TED Richards talks to sydneyswans.com.au about consistency, The Richards Report and his season highlights...

How do you sum up your year?
It’s been an up and down year but from where I re-assessed my goals halfway through the year, to finish up back in the team and playing some okay football - I’m happy with that. I’m happy how I finished the year off but overall I would have loved to have played consistently the whole year.

What were the highlights in a team sense for you?
A couple of things stick out. Being a part of the game against the Brisbane Lions at the SCG (round 6), that was a great game to be a part of. It was also great to be part of the end of Brett Kirk and Paul Roos’ careers and giving them a good send-off from home at the SCG, and then at ANZ Stadium. Those three games really stick out for me.

Who of your team-mates impressed you most this year?
There were quite a few new faces who impressed. Dan Hannebery, I give him a lot of crap on my little blogs but he knows what I think of him and he was absolutely sensational for the level he was able to maintain throughout the year.

Shane Mumford - also someone that I give a lot of crap too - but he was sensational. Often I don’t think people realised he was playing with injuries. So to carry an injury and then play with the same ferocity that he does is great.

And Ben McGlynn and Josh Kennedy, the two ex-Hawthorn boys. They were great, with the effect they had on the team straight away.

Where do you think you can improve as a player next season?
I probably say this a bit but I’d like to be more consistent. To play a good level consistently throughout the year. I think I did it for the last month of the season but it would be good to maintain that the whole year.

You also look at the good key defenders from the other teams and look at how strong they are one-on-one and the strength they use to run off their opponent so I look at that and think it is something I would really like to add to my game.

You played forward when you first came back into the senior team. Would you like to do that more often next year?
It sounds stupid but I’d just love to be playing. Probably my best position is in defence but if the opportunity comes up for me to go into the forward line, I’ll jump in there and give it a go.

You and Heath Grundy had a big task in the last month or so as the key defenders, without Lewis Roberts-Thomson who got injured…
Yes, it was a different look backline there for a while. We had a few midfielders come through to help us out as well, but the football season will always throw up injuries and you have to adapt. Heath Grundy had a sensational year.

You’ve developed a new talent as a writer this year, with The Richards Report on this website. How did you enjoy that?
It was a lot of fun. It started off when I thought I’d write something as a one-off for the website and then I was invited to do something regular and I really enjoyed it. I think the boys enjoyed some of the banter getting out of there!

It is a lot easier to write something after a win, and not so easy after a loss. Sometimes I don’t want to think about footy too much after a loss.

You’ve spent at least a couple of days of your break painting the hallway in your house - what else are you going to do?
I’ve got two operations - one on my hand and one on my ankle - so that’s not so good.

I’ll continue to do work experience at Citibank during the break. And I’ll go to Melbourne and catch up with the family. I’ll do a fair few things that I’ve been putting off, and hopefully pass my last subject at uni! It’s marketing analysis and if I pass that I will have finished uni and got my commerce degree.

Ted Richards in action during season 2010: