Star Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt has spoken of the influence Mark ‘Choco’ Williams is continuing to exert in his key player development role with the Tigers.

Riewoldt said the highly-successful senior league coach had provided the Club with a significant boost in this important area since arriving at Tigerland in late 2012.

“He’s been fantastic for our football club and fantastic for the development of our young kids,” Riewoldt told Triple M in the rooms after Sunday’s win against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

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“You’ve only got to look at the side we put out tonight . . .  we’ve got three first-year players there (Kamdyn McIntosh, Corey Ellis and Connor Menadue), and we had Liam McBean play last week, who was unlucky to be dropped.  You look at the young kids that are coming through for our footy club, and he’s certainly helping in their development and putting our youngsters on the right track.

Riewoldt also pointed to the valuable roles being performed by several young players in the team’s backline.

“Obviously Alex (Rance) and Troy (Chaplin) are certainly our leaders down there, but you’ve got to look at the next tier of players – Dylan Grimes, Nick Vlastuin, Jake Batchelor – these sort of guys that are really steadfast.  They’ve plied their trade in the VFL over in Victoria, and now are playing some pretty good footy at AFL level,” Riewoldt said.

“They’ve really developed a great bond down there, and it’s really important for a back six to have that sort of bond . . .

“Certainly, those young kids, who have come through Choco’s system, are certainly starting to flourish.”