Jack flies above stats, says Hardwick

Jack Riewoldt’s aerial strength trumps the stats sheet, with coach Damien Hardwick giving his scoreless spearhead’s semi-final performance a tick.

Coach Damien Hardwick talks to Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt at Tigers training

Richmond says Jack Riewoldt’s aerial strength trumps the stats sheet, with coach Damien Hardwick giving his scoreless spearhead’s semi-final performance a tick.

Riewoldt, 31, warmed up for Friday night’s preliminary final against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval with just four disposals and his first goalless game since round three.

Barring two games where Riewoldt suffered an injury in the first 15 minutes, he has never had fewer disposals in his 281-game career.

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But Hardwick said Riewoldt’s influence went underappreciated by those outside the club as the best team of this year prepares to host the best team of the past four years for a place in the grand final.

“It’s a measure of how we measure his game. The stats sheet will say that he’s quiet, but he didn’t get beaten in any marking contests, he brought the ball to ground really well,” Hardwick said.

“A lot of people won’t see what he does for our side and how he does operate — but we do. That’s why he gets a game for us every week and that’s why he’s one of our most important players.

“Everyone likes to be kicking goals, but the fact of the matter is Jack plays his role and it’s really valuable every week.”

Riewoldt neutralised the three one-on-one marking contests he was involved in against St Kilda.

The Tigers have shed more than 30 staff as they hunt their third premiership in four years.

They are budgeting for COVID-19 to affect the start of next season and expect to be operating at a reduced capacity until 2023.

But they have embraced taking the long road to the final four, wary of how their players would’ve ­handled so much downtime had they won the qualifying final.

The Tigers would’ve entered their preliminary final having played just once in the past 28 days if they earned the week off.

“Our guys have enjoyed the fact we’re consistently playing,” Hardwick said. “I still would’ve loved to have won the first final. (But) we’re not too sorry the way we’ve gone about it.”

They celebrated their 100th day in the hub on Tuesday, whereas Port and Brisbane have enjoyed sleeping in their own beds.

The Tigers recorded season-worst differentials for disposals (-80), contested ball (-43), inside 50s (-31) and points from turnovers (-18) against Port in round 11, while their -18 for clearances was their second-worst result.

But the Tigers have been the AFL’s best learners in their golden run, reversing home-and-away results in big finals against Geelong, GWS and Adelaide in 2017, Geelong in 2019 and St Kilda this year.

The Tigers used metal barriers to mark out Adelaide Oval’s dimensions for training at Metricon on Wednesday, as they did before beating the Crows in round 18.

Hardwick said the territory battle would be critical, given Port’s ground was so easy to defend. Richmond is ranked No 1 for territory this year, with Port ranked No 2.

The Tigers are expected to go in unchanged although Hardwick said five or six players were ready to come in and they would consider bringing back Mabior Chol as a genuine second ruckman.

Defender David Astbury was used to pinch-hit last week, but against 202cm pair Scott Lycett and Peter Ladhams that is unlikely to pay off again.