Jack Riewoldt back in the box * Mark Stevens
* From: Herald Sun
* June 04, 2010JACK Riewoldt barely sees big cousin Nick through the season and saves footy chat until over Christmas pudding.
But every now and then, text messages are exchanged during the season.
"Nick texted me the other night to say I was going well and he was pretty proud of me," Riewoldt said this week.
And if ever there was some time for some SMS family love, this is it.
Riewoldt has kicked 29 goals in the worst team in the competition, surging into Coleman Medal contention with 14 goals in the past three weeks.
He has more goals to his name than both Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola at the same age.
At 21 years and seven months, Riewoldt has already racked up 86. Fevola had 66 at the same age and Brown just 47.
The freakish Lance Franklin had a whopping 223 by the same time, but Riewoldt's coach Damien Hardwick was brave enough after his charge's six-goal Round 9 haul against Essendon to compare him to "Buddy".
It has made Riewoldt hot property, but despite the perception he likes being centre stage, the emerging Richmond superstar is not comfortable with the media focus.
The Herald Sun first requested an interview with Riewoldt three weeks ago and was politely told: "He wants to get a couple more good games under his belt."
Two great games later, Riewoldt relented - but passed on the offer of posing for a portrait photo.
Riewoldt has heard the talk that he is cocky and brash, and starts the interview by saying he is intent on keeping the lid on to help change the public's perception.
"We're not travelling that well," Riewoldt said.
"We've got a lot of young guys who are just trying to keep a low profile and get the job done every week.
"I'm far from happy with what I've achieved and Richmond is far from happy with what we've achieved this year, as well. That's got a lot to do with why I don't do a lot of media."
Riewoldt is also quick to play down his goalkicking feats, pointing to the extra opportunities coming his way.
"It would be silly to suggest I haven't had the ball kicked to me more this year,' Riewoldt said.
"Losing a guy like Matthew Richardson, and with Mitch Morton struggling a bit, even though he had good form on the weekend, I've had it kicked to me a lot.
"The more opportunities I'm getting are hopefully helping me out on the scoreboard and helping the team out as well."
But once the straight-bat team talk is out of the way, Riewoldt is a candid interview subject.
Riewoldt is embarrassed by some of his goal celebrations in past years and, with the strong encouragement of Hardwick, has decided to pull his head in and start sharing the love more with others.
"Damien coming along has probably stamped a little bit more authority on what I do with the goal celebrations and stuff like that," Riewoldt said.
"The big thing is, I've just had a focus this year on wanting to improve myself as a leader.
"That was one way I thought I could improve, by having more output towards the other guys when I kick a goal.
"Realistically, I'm the one finishing off the actions from what the guys are doing up the field.
"I'm still a bubbly character and still a very out-there guy on the training track, but I think I've matured as a person on game day and being able to help and involve others ... so it makes others feel good about what they're doing."
Riewoldt has been working on maintaining his positive body language as well after TV cameras caught him being less than attentive in the rooms at Subiaco Oval in Round 5 as assistant coach Danny Daly drilled the forwards.
"Inside the club, it was dealt with quickly," he said. "Damien and Danny both said they were not happy with it, but they said they were happy with where I was in the forward line and where my attitude is to all of our staff.
"I need to have a bit of responsibility for what that was, but I felt a little hard done by.
"That just comes back to that perception thing. You can take any bit of footage out of an AFL change room and blow it up into anything you want.
"Someone had something to say about it and it blew up into something a bit bigger than what I thought it should have been. I've got the utmost respect for Danny Daly as a coach, him as a football brain and him as a person."
Riewoldt is not in the official leadership group at Punt Rd, but is unofficial leader of the forward line.
Hardwick has given him license to help instruct the inexperienced players surrounding him, suggesting tuning out during Daly's forward addresses was not a regular occurrence.
Riewoldt has also worked closely with another assistant coach, Justin Leppitsch, who spent hours over summer working on his contested marking.
"At under-18 level I was a pretty good contested mark," Riewoldt said.
"With Dimma's (Hardwick's) new game plan and what he wants to do, contested marking is something I need to work on.
"It's something that probably dropped off when I got to AFL level.
"I needed to do a fair bit of work. Justin Leppitsch probably helped me out the most over the pre-season with body positioning and stuff like that," Riewoldt said.
"If I don't mark it, I can create spillage for smaller guys like Robin Nahas and Ben Nason."
Extra time in the gym over summer with new weights coach Adam Douglas, recruited from under-18 club Northern Knights, has also been a factor in Riewoldt blossoming into one of the best exponents of the contested mark.
"We were lucky enough to get a new weights specialist coach ... he's gone out of his way to really help us key position players," Riewoldt said.
"I've become a stronger body type. I'm probably not lifting more weights, it's just I've developed a bit more than what I have in previous years.
"I've just noticed core-wise and through the legs (some) extra stability, which helps me match it with bigger-bodied defenders."
Riewoldt also puts his improvement down to natural progression and the predictability of Hardwick's game plan.
"In the past, I spent a lot of time at centre half-forward and in that area, playing to different sorts of leading patterns," Riewoldt said.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jack-riewoldt-back-in-the-box/story-e6frf9jf-1225875216597
