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Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is expected to turn to his fifth debutant for the season on Thursday night. But who is it? Early Mail for round 16.
Richmond thinks it has found another diamond in the rough, with key defender Ben Miller in the frame to bolster the backline against Gold Coast on Thursday night.
Fresh injuries to Noah Balta (ankle) and Nathan Broad (ankle) have the West Australian in line to become the club’s sixth debutant this season.
Carlton, Gold Coast and Melbourne have blooded just one player each in 2021.
David Astbury is still no certainty to return from a grumbly Achilles and so the Tigers might have to piece together a makeshift backline to combat Suns targets Ben King and Josh Corbett.
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But Miller’s sparkling VFL form has had him under discussion at match committee for some time and if he gets the nod it will not be a Steven Bradbury-type debut.
It can be revealed that the Kalgoorlie prospect was firmly in the mix to crack coach Damien Hardwick‘s best 22 long before last weekend’s double blow to Balta and Broad.
Tigers VFL coach Xavier Clarke told News Corp that Miller had come of age this season.
“Benny Miller is one not a lot of people hear about,” Clarke said earlier this month.
Ben Miller can play on the talls and the smalls.
“His game has improved dramatically from the end of last year to this year as that key back.
“It’s getting to the point now where we’re talking about him at match committee. Can he play at the level?
“Whereas two years ago he had a little bit more work to do.”
Miller was then named in Richmond’s extended squad against West Coast and enjoyed a career-best VFL game against Sandringham on Saturday.
The 198cm defender collected 119 ranking points, which was easily his best from 42 VFL matches.
Miller racked up six intercept marks, eight intercept possessions, 10 spoils and five tackles in a dominant display.
“The growth in his game is the ability to be able to play on talls, but also smaller medium-sized forwards,” Clarke said.
“He has the ability one-on-one against the bigger boys.”
Under talent boss Blair Hartley and recruiters Matthew Clarke, Francis Jackson and Richard Taylor the Tigers pieced together their premiership backline almost exclusively through the draft’s dumpster.
Liam Baker and Jayden Short were rookie revelations while Broad was taken at pick No.67 and Dylan Grimes in the pre-season draft.
Miller was secured with pick No.63 in 2017 and has since been demoted to the rookie list. Those at Tigerland are quietly confident they might have found another one in Miller.
Midfielder Jack Ross and goalkicker Daniel Rioli are being reprogrammed into halfbacks in the VFL.
Ross had 29 disposals (130 ranking points) against the Zebras to put his hand up for a recall against the Suns.
