Hayden Young’s star shone brightly under the lights of Marvel Stadium on Friday night, instrumental in keeping Freo in the contest that came right down to the wire.

The enthralling battle ended in a draw, with both Fremantle and Richmond each having opportunities to win the match but ultimately failing to execute.

Young provided a strong presence, tallying a game-high 31 disposals, 14 marks and 10 intercept possessions, while also recording 467 metres gained on his way to a career-best game – according to AFL Player Ratings.

Despite the strong individual performance, the humble Young praised his fellow defenders for their support.

“(The result) is a bit weird. We are a bit disappointed. We felt like we had our chances especially in the second half and early in the quarter we didn't capitalise on all our good work,” Young said.

“However, vice versa it almost got taken away from us late and we really had to scrap and hold on.

“I was happy I could play my role, and I felt I had good support from my teammates down back. We used the ball well out of there and I was happy I was able to play my role and impact the contest.”

Young said the Tigers were able to bring the heat and take advantage of some Fremantle skill errors, in a game that saw Freo marginally higher on turnovers with 71 to Richmond’s 62.

“We are happy that we had areas in our game that provided us with opportunities to win, but we just fed their game a bit too much with our execution and our polish,” Young said.

“We felt their pressure too much and they were able to bounce off our turnovers and got some good looks out the back.

“It is a weird feeling but two points is better than none, I suppose.”

Young also said he enjoyed having backline leader Alex Pearce return to the line-up after missing the past two matches with a calf complaint.

The 21-year-old credited the key back for helping to drive high standards amongst the youthful defensive unit.

“He is a really strong leader within our group especially in our back six,” Young said.

“We are pretty young, and he drives the leadership within our group. He was huge today and had a lot of great contests especially in that second half where we started to get back some ascendency in the game.

“He was great, and it was good to have him back out there.”