When Andrew McQualter takes cost of Richmond on the Gabba, he’ll spot no less than one acquainted face among the many Brisbane gamers standing in his method.
Midfielder Jarrod Berry and the Richmond interim coach have a connection going again greater than six years.
When Berry was a fresh-faced teenager coming into his draft yr in 2017, he was despatched to Richmond to spend two weeks in pre-season coaching as a part of his time with the AFL academy.
Looking out for the younger man from Horsham: then-assistant coach McQualter.
“I know ‘Mini’ pretty well. I had a couple of weeks with him when I was a 17-year-old,” Berry informed AAP after the Lions’ win over St Kilda on Friday.
“He just took me under his wing when I was there. I was only there for two weeks so it was a very small time, but he was one of the guys that really reached out to me and looked after me.
“He picked me up a pair instances, taking me to coaching as a result of I used to be catching the tram as a result of I wasn’t 18 but.
“Those little gestures of kindness really stick with you. We send a message here and there and see how each other are going. He’s a good man.”
But it is unlikely there will be an excessive amount of pleasant chat between the pair on this week’s lead-up.
On Thursday evening, McQualter will try to increase Richmond’s three-game profitable streak by claiming a vital win within the Tigers’ once-unlikely push for finals.
“He’s certainly going to be revving them up and ready to go and I guess they’ll probably come to look to take a scalp at the Gabba and we’ve got to be ready for that,” Berry mentioned.
“It is essential.
“They’re most likely that contested finals model, that we have to take a look at ourselves and preserve bettering our recreation towards. So it actually is essential.
“Another four points would be nice, just keep making that gap bigger and try and consolidate that top four spot.”
The third-placed Lions have received two video games on the bounce and are eight factors clear inside the highest 4.
Berry, who has constructed his method into this marketing campaign after pre-season shoulder surgical procedure, was assured Brisbane had grown from the crew that has skilled a number of seasons’ price of finals heartbreak.
“It’s just that extra season playing together, another finals series, hardened bodies,” he mentioned.
“It’s all coming together for us and we just need to keep everyone fit and keep improving our game and keep playing good footy.
“So that is one other step in the direction of that path.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
