THIS Sunday David Armitage will come up against the very player he modelled his game on over the summer, Jordan Lewis.

Following an injury-interrupted 2014, Armitage sat down with Alan Richardson and devised a plan to re-shape his body, shed excess muscle and re-design himself in the Lewis mould.

While the St Kilda midfielder’s grunt work has never been questioned, it was his lack of outside run that was his downfall. Facing a similar conundrum a few years ago, Lewis shed weight and has reaped the rewards ever since. In last year’s premiership winning season, Lewis won the Hawks’ best and fairest, was named in the All-Australian team and finished equal sixth in the Brownlow Medal.

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Armitage, who turns 27 in two weeks, lost five kilograms over the summer and placed an emphasis on his running, rather than lifting heavy weights.

“We had a meeting at the end of the year and we spoke about what Jordan Lewis had been able to do,” Richardson told SEN this week.

“Jordan is a very similar player to Dave in that he is an elite inside stoppage player who dropped a bit of weight and was able to add some outside run and some uncontested ball to his game.

“That was a real focus for him in Dave’s time away from the club. He made sure that he came back in a better shape that allowed him to be better on the outside. It certainly hasn’t hurt his inside play.”

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Armo explains the symptoms of leather poisoning after knocking up 45 disposals against the Doggies yesterday.Watch other post-game interviews at http://stk.lt/video-audio now.

Posted by St Kilda Football Club on Sunday, 10 May 2015

Armitage is in career-best form this season, ranking first in the AFL for total disposals, second for handballs and fifth for clearances.

Before this year, he had collected 30 or more disposals just three times in 107 AFL games. This season he’s registered 30-plus possessions on seven occasions, including one 45-touch haul against the Western Bulldogs.

It is no coincidence that Armitage’s improvement has occurred since Richardson’s arrival.

“I’m really pleased for him. You love it as a coach when you preach that the harder you work, the footy gods tend to look after you and the more rewards you are going to have,” Richardson said.

“It’s not that he was heavy before, but he has changed his body type and added a bit more run to his game. He didn’t need the weight because he is such an aggressive player anyway."

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Not only has Armitage been in terrific form, but he has also skippered the club three times in Nick Riewoldt’s absence – setting a perfect example to his teammates in the process.

“You are just rapt as a coach that you can use him as an example to others, particularly the younger players,” Richardson said.

“He’s certainly setting a great example.”

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