In his video message to Club members this week, Hardwick defended the reigning Coleman Medallist’s output so far in the 2011 season . . .
“A lot’s been made of Jack Riewoldt and his form this year, but from our point of view, Jack has to kick less goals for us to get better, if that makes any sense,” Hardwick said.
“I think he’s kicked about six or seven goals less than this time last year. But what’s happened is by him becoming less of a focal point, it’s actually helped with the development of Tyrone Vickery. He’s kicked about 25 goals this year and Dustin Martin’s kicked 20, as has Jake King.
“So, the funny thing about it is, although people will see Jack’s performance as down, for us to improve as a side, that had to happen . . . it has been very important to us.
“The real positive for us, though, is Jack’s goal assists are through the roof. I think this time last year he had eight . . . he’s got 20 this year.
“People say his scoreboard impact has gone down, but from an overall point of view, it’s a lot better than this time last year.
“Look, he’s got a lot of work to go in a number of areas of his game. Defensively, he’s a little bit down this year, but we hope that will improve over the course of the next three to four weeks . . . We’re sure he’ll bounce back.”
It’s interesting to note that after Richmond had played 13 games last season, the Riewoldt/Vickery combination had scored 51 goals between them (Riewoldt 48 and Vickery 3).
This season, after 13 Richmond games, the Riewoldt/Vickery combination totals 66 goals (Riewoldt 41 and Vickery 25).
They have combined for more goals than any other tall forward duo in the competition to this stage of the season, ahead of Hawthorn’s Franklin and Roughead (58 goals), Collingwood’s Cloke and Dawes (56 goals), and West Coast’s Kennedy and Lynch (54 goals).
