Launceston and had a few years there.”
He was overlooked for the 2012 draft, but Sydney gave him his chance a year later when it drafted him as pick 35. He played 12 games with the Swans in 2015-16, but couldn’t quite cement the regular role he craved.
His parents, Kingsley and Sharon, and brother, Corey, have now moved to Melbourne, and he is relishing the chance to be back living with them after being in Sydney for three years.
He is thriving in working with the midfield group. “To get anywhere near ‘Cotch’ (Trent Cotchin) and ‘Dusty’ (Martin) is unbelievable to watch,” he said.
“The way Trent has led this year has been superb. He is a really good talker, but the way he leads on the field is incredible.”
“And Dustin is a superstar of the competition. As far as midfield depth goes, we have Dion (Prestia) and Josh Caddy, as well as Shane Edwards, and ‘Grigga’ (Shaun Grigg), who have had good years.”
He can barely believe that 12 months after sitting in the stands watching the Swans lose last year’s Grand Final, he will be there for the first bounce on Saturday.
“We know we have to be at our absolute best, but we know our best is good enough to match it with anyone,” he said.
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