‘Where did he come from?’: Chol recalls spectacular Riewoldt mark

In his sixth season on Richmond’s list, Chol, 24, returned to the senior side on Sunday to play just his 22nd AFL game and first since being dropped after last year’s qualifying final loss to Brisbane at the Gabba.

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Having missed out on all three of Richmond’s AFL flags during his time at Punt Road, the ruckman/forward said he had been particularly driven by last year’s near-miss.

“The first premiership we won I was a bit young and it didn’t really hit me. But I reckon last year was probably the one that hurt a fair bit from my point of view,” Chol said.

“Last year was probably more painful than any other year, and that’s something that’s driven me.”

But speaking from the Tigers’ new Bondi base, Chol said he’d been pleased with his comeback performance, one which yielded two goals.

“I was pretty happy. I thought my contest work was pretty good,” he said.

“The message has been real clear from the coaches. Had a big focus on me to get my contest work up, I needed a big spike on that.

“Just keep improving every week.”

Off-contract at season’s end, and given the Tigers’ glut of quality talls, Queenslander Chol has been linked with an end-of-season trade to Gold Coast. But he said he was keeping his eyes squarely on the short-term.

“I haven’t really thought about the contract talk. I think at the moment I’m really focused on what I can control. The contract stuff will take care of itself,” he said.

Chol, of South Sudanese descent, is close with several of the Tigers’ Indigenous players including Shai Bolton, Daniel Rioli, Marlion Pickett and Derek Eggmolesse-Smith and was looking forward to playing in Saturday night’s Dreamtime game in Perth.

“I know how much it means to them, and I’m just excited to be alongside them. It’ll be amazing to run around them and show them all our love and support,” he said.