Jack just shot this rumour down on 360 & called Barrett out as a rubbishter
Jack Riewoldt has hit back at critics calling for his head to roll at RichmondSarah Olle
Foxsports
24 August 2016JACK Riewoldt has refuted claims he should be traded from Richmond, vehemently denying claims he has caused trouble at Punt Road.
“It’s a complete fabrication and it’s frustrating, but it’s irresponsible by the people saying it as well,” he told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“I’ve got three years left to go on my contract. I spoke probably three weeks ago about what loyalty and success meant to me and I was pretty stern down the loyalty path.
“I’m disappointed that people are making that conversation about me. I think I’d probably say after last week’s performance — which was probably my worst game in the last three years — I was pretty disappointed with the way I played.
“At the moment, it’s just clickbait and unfortunately I think we’ve seen journalism go down the side where back in the good old days ... they were actually just reporting the story, rather than to light the fire under it to see if there was any smoke there.
“You take it with a grain of salt and just move on. As far as I’m concerned it’s yellow and black all the way.”
While Riewoldt isn’t in the leadership group at Richmond, he said he still performed a valuable leadership role at the club, where he has played 201 games since debuting in 2007.
Initially awkward in front of the media, the 27-year-old said he’d worked hard to transform himself into one of the Tigers’ key spokesmen.
“I still have a really important role to play in the direction of the group,” he said.
“I’ve really changed a lot of things in terms of my leadership over the past three years. I’ve been involved with the younger guys and being out of the leadership group has actually allowed me to develop and have better relationships with the younger guys coming through.
“It’s really enhanced my view on where we can get back to pretty quickly. Spending time with guys like Daniel Rioli, Oleg Markov — I do trade school with nine other young guys at the footy club — the experiences I’m having with them that I may not have had in previous years have certainly bonded my relationships down there.
“As far as I’m concerned, as far as my teammates are concerned, I’m an integral part of the football club going forward.”
Riewoldt said despite the disappointing season, he was buoyed by the emergence of a number of young kids, who now had ten or more games to their name.
Rioli was awarded this week’s Rising Star nomination, capping off a solid debut season, where he has kicked two goals on five occasions, while Markov, Corey Ellis and Connor Menadue are all 20 years or younger.
Riewoldt said the Tigers’ last home and away game against Sydney would leave them in good stead over the summer.
“There may not be points to play with, but there’s certainly experience for our younger guys.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/jack-riewoldt-has-hit-back-at-critics-calling-for-his-head-to-roll-at-richmond/news-story/db214bcf7ae201468858aa1fac8494af
