Xavier, the younger brother of key defender Ted Richards, was one of six young Swans to make their AFL debut in 2013, and was one of four players to be elevated from the rookie list to the senior list this year.
While Xavier’s debut was only short as he started as the substitute, the 20-year-old told sydneyswans.com.au he was already looking forward to more opportunities in 2014.
How did you sum up your first year at the club?
My first season was just a massive learning experience. I just was learning from other key defenders at the club like Heath Grundy and Ted about what it takes to be a key defender at AFL level.
Obviously I need to work on my strength a lot more if I’m going to wrestle with the big key forwards in the AFL, so I’m pretty confident I can work on that over the off-season and hit the gym. Just learning how to body players was probably the biggest learning curve for me this year.
You were one of six players to make their debut this year, which must have been a highlight.
The two minutes I was on the ground was pretty good! Obviously finding out last minute that Mitch Morton was pulling out and I was the emergency going into the game, just running out in the warm up and soaking up the atmosphere, I’m never going to forget it and especially playing with Ted was a good moment.
Did you ever think you’d make your debut in your first year?
No way. If you asked me 10 months before that when I was at home just playing TAC Cup that I’d be playing an AFL game 10 months from then I couldn’t believe it. It’s been a great year.
You also had the chance to play in two NEAFL Grand Finals, what was that like?
We won the Eastern Conference against Belconnen and it was a really good atmosphere down in Canberra. We really enjoyed the win and then we lost a few senior boys when we went up to Brisbane for the Grand Final the next week. Unfortunately we lost but I thought all the boys could hold their head high. We played well as a team all year and it was a good experience and we learnt from it.
What do you hope to work on in the pre-season?
I’ve just had my meetings with the head coaches and the conditioning staff and I’ve got my program so I know what I need to do. Mainly I’m just going to have a constant running program, which comes pretty easily to me the running part, but I think just focusing on my weights and diet and really getting stronger and bigger is something I’m really looking forward to in the off-season.
What are your plans for the off-season?
We’ll be heading to Bali with pretty much the entire development group. A few of the older boys are coming along too, which will be good and then I’m off to New York over Christmas, so I’m pretty busy.
