Riewoldt gives Tiger fans something to celebrate - at lastJAKE NIALL
June 16, 2010 WHEN Jack Riewoldt booted his 10th goal on Sunday, he turned to face the fans at the Punt Road end and raised his arms.
This moment lasted only a few seconds. The fans, experiencing a rare version of Richmond rapture, doubtless would have liked more face-to-face time with Jack, but he was quickly mobbed by his teammates.
These handful of seconds were heavy with symbolism. Riewoldt had turned to the fans, shared in their celebration fleetingly. But the arrival of his teammates superseded - and killed - any notion that he was new messiah.
Jack Riewoldt is excited after he kicked his 10th goal against West Coast last Sunday. Photo: Getty Images
In Foxtel's telecast of the game, Dwayne Russell called Riewoldt the ''new king at Tigerland''. Damien Hardwick, clearly, didn't want an individual to receive such premature adulation and discouraged Riewoldt from talking to the Foxtel folk, as is customary, out on the ground - a decision for which Hardwick subsequently apologised.
Any player who kicks 10 goals is bound to be talked about. When he does it at a lowly team that is showing signs of life, the fans are bound to become even more excited. The Tigers, doubtless, will sell plenty of Riewoldt-related merchandise in the coming months and years.
Riewoldt's emergence as the latest Richmond idol seems almost pre-destined, when one considers the extraordinary lineage of Tassie Tiger forwards to precede him.
From 1966 until 1977, there was Royce Hart, the greatest centre half-forward of his era, who was recruited from the same Tasmanian club, Clarence, as Riewoldt.
Hart's last season at Punt Road was the first of another Tassie kid who would take big grabs and inspire kids to wear the No. 8 on his back - Michael Roach, also known as ''Disco''.
Roach lasted until 1989, sharing duties for a time with another talented spearhead, Brian Taylor. There was then a brief interregnum of three years.
Then Matthew Richardson, the son of Alan ''Bull'' Richardson and another Tasmanian product, began his unique 17-year relationship with the club.
They might be Richmond's four Rs - Royce, Roach, Richo and now Riewoldt. All of them high-marking forwards. Royce won them flags, Roach kicked a century and played in their last premiership. Richo sustained interest in the club in mostly dark times.
This is the breach into which Riewoldt has leapt. He is fated to be feted as a Richmond forward. The club will have a wonderful marketing tool if it ever plays a home game in Hobart.
The Tigers are aware of the excitement that a player such as Riewoldt can create. Yet, they are also very mindful that he is 21 and that the club will not prosper if he becomes a solitary focus - on and off the field.
''Jack's exciting the fans,'' acknowledged Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale, another former Tasmanian. ''But what's exciting to me is his commitment to the team.''
Gale noted that while Riewoldt had created this excitement among the supporters, ''nothing excites them more than winning'', and to be successful required a team-first ethos. Gale reels off the names of the youngsters with whom Riewoldt shares the stage: Brett Deledio, Trent Cotchin, Dustin Martin. He notes, too, that Riewoldt led the competition in tackles in the forward 50 until last weekend - a rarity for a leading goalkicker.
Riewoldt, thus, will not receive star treatment from the club administration, players and coaches, even if he is bound to be built up to icon stature by supporters.
How will he handle this hype? Greg Miller, director of football when Riewoldt was recruited in the 2006 draft - a decision he credits to the recruiting chief, Francis Jackson - believes that Riewoldt will remain grounded.
''Part of a player's growth is in having to go through it [hype] and come out the other side. It's part of your development,'' said Miller, who describes Riewoldt as a confident and ''effervescent'' young man. ''He'll be fine.''
Miller, who now works part-time with Riewoldt's manager, Ricky Nixon, said Jackson had been so convinced of Riewoldt's worth when he was playing in Tassie that he went to games, not so much to watch Jack, but to check on ''what other clubs were there''.
Jackson, according to Miller, needed to be assured the Tigers wouldn't lose Riewoldt when they traded down the draft order, from No. 8 to 13, in 2006.
''He wouldn't allow me to do the Polak deal unless he was convinced that we would still get Jack.''
So the Tigers got their fourth R. The fans got a reason to be excited.
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