Star Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt is a dual Coleman Medallist, a Jack Dyer Medallist, and has kicked 50-goals or more over the past five years.
But the Tigers’ coach Damien Hardwick believes Riewoldt has taken his game to an even higher level in season 2015.
“I think he’s having by far his best season, since I’ve been at the Club anyway,” Hardwick said after Riewoldt’s superb six-goal display in Richmond’s 18-point win against Sydney at the SCG last Friday night.
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“He’s won Colemans (Coleman Medals) in that time, but his consistency of level of performance has grown, his all-round game has improved, and defensively he’s been nothing short of outstanding thus far.
“He’s still got a long way to improve as well from our point of view.
“So, we’re really excited with what he can offer.”
Richmond defender Troy Chaplin has credited Riewoldt’s further improvement this season to an increased running ability, and expanded versatility.
“This is probably the first pre-season where he hasn’t had to have surgery,” Chaplin said on Channel 7’s Game Day program.
“He’s been able to get a full pre-season under his belt, and his fitness levels have improved, as he’s trimmed down.
“He’s been able to get up at the stoppage at times and race his defender back.
“On the weekend, we knew that if we could get the footy into him, that he’d have a mismatch.
“We knew that he was marking the footy, and when you’re in form like that, you’ve just got to isolate those guys and take full advantage.
“To his credit, he’s been playing really good football all year, and he’s probably been one of our most consistent players.”
Hardwick also praised the efforts last Friday night of another tall Tiger forward, Ty Vickery.
Vickery finished the match against the Swans with 16 disposals, eight marks (four of them taken inside-50), and a crucial set-shot goal.
“He was outstanding in the second half, with his ability to take contested marks,” Hardwick said.
“I thought he was really pivotal in us turning the game around.”
