Dion Prestia has long been the overlooked x-factor that unlocks the success of Richmond's midfield group, and that fact will not change in 2023 despite his club's high-profile additions of midfielder pairing Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper during last year's trade period.
After making the southern trek from the Gold Coast Suns at the end of 2016, 'The Human Meatball's immense presence and involvement in the engine room played an extremely integral part in securing the yellow and black's 2017, 2019 and 2020 premierships.
Prestia's profile at the Suns was obvious and has only been further exemplified throughout his Tigers tenure: a contested-ball addict who perpetually puts his body on the line in order to secure possession and forward movement for his side.
Shadowed by peak-performing finals master Dustin Martin and Brownlow medallist Trent Cotchin - not to mention the likes of Shai Bolton in more recent times - in Richmond's daunting midfield brigade during the club's dynasty period, Prestia's works have gone largely unheralded by those outside the four walls of Tigerland.
Across Prestia's 22 games in his 2017 debut campaign, the then-25-year-old's contested possessions (9.5 per game), ground-ball-gets (7.5) and total clearances (4.0) numbers trailed only the mercurial Martin and Cotchin at Punt Road, demonstrating the immediate and crucial impact the ex-Sun had on Richmond's midfield operation.
Over the course of the Tigers' subsequent premiership journey in 2019, throughout which he featured in every match, Prestia was again a major source of propulsion, as his disposal mean of 27.4 rated second-best at the club behind Bachar Houli, while his contested game (11.6 possession per game), ground-ball-gets (8.5) and total clearances (5.8) led all Tigers.
The hearty bull's influence was plain to see. Maybe Prestia worked better in the shadows of the big-name stars.
In his age-29 season last year, with Martin gradually departing the midfield picture and Cotchin's career continuing to tick toward a close, Prestia trailed only dashing-defender-turned-midfielder Jayden Short in total disposals at Punt Road, and was top-five in a host of statistical categories; including contested possessions, uncontested possessions, score assists, tackles, and inside-50s, as well as leading all Tigers in total clearances.
Prestia's prolific campaign landed him a third-place finish in the Jack Dyer Medal as he polled a career-best 19 Brownlow Medal votes.
However, he is now confronted with a sense of dรฉjร vu, as he is once again inadvertently placed in the background of two midfield stars.
Richmond's list management department orchestrated gargantuan trade deals for former GWS Giants Hopper and Taranto at the conclusion of last season, undeniably restoring the Tigers' flag-contending stature heading into 2023.
The 25-year-old Taranto's career disposals (23.4 per game) and total clearances (4.0) numbers are rated elite among midfielders according to AFL Stats, while Hopper, 26, managed only seven appearances in 2022 but was damaging at stoppages when he did get on the park.
The incessant pre-season hype, whilst warranted due to the duo's irrefutable on-field influence, casts a familiar shade over Prestia, who, health-permitting, is looking poised to deliver another prominent campaign at Punt Road.
Subsequent to Martin and Cotchin occupying more permanent residency in Richmond's forward sector this pre-season, Prestia appears freed up in the middle of the ground alongside the newcomers, ready to assert himself on each contest he encounters; the only way he knows how.
Stalwart Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt was recently heard on SEN radio waves discussing the impact the recent transactions had on liberating Prestia's game, claiming the 30-year-old is exuberant about the new arrivals.
"The two guys we've gone and picked up, Jacob (Hopper) is more of that inside bull, extractor type, which takes a bit of pressure off Dion in that aspect," Riewoldt said.
"Tim (Taranto) has got a little bit of outside class and the ability to spread and run from [the] contest, which once again has probably been lumped on Dion.
"He's probably the happiest man at the footy club, Dion Prestia. The riches he's got around him now to help us in the short term and then for him to go into more of a mentor role for the young kids who we believe are going to be good players for us in the midfield in the coming years."
If Prestia is, as Riewoldt claims, the happiest man at Tigerland, it looks like Meatball's on the menu again in 2023.
