wrennyboy
31 Dec 2003, 14:48
As part of a continuing series over the summer months, afl.com.au looks at the players to watch from all 16 clubs in 2004. Here, the focus is on midfielder Justin Blumfield, who is hoping to put his injury-interrupted first season at Punt Road behind him.
If the Tigers are going to improve in 2004 after two dreadful seasons this is one player that simply has to fire.
At 26, Blumfield is at the prime of what has already been a fine career.
Good enough to have represented Australia in both the 2001 and 2002 international rules series, Blumfield is a renowned big game player as evidenced by his performance for Essendon in the 2000 premiership win when he was the Bombers’ second best player (behind skipper James Hird) in the ten goal grand final demolition of Melbourne.
Capable of playing both as a midfielder and as a forward, Blumfield endured a horror first year at Richmond.
After a slow start to the season, he was just starting to show signs of his best form when he suffered a serious foot injury against St Kilda in the Easter Monday match at the Telstra Dome.
As a result he missed 11 matches and while he did make it back for the final seven games, by then the Tigers’ season was virtually over and Blumfield was only just regaining his match fitness and showing signs of form when the season came to an end.
However with his injuries now behind him, Blumfield is one player capable of making big improvement at Richmond at 2004.
Details:
Age: 26. Games: 140. 03 games: 11. Debut: 1996.
http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=130063
If the Tigers are going to improve in 2004 after two dreadful seasons this is one player that simply has to fire.
At 26, Blumfield is at the prime of what has already been a fine career.
Good enough to have represented Australia in both the 2001 and 2002 international rules series, Blumfield is a renowned big game player as evidenced by his performance for Essendon in the 2000 premiership win when he was the Bombers’ second best player (behind skipper James Hird) in the ten goal grand final demolition of Melbourne.
Capable of playing both as a midfielder and as a forward, Blumfield endured a horror first year at Richmond.
After a slow start to the season, he was just starting to show signs of his best form when he suffered a serious foot injury against St Kilda in the Easter Monday match at the Telstra Dome.
As a result he missed 11 matches and while he did make it back for the final seven games, by then the Tigers’ season was virtually over and Blumfield was only just regaining his match fitness and showing signs of form when the season came to an end.
However with his injuries now behind him, Blumfield is one player capable of making big improvement at Richmond at 2004.
Details:
Age: 26. Games: 140. 03 games: 11. Debut: 1996.
http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=130063