Jack of the media, Riewoldt calls it quitsMatt Thompson
February 13, 2014 10:47 AM
RICHMOND forward Jack Riewoldt has announced a self-imposed media ban, just days after being dropped from the club's leadership group.
Riewoldt, 25, missed out on a spot in the Tigers' reduced five-man group of senior players.
He broke the news on what will be his final appearance on Gold FM radio.
"I won't be doing any media at all, I'm sacking The Footy Show, I'm not doing Gold," Riewoldt declared.
"This is off my own bat.
"I thought about it at the end of the season, and the club's going in a pretty strong direction and starting to come into some pretty big years."
Riewoldt said he was struggling with the way he was being depicted in the media.
"If I can't be portrayed the way I want to be portrayed then I'll give it a bit of a miss."
Riewoldt said he "found it hard" that the focus was on his omission from the leadership group and not the elevation of teammate Troy Chaplin.
"He didn't get the recognition he deserved from the media and from the outside world, so that was the thing that sort of cut me a little bit deep," he said."We've got five very, very capable blokes there and they are going to lead this club to some really big success this year."
Dylan Grimes, who had an injury riddled 2013, was also left out of the group.
Trent Cotchin remains captain, with Brett Deledio his vice-captain.
Ruckman Ivan Maric, 2013 Jack Dyer medallist Dan Jackson and former Port Adelaide defender Chaplin make up the rest of the group.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-02-13/jack-of-the-media