Deledio was taken by the Tigers as the first pick in the 2004 NAB AFL Draft, and quickly justified that selection by winning the Rising Star award and the AFL Players' Association Best First-Year Player Award in 2005.
But good times since have been few and far between. Richmond went into this season as one of the bottom-ranked teams and lost its first nine matches. In round four, one bookmaker took the extraordinary step of paying out bets on the Tigers to win the wooden spoon.
However, the side stuck to the plan under new coach Damien Hardwick and, after defeating Port Adelaide in round 10, has gone on to register five more wins to sit 14th on the ladder.
The form turnaround, coupled with Richmond's impressive array of young talent, has Deledio looking forward to a bright future at Punt Rd.
“Some of the young players who are coming through - in Dustin Martin, Ben Nason, all these guys who are playing great footy - you can see the development in them, game in, game out,” he said at St Kilda beach on Tuesday morning.
“They bring an enthusiasm to the side, and it makes it more enjoyable to see them enjoying their footy. To be able to sing the song, and have Mitch Farmer pour Powerade over everyone - it’s good fun.”
Coach Damien Hardwick moved Deledio from the midfield to help captain Chris Newman give some leadership across half-back, and he said he was loving being part of a tight back six.
“Playing down there with Chris Newman and Dan Connors off the half-back line - and we’ve got Kel Moore, Will Thursfield and Lukey McGuane, this sort of guys - we're starting to develop a strong little unit down there.
“A couple of weeks ago I think we were one of the harder defensive lines to score against, but after playing Collingwood I think that slipped a little bit."
Deledio did not rule out returning to the midfield but said he believed his future may involve playing a utility role of the sort held down by the current Brownlow Medal favourite.
“It depends on what Damien sees in the future for me, whether I go back into the midfield to play," he said.
“I suppose with him coming from Hawthorn, I could play a similar sort of role to Luke Hodge, where he goes back and goes in the midfield and goes forward as well."
