Richmond star Jack Riewoldt has evolved into one of the club’s great leaders
Richmond vice-captain Jack Riewoldt’s leadership qualities continue to grow and young Tiger forwards are reaping the rewards. Find out which Tiger cubs are benefitting.
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Richmond vice-captain Jack Riewoldt wants to use the twilight years of his AFL career to tutor the club’s next generation so the Tigers carry on the premiership dynasty they are building.
The Tigers’ fourth-highest goalkicker of all time – Riewoldt (634 goals) sits behind only Kevin Bartlett (778), Matthew Richardson (800) and Jack Titus (970) – is already contracted for 2021.
But forwards coach Craig McRae told the Herald Sun there was plenty of good football left in the three-time All-Australian.
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“Jack’s great strength over the last three years is his leadership, which has gone to a new level,” said McRae, who graduated from being Richmond’s VFL coach to AFL forwards coach in 2020.
“That being his willingness to step outside himself and make others better. That’s something you’ll see from Jack and hopefully not just this year, but for a few years to come as well.
“He has openly said that’s something he wants to do, to leave a legacy for others, and I think his fulfilment is not so much how much he’s achieving, it’s more how much the team is achieving.”
Riewoldt, 31, arrived from Tasmania in 2006 a touch on the immature side, but has grown into one of the game’s most respected voices.
The three-time Coleman medallist will captain the Tigers whenever Trent Cotchin is unavailable this year after being named as the skipper’s sole companion in the leadership group.
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“You come to our forwards meeting and he’s an active voice and you watch him on the ground and Jack at his best is setting others up, whether it’s structural or even just on the bench,” McRae said.
“He’s actively living that daily. It’s really easy for me to come into a role when you have such great leadership from Jack and others.”
Young forwards including Callum Coleman-Jones, 20, and Shai Bolton, 21, are among those benefiting from Riewoldt’s growth.
McRae said the chemistry between Riewoldt and Tom Lynch — they played their 14th game together in Round 1 — had improved with every training session over the summer.
