Richmond star Jack Riewoldt thanks coach Damien Hardwick for honest feedback Eliza Sewell
From: Herald Sun
May 08, 2012 12:36PMJACK Riewoldt hopes he's emerged from his form slump
And the Richmond forward has thanked coached Damien Hardwick for not "peeing in my pocket" during his slow start to the season.
Riewoldt, who kicked four goals in the Tigers' win against Port Adelaide on Sunday after a poor start to season 2012, said had appreciated Hardwick's honest feedback early in the season.
"You don't want the senior coach peeing in your pocket, telling you, 'You're going all right, things will turn around'," he said.
"You want honest feedback. If you want to be a good player in the AFL you've got to be ready to hear that sort of stuff and you've got to be willing to act on it."
He said he had not been carrying any injuries, despite speculation he had a rib issue.
"I'm fighting fit, just a bit of a form slump," he said.
"Hopefully I'm over the hill now with all the injuries from last year and over the hill with the form slump as well.
"Coming off a few injuries last year, (I) thought I was going to walk back in and start playing really good footy straight away but it's been a bit of a solid slog.
"I was lucky enough to get on the end of a few on the weekend but it really comes down to, it's about the tackling, the little one per centers and leading the forward line, which I thought I did reasonably well on the weekend."
Riewoldt also praised recruit Ivan Maric.
"Don't be surprised in future years if you see Ivan Maric in the leadership group at the Richmond Football Club," he said.
"He's an outstanding person, he's got great core values ... his game on the weekend was probably a bit of reward for some really solid hard work.
"He trains hard, he's very professional and he's been really important to our improvement this year."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/richmond-star-jack-riewoldt-thanks-coach-damien-hardwick-for-honest-feedback/story-e6frf9jf-1226349777369
