How the Tigers took Riewoldt from great to averageMatthew Lloyd
The Age
24 July 2016Jack Riewoldt is 27 years of age and in the prime of his football career. Along with Alex Rance, there are no better bookends in the competition. Riewoldt currently sits seventh on the AFL goalkicking leader board with a return of 37 goals from 16 games he has played so far this season.
On paper that doesn't look like a great return for a player with such exquisite talents but Jack has tried his heart out this year in the constraints he gets asked to play within by the Richmond coaching staff. The issues are not with Jack's form, the problem is that Damien Hardwick doesn't utilise Jack Riewoldt like he should. Jack is arguably the best inside-50 player in the game but he just doesn't play there enough and it just doesn't make sense to me.
John Worsfold must have loved what went on at the MCG last Saturday. Worsfold set Patrick Ambrose the big job of playing on Riewoldt yet the Tigers star roamed the flanks and wings for most of the afternoon.
That would have been exactly what the Essendon coaching staff would have been hoping for. Ambrose's biggest strength is his endurance, not his footy smarts or his ability to read the flight of the ball in the air.In the last quarter when Riewoldt pushed deep, he got Ambrose for power and strength and I thought: why has this taken to the last quarter to happen ?
Ben Griffith had a great game taking 12 marks and kicking three goals but it's fair to say he was due and owed the Tigers considering how many opportunities he has been given.
The Richmond inside-50 targets against Essendon last weekend read like this: Griffith eight, McBean six, Martin and Rioli four and Riewoldt just three. Going to Riewoldt too often is unhealthy, I know, but rarely kicking to him inside 50 is just ludicrous considering what a brilliant one-on-one player he is. The Tigers don't have too many weapons in their holster yet they have one staring them in the face and they refuse to play him to his strengths.
Riewoldt kicked 78 goals back in 2010 in just his fourth season. He kicked more than four goals on eight occasions that season including a bag of 10 against West Coastat the MCG which had the Tiger army literally beside themselves with unbridled joy.
Riewoldt was explosive off the mark, sat on heads when the ball came in the air and was cat-like at ground level. That mix made him unstoppable and he was the most difficult match up in the AFL at just 22 years of age.
In 2016, Riewoldt has kicked more than four goals on just three occasions and is yet to have a five-goal haul in a match. The game has changed significantly since 2010 but Jack's skills remain the same. Why those skills aren't utilised more is just crazy.
Yes, Jack is a super creative player up the ground but he is then delivering the ball into Griffith, Vickery and Sam Lloyd but where has that taken the Tigers?
Riewoldt has made significant adjustments to his body by dropping size to play the role and his body language can no longer be questioned as he always remains in control and puts the team ahead of his own individual interests.
Riewoldt has won 40 per cent of his disposals inside 50 this season, down from the whopping 70 per cent of only four years ago. Riewoldt averaged three goals a game that year and Hardwick made a decision that Jack couldn't be the sole focus and that he would need to find a far greater spread of goal kickers if the Tigers were to have success. The Tigers did play finals in the following three seasons but no other forward has developed into a consistent enough performer alongside Riewoldt to show that the way he has been asked to play has made the team better.
I rate Riewoldt as good as the Suns' Tom Lynch. Lynch is currently playing in a similar fashion to what Riewoldt was when he was 22. Lynch is a colossus above his head, is a reliable kick for goal and also a ruthless competitor. Lynch works up the ground at times but always remains close enough to goal to be a presence and put the fear of god into opposition defenders.
Riewoldt is just as capable and it's about time Hardwick releases the shackles and allows him to play to his strengths.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/matthew-lloyd-richmond-must-release-the-shackles-on-jack-riewoldt-20160722-gqbo7t.html
