Woodville West Torrens defender Rhyan Mansell has signed with Richmond via the Supplementary Selection Period (SSP).
The Tigers lodged paperwork on Thursday to sign the exciting 20-year-old defender, who is a three-time premiership player with North Launceston.
Mansell has been training at Punt Road since January 7 and has secured one of two available list spots at Richmond, with Nick Couroupis (West Adelaide), Jordan Gallucci (Williamstown), Josh Green (Marist AFC, ACT) and Derek Eggmolesse-Smith (delisted Tiger) fighting for the last position.
โWe have always liked his stuff because he suited what we like in a player; super competitive, physical, (and with) really good speed,โ Tiger recruitment boss Matt Clarke told Richmond Media.
Mansell's our man โ๏ธ
Welcome to Tigerland, Rhyan!
— Richmond FC ๐ฏ๐ (@Richmond_FC) February 18, 2021
โHe has Richmond qualities and that ability to come in hard and tackle.
โHe played footy, but he was in the cricket pathways. He also played soccer mainly as a kid, so he was not in all the (football) squads like a lot of kids are.
โTo go into Woodville West Torrens last year under an excellent coach (Jade Sheedy) and into a great footy club and brilliantly run organisation was fantastic.
โWhen he went there from Tasmania, it gave us confidence he could do well, and he obviously fitted into a really good team and won a flag, which was a big tick.
Rhyan Mansell a nice mature-age pickup for the Tigers via SSP. Brings speed and a penetrating kick from defence. The 20-year-old averaged 14 disposals (KE 75%), 5.7 intercepts and 75 #SuperCoach points for Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL last year.
— Dan Batten (@danbatten_) February 18, 2021
โWe watched all his vision and the live streaming last year, but it is just not the same as actually being there.
โSo, to be able to get him over here to train was great and a chance for us to also see how he could fit into our system and how quickly he would be able to learn, which he has.
โWe have been able to have a bit of a look at how he might adapt to the way we play and defend, and he has coped really well.โ
Richmond will have until March 9 to fill their remaining list spot via the SSP or could opt for the Mid-Season Rookie Draft on June 2.
See who is training at your club ahead of the 2021 season here.