Both hail from Tasmania, both of their surnames end with the letter ‘R’, and of course both of them are incredibly talented goal kickers.
Unfortunately though, now we can add the stat of ‘flipping the bird’ during a game as another similarity.
It was hard to work out what was going through Riewoldt’s head at times last week. There were times where he would become frustrated, which lead to a few sprays towards his teammates for not delivering the ball as he wanted. This behaviour from Jack is no doubt detrimental to the team, and something that will have to be curtailed if he is to become the best player he can be.
However, while he didn’t kick his usual bag of goals, he was doing plenty up forward in helping set up his teammates which was fantastic to see. Even when he is having a bad game on the scoreboard, he still finds a way to contribute to the side.
After the last two weeks Jack has come under some scrutiny for the way he has acted both on the bench and on the field, but the last thing you would want to do is kill off his passion and enthusiasm for the Richmond Football Club and AFL football.
I would say those characteristics are what drive him as a footballer, so the key I think for him is to find the right balance between playing with passion and not crossing the line when it comes to ripping into his teammates.
Despite last week’s flogging by Hawthorn in the wet, I felt the scoreboard flattered the Hawks. Don’t get me wrong we didn’t play well by any stretch of the imagination, but I felt the contest itself was much tighter than what the end margin suggested.
As Hardwick said in his post-match press conference, the Tigers had just as many inside 50’s, clearances and turnovers as their Hawk opponents, so clearly on the night all that was missing was a touch of efficiency from Richmond to make it a tighter contest.
It was good to see Nathan Foley finally work his way into some form. After two years of debilitating injuries and a false start round 1 due to gastro, Foley had a breakout game against Hawthorn, picking up 24 disposals and looking like the Nathan Foley that almost clinched a Best and Fairest award a few seasons ago.
Trent Cotchin also continued his run of good form, which is what his game has lacked since his debut in 2008. The fact that Trent is performing so well against top teams like Hawthorn, St.Kilda and Carlton only makes it more exciting for Richmond fans, as he certainly hasn’t looked out of his depth against the best.
This week the boys have the unenviable task of facing Collingwood, who early on are showing every sign that they may well achieve back-to-back premierships this season. But rather than Richmond supporters being fearful of what might occur tonight against the reigning premiers, I think we should instead be excited to see how our young talent stacks up against the best side in the competition.
I’m intrigued at how our young midfield brigade in Cotchin, Martin, Grigg and co. fares against the likes of Swan, Pendlebury, Ball and Thomas. I also have a hunch that first year player Reece Conca may get the job on Alan Didak when he goes forward, which would be another invaluable experience playing on one of the best in the competition.
Then we have young key defenders in Grimes, Astbury and Thursfield taking on Magpies premiership forwards, Cloke, Dawes and Brown. It will be fascinating to see how those duels play out across the night, and a fantastic chance for all these guys to learn from the best in the business.
So if you’re still tossing up whether to get down to the MCG tonight or not, please get down there. While the odds are heavily stacked against us, you might see a player or two stand up and establish themselves against the best team in the competition, and stamp their name as a player of the future.
Go Tiges!
