Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was pleased to see star forward Jack Riewoldt gain some valuable game time in last Friday’s practice match against Essendon at Punt Road Oval at the ME Bank Centre.

It was the first competitive hit-out of 2014 for Riewoldt, who had been sidelined with quadricep tightness.

 “He probably looked a little bit rusty, but he finished with 2.2 and he set up a couple of goals as well,” Hardwick said.

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“He’s a clever player . . . you can see that he’s going to get better for that game and, obviously, through training next week.

“When he gets his hands on the ball, generally, good things happen.

“Look, he needed the hit-out, but he got through unscathed, which is a great step forward for us.”

Riewoldt has been the Tigers’ leading goalkicker, with 50 goals-plus, over the past four seasons, and he’s twice won the competition’s Coleman Medal.