Tom McDonald will have his hands full trying to contain Jack Riewoldt on Friday nightSam Landsberger
Herald-Sun
April 23, 2015 9:15PMSIZE will matter when Melbourne tries to disarm Richmond star Jack Riewoldt at the MCG tonight, according to awaiting defender Tom McDonald.
Riewoldt kicked 1.3 from nine disposals and was beaten by McDonald last year – along with his Tigers.
Both players enter in hot form with Riewoldt jagging 10.4 and McDonald losing just a single one-on-one contest after games against Taylor Walker, Jeremy Cameron and Dan Gorringe.
“Jack’s a very crafty player, always moving side-to-side or trying to get behind you,” McDonald, 22, said.
“He’s so opportunistic he might have nine disposals but kick six goals. I’ve got a size advantage on him in terms of height and arm length, so if I can make it messy and not let him get a jump at it (it’ll help), but it’s a big challenge.”
McDonald (194cm) is listed at 1cm shorter than Riewoldt but 1kg heavier and he has upped his rebound game this season, averaging an extra 3.2 intercept marks and 131 metres gained.
Melbourne backline coach Rawlings knows Riewoldt from time spent at the Tigers and says: “(McDonald) needs to concentrate for four quarters because Jack’s a very smart forward with a lot of tricks and asks a lot of you”.
McDonald said two of the Dees’ focuses were backline ground balls to limit opposition crumbers and powerful spoils to alleviate danger.
The full-back also said they looked at intercept marks and third-man involvements as part of coach Paul Roos’ team philosophy, while he was trying to convert more spoils into grabs.
“We just seem to stuff up easy opportunities, miss easy goals,” McDonald said on some of the frustration.
“We don’t want to allow easy goals by leaving a defender one-on-one in the square, we want to get back and help,” McDonald said.
“And we know we need to score more to win,” McDonald said.
“Not everyone’s going to get the ball every time but it might be your turn to run and spread out wide, just to allow space.”
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