Can Tigers bring old Jack back?Michael Gleeson
June 29, 2011JACK Riewoldt kicked six goals in round one against the team he plays again this weekend. He started the season in the same style as his Coleman Medal-winning season last year but it was an early sighting that has become increasingly rare.
Jack has not been the player he was last year.
It is partly by design and not necessarily a bad thing for Richmond; it made no secret of wanting more than one goalkicker. But allowing for that, he is below the player - and the presence - that he was last year.
Riewoldt has kicked 41 goals and sits second for goal kicking to Lance Franklin, but in his past month against modest opposition, he has yielded just eight goals.
Things have been done at the Tigers for this to happen but, just as importantly, things have been done to the Tigers for it to occur.
The press has brought more numbers folding into Richmond's forward zone but this alone does not account for the territory around Riewoldt being sucked up. Riewoldt's space and jumping space has been blocked - legally and illegally - by opposition teams more than it was last year. He is being stopped from getting at the ball to fly.
A spirited player, Riewoldt did not take it too well and sides knew that blocking and holding would have a dual effect: it would deny him a run at the ball but it also needled an emotional character.
Riewoldt has battled with knee pain but not to the extent that he has missed a training session or match. He was also cleaned up badly at training, which left him ginger last week.
In pure statistical terms, his numbers are not enormously down on last year. Significantly, his tackling inside 50 is the most notable drop - but overall they are down.
He is averaging fewer touches and two marks a game less and, importantly, is taking fewer marks inside 50 and contested marks than last year. He still ranks first in the AFL for marks on the lead, which indicates he is being pushed further up the ground to combat blocks or holds in trying to mark one-out or in a pack.
''I think people are used to him taking those strong marks, which he has not done over the last six or seven weeks,'' a club insider said. ''But he also demands a bit better of himself than he has been producing.''
Where he has got better is bringing other people into the game. He leads the AFL for scoreboard impact, a stat that combines goals kicked and scoring assists.
And this is one of the primary changes for Riewoldt and Richmond. Plainly the intent was that Jack not be the predictable ''pea'' for Richmond week in week out, and so he has sacrificed his game at times to push up the ground.
Most obviously this occurred against Brisbane a fortnight ago, when the Lions sent Matt Maguire to him and had only the under-sized Josh Drummond for Ty Vickery. Naturally, Damien Hardwick cleared out the forward line and directed all attack to be funnelled through Vickery. It worked.
Likewise, if Michael Jamison was in the side this week he would have taken Riewoldt and most likely Bret Thornton would have taken Vickery and it would have been expected that the Tigers would have hunted out Vickery more than Riewoldt.
With Jamison out, the sacrifice asked of Riewoldt will also be removed.
In round one, Riewoldt had the young and quick Simon White but he proved too clever for him and Thornton was tried. This week, Riewoldt will probably have Thornton again and possibly Lachie Henderson, who looked better last week when he went behind the ball, will be left in defence for Vickery.
This week Riewoldt will likely be the man again. But will Jack (of 2010) be back?
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