Acclaimed bestselling author and Good Weekend magazine writer Konrad Marshall, who has written the book(s) on Richmond's recent history, returns to richmondfc.com.au this week for a five-part series celebrating Jack Riewoldt's 300-game milestone.

Today Konrad continues with Jack according to three of the competition's supreme key defenders who have competed directly against the Tiger spearhead throughout his career so far - Ted Richards, Daniel Talia and Lachie Henderson...

Ted Richards is nearly six years older than Jack Riewoldt, and started playing well before him, yet it would be wrong to think that when the pair first lined up against one another, that Richards was the seasoned professional compared to a wet-behind-the-ears newbie. “I didn’t have the start to my career that Jack had,” Richards says. “He hit the scene early, broke his way into the senior lineup, and there he stayed. It wasn’t like that for me.”

In essence, when the pair finally began facing off against one another regularly, in the early 2010s, they practically stood on level footing - Riewoldt by then a young Coleman medallist and Richards as a premiership winning defender. There was no deference on either behalf, says Richards - they met as equals.

“I remember the cameras were already picking him up yapping to the umpire. Always yelling, complaining, showing his frustrations, wearing his passion. But what stood out to me beyond that is that he’s a talker,” Richards says. “And he’s not the talker in what people assume - trash talking, although he very well may do a bit of that - but more having a conversation. That’s a facet of the game that is leaving footy, but I can remember playing on him one year, and it was like he’d gone through my Instagram account before the game.”

Richards guesses it was around 2013, during a period in which he had recently posted a few recipes from Hello Fresh - a food box and meal kit service. He suspects this because Riewoldt - apropos of nothing - started talking to him about how good these meals were. Riewoldt subscribed to the same service, apparently, and loved all their offerings - but he hadn’t realised Richards was an ambassador for the company.

“I’m just loving the fact that he’s distracted by this,” says Richards, laughing at the memory. “But I can remember I made the comment to him that ‘I don’t actually pay for those - I get them for free’, which I think frustrated him, because he obviously was paying for them. And he proceeded then to go and kick some goals on me. And I really thought it had to do a lot with this comical little endorsement that I wasn’t paying for, that had annoyed him.” 

Richards remembers it to this day as one of the oddest interactions he has had on a football field. “That’s not just a peculiar conversation out of the conversations I had with Jack,” he says. “That’s a peculiar conversation from the course of my entire career.”

The Adelaide Crows full-back Daniel Talia says that Riewoldt’s mouth stood out to him immediately, too. Talia was only 19, in just his fourth game, when he played on the flamboyant full-forward at the old West Lakes Stadium. Ben Rutten, once a Richmond assistant coach and now Essendon’s senior coach, was Talia’s veteran teammate.

“But 'Truck' was getting to the end of his career, and starting to slow a bit, and Jack kicked four on him in the first quarter, and we had to quickly make the switch,” says Talia. “I’d idolised what Jack had been able to do in his footy before I got to line up on him - he can just beat you in every which way possible - but he was actually laughing at me when I first lined up on him. I was actually able to negate him and stop him in that moment, but you had to give him instant recognition and attention - I’ve seen what happens when you don’t. If you’re not at 100 percent he can kick three goals in five minutes. And turn the contest quickly.”

“Either way,” Talia continues, “he’s definitely vocal. Lining up on you, he’s always the one barking and giving lip to our players, and talking to his own players about where they need to be. He’s tried to have a few chats with me on the field, but I don’t like talking to my opponent - I like to get the job done. But he sounds like a ripping bloke. You can see why he’s popular. You see that emotion in the way he plays. And that passion he has for the club. He’s been their mainstay. He’s really earned congratulations for what he’s done.”

Lachie Henderson, the tall defender for Brisbane, Carlton and now Geelong, saw that same passion up close, and also the way it maligned Riewoldt in the minds of many. “Early on, he was portrayed in the wrong way,” says Henderson. “I probably judged him that way too, until I met him and understood what a ripper he is. He’s been a leader down there at Tigerland for years now. It’s honestly fun playing against Jack, and it’s good to watch someone so passionate who knows the game so well reach such a milestone.”

Henderson can vouch for Richards and Talia about Riewoldt’s need to have a convivial chat on the ground. They do it all the time, in fact whenever they do battle. “We talk about everything. We’ve had games where we talked about golf. In the Grand Final last year we were talking about how the game started so strangely, with concussion and injuries. We both commentate the game as we go, too: how the play is unfolding, how that should have been a free kick, or where he beat me, or I beat him, or that great thing that just happened up the field. We talk a bit of smack but never really against each other. Honestly, we have a bit of a laugh.”

Henderson rates Riewoldt incredibly highly. In a statement of no feint praise, Henderson says that in his 13 seasons playing top flight AFL, there is a clear “top three” forwards he has played against. Lance Franklin is one of them, he says, “for obvious reasons”. Josh Kennedy is there, too. “JK can do everything really well. One-on-one he’s elite, he has a tank that can run all day, his leading patterns are perfect, and he’s massive - much bigger than the other two.”

How does Jack make the cut on this list of luminaries? “There’s two main things. One is that he’s smart. He’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever played on. I’d like to think I’m reasonably clever on the field, but he’s got me covered, just the way he reads the game, is aware of his surroundings, and the little things he does with his body.”

“He just makes you wary of what he can do at any moment,” Henderson says. “He tackles and puts pressure on, plays one-on-one, flys for marks, kicks well, knows his teammates so well. You know the way Richmond tap the ball on? He does it the best. With Jack you have to worry about not one thing - but everything.”

Richards agrees, and points out the hard work he sees in the style of football Riewoldt calls his own. “He’s a real competitor. There were periods of my career where Richmond weren’t the team they are right now, and the Swans were in a period of success, but even though we were up and playing well it didn’t mean that Jack would give in. As a key forward, it must be mentally draining - working hard for an opportunity that never comes. But to Jack’s credit, when Richmond weren’t the team they are right now, he really fought it out every time, searching for that next contest, that next goal.”

Richards was one of those AFL players who used to study his opponents in advance, watching a lot of vision, and he found Riewoldt a confounding topic to study before a game, because he could take the sneaky big pack marks but also out-hustle you with dedicated running. “It’s normally one or the other with people. They’re a leading forward - running up and down, up and down - or they take the big grab,” says Richards. “I remember sometimes trailing Jack into contests and watching him rise up into a pack, and just crossing my fingers like, ‘There is nothing I can do now but hope he drops it’.” 

This versatility puts opponents in two minds. It forces them to choose. “I can remember just being nervous. When there’s a pack forming, and there’s numbers and congestion, you can usually almost have a breather, because you’re not one out with your man. But Jack has an ability to stand on shoulders, and recognise opportunities, so if you give him a run up he’ll take it. You basically had to work hard to stop him taking chances that most other forwards can’t.” 

I wonder what his best advice might be to a young back looking to take on the wizened tall target, in the latter stages of his career? “Concentrate,” says Richards. “It’s abnormal advice, but if you just give him a little bit, he’ll take it. If at any stage you’re lazy, you’re not prepared, you’re not thinking about how he’ll get the next goal, he will get the next goal.”

Talia says whenever the Crows are facing the Tigers, the opposition analysis all points to Riewoldt as the focal point. “He’s just a barometer for Richmond. Long before they were winning flags he was that lone key forward. He was one who would be battling one against two, and I don’t think he gets enough recognition for the way he battles to get the ball to ground, to give the smalls a chance to get their game going.”

He does get recognised for this inside Richmond, however. I’ve watched match review sessions at Punt Road as the coaches highlight not the diving clutch marks he takes or the soaring speckies, but his desperate attempts to fight through several defenders in order to spoil - to extend that one lone fingertip to prevent an intercept mark. In recent years, Richmond has conceded the fewest intercept marks inside its forward 50 of any team, which is stunning given they almost never play with more than two talls in attack. It comes down to nullifying defensive marking attempts. Riewoldt and Tom Lynch are among the top 10 players in the league at this skill. And it is a skill. 

“That’s an underrated stat. I’m sure he’s really proud of that,” says Talia. “He just takes pride in knowing his role and playing it for the team. When Richmond surge and kick long down the line, they can only do that with confidence that the ball is going to come to ground and hit the deck.”

It’s Talia’s turn now, to reveal how he prepares for Riewoldt. He wants to keep his cards close - there are a few battles left yet between them, of course - but there are guiding principles, or maybe worries, he can reveal. 

“If you play in front, you know he’ll sit on your head. If you play behind, he’ll time his separation and get you on that tick lead,” Talia says. “He can play up the ground or deep - or on a wing if he needs. And if you’re on top of him, he’ll just change where he plays. He can mark it, gather on the ground, and kick on both sides of the body. Most forwards have got one way they can beat you - he’s got every facet.”

Talia would know. He’s been beaten by Riewoldt more than a few times on the MCG. “I remember once when I was young, and we almost won the game, but Jack kicked three on me and turned the game on its head,” he says. “Then there was the 2017 Grand Final, and in that first quarter he kicked a few points but he was really just on, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. That’s a big game - they don’t come any bigger - to stand up for your team and deliver.”

Henderson has played on Riewoldt enough over the years to back himself in and hope for the best, but it’s still not always enough. “I’m a very negative footballer - I always seem to think he beats me,” he says, laughing ruefully. “We’ve had some good duels, but even the times I’ve thought I’ve beaten him, I look at the stats and somehow he’s kicked three or four. And that rattles me.”

His advice to others?

“I’d actually say ‘Have fun, and learn’. As much as he plays with intensity, he enjoys football. I feel like he plays the game for the right reasons. A young defender coming up could learn so many lessons from a guy like Jack.”