Jack Riewoldt articles 25/6/09

[one-eyed]

Jack Riewoldt has history with Jade Rawlings
Michael Horan | June 25, 2009 12:40pm

JACK Riewoldt has a unique boast among his teammates - he is the one Tiger who has played alongside new coach Jade Rawlings.

The 20-year-old forward was a 17-year-old hopeful playing for Tassie Mariners in the VFL when Rawlings, in the twilight of his senior career with the then Mariners' affiliate North Melbourne, came back and played a handful of games in the twos.

So it is that Riewoldt and his 31-year-old boss have an established rapport and a healthy regard for each other when it come to footy.

"He rides me a bit harder than some others. We're pretty tight," Riewoldt said before training at Victoria Park today.

"We're pretty close friends. We've got that balance where he can have a stern word to me or give some words of encouragement."

There will be plenty of the latter this Sunday when the Riewoldt's Tigers tackle undefeated St Kilda - captained by cousin Nick - at Etihad Stadium.

It was the equivalent game last season when Jack found himself with the ball in his hands for a shot at goal from 70 metres out after the final siren.

It fell short and Richmond went down by just three points.

"It was just the situation I found myself in. I was a bit far out. We played well that night but unfortunately we didn't come away with the points. Hopefully we can put up the same sort of fight this time," Riewoldt said.

The talented key forward, still just 36 games young, is one of the components of Richmond's youthful, new-look forward set-up that delivered a last start win over West Coast in Rawlings' senior coaching debut.

"We've been developing it for about a year and a half now, ever since that Round 4 game against Freo when (Matthew Richardson) moved up onto the wing," he said.

"Robin Nahas has been down there and he's been lively, he's been a great input. Tommy Hislop as well, who last week played a fantastic game along with Tyrone Vickery. So we've got a lot of young faces down there, Mitch (Morton) is just about the oldest person on the forward line.

"We got a lot of new guys down there, a lot of exuberance and a lot of youth."

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25688356-19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

Jack out to pip Nick
sportsentral.com.au
25-06-2009 1:27 PM

Exciting Richmond key forward Jack Riewoldt will not only be looking to put one over his cousin and champion St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt for the first time when the two teams meet at Etihad Stadium on Sunday night but also bury the ghosts from this same fixture last year.

Riewoldt - who has played just 36 games but is already shaping, along with Mitch Morton, as the long-term successor to long-time Tigers' spearhead Matthew Richardson - found himself in the position all footballers dread when these two teams met last year.

The Tigers had fought gallantly all night against a St Kilda side they have not beaten since 2003 but as the final siren sounded, with the Tigers trailing by three points, Riewoldt marked the ball but faced an almost impossible task to win the game for his team considering he was about 70 metres from goal.

The 20-year-old gave it everything he had but his kick landed about 10 metres short as cousin Nick consoled him after the final siren.

Jack said on Thursday he has put that disappointment behind him and is looking forward to meeting the Saints for the first time since that fateful night.

"It was just the situation I found myself in," he said of his agonising kick after the siren in last year's game.

"I was a fair way out but we played well that night although we didn't come away with the points so hopefully this year we can put up the same effort as last year but this time get a win."

The Saints have won their past 10 matches against Richmond - their best ever winning streak against the Tigers - and few believe that streak will come to a halt this week.

While the Tigers have been revitalised since the departure of coach Terry Wallace - with stand-in coach Jade Rawlings winning his first game in charge against West Coast - St Kilda has enjoyed its best ever start to a season and remains unbeaten after 12 rounds.

And in conceding an average of just 61 points per game this season, the Saints are also on track to produce the best defensive performance ever by a team in a 22-game season.

Riewoldt admits it will be a tough task for the Tigers' young forward line on Sunday night, particularly with Richardson and fellow veteran Nathan Brown still sidelined.

"Mitch (Morton) is the oldest person in the forward line (at just 22) and they (St Kilda) are a great defensive unit so it will be a good challenge for a young group to go out there and try to kick a winning score."

The Tigers managed to do that against the Eagles in their last outing, in Rawlings' first game in charge, as Riewoldt found himself on the receiving end of a blast from the Tigers' new coach at three-quarter time after having missed an easy set shot late in the third term.

But Riewoldt laughed off his first run-in with Rawlings, with the pair actually being quite close considering they played together for Tasmania in the VFL in 2006 when Rawlings was in his last year as a player with North Melbourne while Riewoldt was a teenage hopeful.

"He rides me a bit harder than perhaps what some other people get because we are old team-mates but generally we are pretty tight, having played together in Tassie when I was just 17," Riewoldt said.

"Obviously my goalkicking last round was not up to scratch and I missed that shot before three-quarter time but it (Rawlings' blast) was more reassurance rather than stern words."

http://www.sportsentral.com/pro/main/storyreader.aspx?sid=13051&sr=all

[one-eyed]

Riewoldt mature goals for Tigers
richmondfc.com.au
By Mic Cullen 12:50 PM Thu 25 June, 2009

RICHMOND forward Jack Riewoldt says the young Tigers forward line that he is a key part of is coming along well.

The Tigers play St Kilda at Docklands on Sunday evening, which means not only does Jack face superstar cousin Nick, but the Tigers come face-to-face with the league's stingiest defence.

The Saints have given up just 728 points over their 12 games so far, nearly one hundred better than joint ladder-leader Geelong and two hundred better than the third-ranked Collingwood.

When you're only 12th for points scored, as Richmond is, the challenge is clear, and Riewoldt said the group was keen to take it on.

"They're a great defensive unit, the statistics show you how well they defend together," he said before training at Victoria Park on Thursday.

"It's obviously a good challenge for a young forward line group to go out there and hopefully try and win a game for us and kick a score.

"The eight guys that go through there on the forward line are really looking forward to it."

Riewoldt, who has kicked 13.10 from his 10 games this season, said the attacking set-up was coming along.

"We've probably been developing for about a year-and-a-half now, even since that Fremantle game in round four last year when Richo (Matthew Richardson) moved up to the wing.

"We've got a few new faces down there – Robin Nahas is down there and he's been lively and has had a great input, Tommy Hislop last week played a fantastic game, along with young Tyrone Vickery.

"We've got a lot of young faces down there, and Mitch (Morton) is almost the oldest person in the forward line, so we've got a lot of new guys down there, a lot of exuberance, a lot of youth.

"We're just trying to do our job best for the team – put on defensive pressure and hopefully kick a winning score."

The 20-year-old said he probably wouldn't be talking to his cousin in the next few days, and football isn't usually topic of conversation between the two anyway.

"Not this week, I wouldn't talk to him – generally when we do talk, we don't talk about footy, it's more just seeing how each other is," he said.

"If he picks up something in my game that I can fix he generally lets me know, so he's a great help like that, but I suppose in a week like this we'll just go our separate ways and have a chat after the game."

http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/6301/newsid/79357/default.aspx

[jezza]

The 20-year-old forward was a 17-year-old hopeful playing for Tassie Mariners in the VFL when Rawlings, in the twilight of his senior career with the then Mariners' affiliate North Melbourne, came back and played a handful of games in the twos.

Devils.