Judging by the pics on White Line Fever of the boys in their togs, Richo has lost a bit of weight and is looking quite trim, taut and terrific. Nice 6-pack there 
Saw that Julz. Looked pretty cold for them to be swimming in their budgie smugglers.
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Richo settles down under Wallace
19 April 2005
Herald Sun
Michael Horan
AS A footballer Matthew Richardson is best described as gifted, mercurial, explosive, often frustrating and certainly never dull.
As a bloke, there is a quality that is enormously endearing considering he is now 30, in his 13th AFL season and one who has been fried more than once by the harsh glare of media scrutiny. He is a simple, honest bloke.
So the question had to be asked of the comments made by coach Terry Wallace about threatening to drag Richo if he marked and played on again when inside the forward 50 despite him being the star of Sunday's 48-point win over Fremantle.
"Occasionally I have a bit of a brain error and play on, but I'm trying to stop that," Richardson unblinkingly told a media gathering before heading into the St Kilda baths for the Tiger's post-match recovery session.
"He's just trying to get me to go back and have a shot at goal, which is what I'm meant to be doing."
The 198-game veteran is flourishing under Wallace. He leads the Coleman Medal list with 16 goals and his 38 marks this season ranks him No. 1 in the AFL.
But it seems his exuberance and tendency to have a "rush of blood" has everyone around him mindful to settle him down and make the most of his opportunities. Three times after marking within distance Richardson instantly had former skipper Wayne Campbell at his shoulder, barking instructions.
"He was just telling me to go through my routine, basically. Everyone has got a routine that they do at training and he was just re-inforcing that I need to do it on match day," Richardson said.
Richo's routine is nothing like the long drawn out process of Bomber counterpart Matthew Lloyd and he quickly pointed out that could never be his style.
"No, I don't like thinking about it for too long." he said, with a hint of a grin.
One thing the Tiger star is at the moment is mindful that for all the early gains to the Tigers' season, it counts for virtually nothing thus far.
"Things have gone all right for the first month of the year," he said. "If we had written down we'd be three wins at this stage we'd have taken it.
"So, things are looking all right but obviously we've got to step up the next few weeks because we're playing some quality sides. That will be a major test for us."
Richmond is a more offensive side under Wallace with Richardson used mainly at centre half-forward and ruckmen Trent Knobel, Greg Stafford and Troy Simmonds rotating through the goal square.
"I think its just confidence. When you've got that you just play better footy – and playing a different style and having a few new players in the side has obviously helped as well," he said.
"We're trying to kick a lot more goals than we have in the past. We're trying to kick our 16 a game. Terry has been well documented with that (and) that's probably the biggest thing, being more attacking."
And with the success comes the fundamental element of simply having fun with your footy.
"You just can't beat winning, basically. It makes the week a lot more enjoyable . . . everything a lot more enjoyable," Richardson said.
"It's only early though, we certainly won't be getting carried away. It's one month into the year.
"Come Round 22 no-one will remember the first month really. So we've got a lot of hard work to do, but its been a good start.
"We've got no reason to get carried away, we had two ordinary seasons and we can't be getting carried away with a few early wins."
Like in 2003 when the Tigers enjoyed a 6-2 start to the season but won just one of the remaining 14 games.
"I was thinking about that the other day. There is such a long way to go and so much work still to be done," he said.
The Tigers won't have to wait long to get an acid test – they confront the back-to-form St Kilda at Telstra Dome on Sunday.
"They're a great side with a lot of fantastic players," Richardson said. "They really found their form this week, so that is a real test for us and after next Monday we might know how much we have improved.
"This is the one we need to step up in. We didn't step up when we played Geelong in Round 1 so here's another chance for us here."
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,15010037%255E20322,00.html
