Give us back the old Jack Riewoldt Matthew Lloyd
The Age
March 21, 2014 I want the old Jack Riewoldt back. Remember the one from a few years ago who owned the goal square and was too good in the air for any opposition stuff. This was the same Jack who was cat-like at ground level, mopping up what spillage was left, if he wasn’t able to complete the mark in the air. That to me was vintage Jack, the same Riewoldt who would express himself with pure elation after putting another one through, which would ultimately send the yellow and black faithful into a frenzy.
Riewoldt looks to be a tortured soul at the moment as he has been smashed from pillar to post by the media due to his self-imposed media ban and his departure from the Tigers' five-man leadership group.
Just like his former teammate and iconic Richmond champion Matthew Richardson, Riewoldt wears his heart on his sleeve with all that he does. His recent off-field dramas look to have changed this, curbing his energy and exuberance on the field. It is time for coach Damien Hardwick to start playing Riewoldt to his strengths again. That is, owning the Richmond forward 50 where he belongs, not roaming the half-forward flanks, where the opposition loves to see him.
I don’t really understand it - Riewoldt is far and away the best Richmond forward Hardwick has at his disposal, yet the coach is asking him to adjust his game to accommodate five other forwards whose abilities will never be close to his. I fully understand the argument that Richmond needs a greater spread of options to kick to, when going inside 50, as no team can afford to have one player being the sole focus. That all makes sense, as it worked at Hawthorn with Buddy Franklin, but I don’t see players of the quality of Jarryd Roughead, Cyril Rioli, Jack Gunston or Luke Breust running around in the yellow and black to make up for the shortfall for Riewoldt such as Hawthorn was able to do when Buddy was further up the ground.
Tyrone Vickery looks to be the big beneficiary of the forward-line restructure at Tiger Land over the past 12 months. Riewoldt kicked 59 goals in 2013, which was his lowest total in a season since he was finding his feet at AFL level in 2009. His percentage of ball won inside 50 also dropped from 70 per cent in 2012 to 59 per cent in 2013. Vickery has only ever teased since he made his debut in 2009, kicking 77 goals from his 79 career games, yet he was continually the "go to" player at Metricon Stadium last week in the Tigers' loss.
How is it so that, in the realignment of the Richmond forward line, the ball can go to the best forward by the length of the straight in Riewoldt three times yet Vickery was the go to man 14 times in the loss to the Gold Coast? Surely that wasn’t the intended plan. I know it is only round one and it is only a small sample, but ask Mick Malthouse and Michael Jamison in the lead-up to Thursday night where they would like to see Riewoldt playing and they would not be able to spit out the words "outside the forward 50" quickly enough.
I can’t remember the last time I saw Tom Hawkins leave the forward 50 arc for Geelong. Hawkins has Steve Johnson, Steven Motlop, Allen Christensen and Matty Stokes all hovering at his feet as he provides them with structure. The class smalls also complement Hawkins as they mop up what he can’t mark in the air, yet Riewoldt had to vacate the role that made him the best inside-50 player in the competition for close to three seasons because those around him were not good enough to thrive alongside him when the ball is being funnelled through him. I just don’t understand that.
The justification from the Richmond coaching staff would be that they played finals for the first time in decades with a lesser reliance on Riewoldt, but I reckon it also had a fair bit to do with Troy Chaplin, Alex Rance and Steve Morris all having their best-ever seasons, and Deledio, Cotchin and Martin all finishing in the top five in the best and fairest. Surely, now with a midfield of those three plus Brandon Ellis, Reece Conca and Nick Vlastuin, you would want your best focal point in the line of fire for most of the time, with the alternative being to isolate the gun midfielders when they are resting forward. That sounds more potent to me.
On the Gold Coast last Saturday night, Richmond had 58 inside 50s to the Gold Coast’s 48, yet the Suns managed 27 scoring shots to the Tigers' 19. Yes, Riewoldt and Vickery had bad nights, but I would have loved to have seen Riewoldt take Matthew Warnock back to the goal square a bit more often. I know who I would have backed in, yet Riewoldt and Warnock scrapped it out on the flanks for most of the night. Once again, I just don’t get it.
I don’t need to see Riewoldt express himself on The Footy Show or on Gold FM or wherever else he had a media deal, but I do miss seeing him express himself like he did when he was at the top of his game. I love seeing him belt out the "yellow and black" during the club theme song after the match. I want to see him love the game again, which will in turn help Richmond win games. And the first step must be playing Riewoldt predominantly deep from Thursday night against the Blues.
I look forward to having the old Jack back.
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