Jack Riewoldt retirement: Mark Robinson on Richmond’s legendary goalkicker
Jack Riewoldt will be long be remembered as a Richmond great. MARK ROBINSON charts the highs and lows of one of footy’s greatest goalkickers.
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That there’s a debate about who was the better Riewoldt — Jack or Nick — is testament to the staggering achievements of the younger, rascalish cousin.
Nick was a champion Saint, fiercely determined who seemingly played football in a businesslike manner, rarely smiling, a job more than a fun sporting pursuit.
Jack was a champion Tiger, also fiercely determined, but he played with a playful attitude, a player who understood and lapped up the essence of entertainment.
Nick played 336 games, took 2944 marks and kicked 718.455.
Jack has played 346 games, taken 1827 marks and kicked 786.477.
That’s 1000 extra marks for Nick and roughly 70 more goals for Jack.
They were different players. Nick galloped around the ground like a thoroughbred, while Jack patrolled the 30m stretch in front of the goalsquare.
Both were courageous in the air, scarily so, and Jack once playfully asked whose mark was better — Nick’s mark running with the flight against the Swans at the SCG or his running mark against Adelaide on the Gold Coast.
Sorry, Jack, but Nick wins that one.
Arguably, Nick was the better footballer, but Jack had the better career.
Three flags does that to a CV.
Hundreds of stories will be told about Jack — on and off the field — because he was a great player and a people’s footballer. He was relatable. He had flaws early in his career, a selfishness which comes with being a great talent, but those flaws made him more the regular guy.
Who else would jump on stage and belt out Mr Brightside, which people believe was a spur of the moment decision but in fact was planned in the days before the game. He was always an entertainer.
His Richmond story is an integral part of the mighty triumvirate of Hardwick, Cotchin and Riewoldt.
They leave a legacy about what is possible when a team finds selflessness in an environment where one can be seduced by selfishness.
Not sure Jack agreed with the coach when, in 2011, he said “Jack has to kick less goals for us to get better, if that makes any sense,”
It didn’t at the time, and it was a work in progress for the team and inside Jack’s head, for several seasons.
Continued failure on elimination final weekend frustrated him. He wasn’t happy at Richmond and, at the end of 2016, he contemplated seeking a trade.
At that time, Jordan Lewis was booted from Hawthorn, and for a couple weeks there, the two of them would catch up pre-show in the kitchen at Fox Footy and discuss the pros and cons on leaving the Tigers.
Our third all-time leading goalkicker, triple premiership hero, three-time All Australian, three-time Coleman Medallist, and dual Jack Dyer Medallist.
— Richmond FC 🯠(@Richmond_FC) August 15, 2023
The one and only, @JackRiewoldt08 🌟 pic.twitter.com/WyFv32g6LG
Lewis listened more than gave advice.
Jack stayed a Tiger and, led by Hardwick and Cotchin, the Tigers juggernaut was up and running.
Their success on the field was driven by three words off it — hardship, hero and highlight.
Jack at his press conference called it Richmond’s “super power”.
In 2017, every player and coach would stand in front of the group and pour out their deepest secrets. Players, some in tears, would speak of family heartbreak and/or inspiration. Jack spoke about Nick. He was his hero.
The emotional investment underpinned the premiership success.
Jack grew as a person and player. And he had to.
He was buffoon at times. He once publicly questioned the Tigers game plan, which annoyed the coach, and who could ever forget his attempted great escape from the media when he jumped the Punt Rd fence, hid behind cars and scrambled to buy a Myki ticket?
Then there was the fight he had with teammate Alex Rance at a Mad Monday drink at the Cricketers Arm in Richmond. The two big dogs needled each other to the point where punches were thrown. “Yeah, he clocked me, not hard, but he clocked me,’’ Rance said later. “I deserved it.’’
The pair would forge a great friendship and some Tigers people say that if those two didn’t grow up and stop being the halfwits they were, the 2017 premiership might not have been won.
Jack matured to be a wonderful statesman for the Tigers and for the game.
His honesty on AFL360 won people over.
For a superstar player, he was grounded. For sure, he had a very healthy ego, but no one said more hellos to the people at Fox Footy when he arrived than Jack. His enthusiasm to engage lit up the conversation.
He understood the importance of the media.
On the night of the 2018 preliminary final, which the Tigers spectacularly lost to the Magpies, Jack allowed me to drive to the game with him and his wife Carly. It was to be a mindset piece to run the following weekend on grand final day about how he starts to prepare himself spiritually and emotionally for a cutthroat final.
When the car hit the top of Punt Rd, Jack played one his favourite songs, Paul Kelly’s Leaps and Bounds.
As hundreds of Tigers fans streamed towards the ground on the footpath, Jack and Carly were belting out the song inside the car. “I’m high on the hill, looking over the bridge to the MCG. And way up on high, the clock on the silo, says eleven degrees.’’
That high was soon lost to the devastation of defeat. The piece never saw the light of the day.
Jack leaves the game a much-loved and respected figure. People rang talkback radio on Tuesday with more stories about him off-field than on it and that says plenty about the person he is.
He was a player who eventually embraced the team-first mantra. He will always be remembered as the tall amid the smalls — and Jacob Townsend — who formed Richmond’s forward line in 2017.
He was crafty and sharing of the ball, could spring sharply to take hangers and when the moons aligned was a beautiful kick. He held the ball with the right hand high and the left hand low and cradling.
His run up was effortless.
But he was always Jumping Jack, the ultimate headliner.
And, from now, he’ll always be a Richmond legend.
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