THE early part of Richmond’s 2010 season was as bleak as old boots. It started when Carlton made the Tigers look third-rate in the opening round.

They went on to lose the opening nine games before finally cracking a win against Port Adelaide.

Two weeks later, Richmond played West Coast at the MCG.  Two teams playing ordinary football. Not much expected.

Then Jack Riewoldt, the Tigers’ brash, bouncy, 21-year-old full-forward, kicked five goals in the opening quarter. In the last quarter, he lined up for his 10th.

Richmond fans didn’t quite believe it. This didn’t happen to the Tigers, a club that had played in two finals series in three decades. It happened to other clubs.

And yet here was Riewoldt, the player who everyone knew simply as ‘Jack’, lining up for the increasingly rare feat of a double-figure bag.

On kicking the goal, Riewoldt wheeled into the air. He swung his fist underneath and around and set off a wave of emotion that swept the stands.

Richmond fans clapped and clapped. They couldn’t stop clapping. For the first time in a long while, they were proud.

In that moment, Riewoldt became a Richmond cult figure, the playing face of the club. It would be a wild ride.

Richmond fans love Riewoldt for his displays of pleasure and pain.

He paws at the ground. He flies from four-deep. He yells at his teammates. He celebrates goals by doing little high-steps. He tries scissors kicks. He a clown. He’s a ringmaster.

In round two last year, against St Kilda, Riewoldt was knocked out when he hit his head on the turf after descending from the top of a pack.  It was a Friday night.

Everyone could see he was dizzy. His eyes were rolling around like marbles. And yet he wanted to stay on. He wanted to ignore the medicos and keep playing, so he looked up to the coach’s box and made his feelings known.

On national television, he had a tantrum. His desire to play got the better of him. It was silly, but it was hardly a crime. Long live the passionate ones.

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