Richmond's Alex Rance says Jack Riewoldt has changed for the betterSam McClure
The Age
26 April 2017Richmond superstar Alex Rance has praised teammate Jack Riewoldt for turning around his behaviour and becoming one of the club's most significant leaders.
A candid Rance has also conceded he initially misjudged his mercurial teammate earlier in his career, admitting his views about Riewoldt were misinformed.
The Tigers spearhead booted six goals in the come-from-behind win against Melbourne in the Anzac Day eve epic.
After being absent for four years, Riewoldt was this year voted back into the leadership group as a co-vice captain along with Rance, with Trent Cotchin remaining skipper.
Rance said while Riewoldt has always been a star performer on the field, it's what he's been able to achieve behind the scenes that has impressed people at Punt Road the most.
"Jack and I have a lot of similarities. We're both very passionate blokes and very outspoken. And we're demonstrative in how we express our emotions," Rance told 3AW.
"There are things he went through over the last few years that I can safely say that I was wrong about.
"A lot of my judgments on his leadership over the past few years [were wrong] and this year he's arguably one of the best leaders at our football club.
"We've got a really strong three now with Jack, Trent and myself, who are trying to steer the ship in the right direction and get the most out of everyone else and Jack's been one of the main drivers towards that and I couldn't be more proud of him."
The "things" that Rance alluded to have been well documented.
In May 2014 Riewoldt was lambasted by his coach for criticising the team's game plan.
He said: "Unfortunately, we went one way with our game, and the game went the other way really. We probably tried to copy Hawthorn a little bit too much with our kicking style."
That resulted in Damien Hardwick hitting back in his media conference later that week.
"We caught up with him this morning and removed his foot from his mouth and my foot from his arse," the coach said.
In the same week, in an extraordinary attempt to avoid a waiting media throng, Riewoldt jumped a construction fence at Punt Road Oval.
But Rance says Riewoldt has made a concerted effort to change, and now everyone is benefiting.
"What he did earlier in his career, he was quite vocal and he probably got himself in a little bit of hot water in the media a few times about speaking his mind a little too much.
"And I probably held onto that for a bit longer for what I should've. I think he grew out of that over the past few years.
"I think it was an important learning curve for him in terms of being part of a whole and sometimes you need to bite your lip and not say exactly what you're thinking."
After his bag of six on Monday night, Riewoldt has 14 for the season and 497 for his career.
"This year and last year especially he's been probably a more well-rounded leader," Rance said.
"He's really turned it around more so from an external perception wise and everyone is seeing the fruits of that now."
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/richmonds-alex-rance-says-jack-riewoldt-has-changed-for-the-better-20170425-gvs22s.html
