Star Richmond key forward Jack Riewoldt has conveyed the close rapport he’s developed with talented, young trio Daniel Rioli, Dan Butler and Jason Castagna in the Tigers’ attack.

While Riewoldt clearly was best afield in Richmond’s fighting 13-point victory over Melbourne at the MCG last night, with six inspirational goals in a low-scoring encounter, he was keen post-match to pay tribute to his small forward teammates, who again were valuable contributors for the Tigers.

Rioli had 11 disposals, including nine contested possessions, seven score involvements, 28 pressure acts, four tackles, and kicked a goal.

Butler had 12 disposals, five score involvements, 20 pressure acts, six tackles, and kicked a goal.

Castagna had 11 disposals, three score involvements, 16 pressure acts, four tackles, and also kicked one goal.

“I’ve grown really close with those younger guys. There’s a fair age gap between me and them, but we’ve turned into a little family down there and we’re really enjoying playing with each other,” Riewoldt told 3AW.

“Their pressure is one thing that lets me play my game a little bit more. And we all feed off each other with our mental game as well . . .

“They’re great characters, they work their butts off, and I just really love playing with them, and love celebrating with them as well.

“I really cannot speak highly enough of those three, young kids.

“They obviously haven’t played a lot of games between them and they’re very tender in age, but they’re playing well above their years at the moment . . .

“We were in a bad spot there as a little group at three-quarter time. We sat down, took a couple of deep breaths together, and had a pretty heart-to-heart conversation on what we thought would be the thing that could get us over the line – just about our strengths – and we were able to get it done.”

Riewoldt underlined the importance of the speedy, skilful, small forwards in the Tigers’ line-up.

“The game’s just starting to shift that way . . . We need those small forwards, and we need to put pressure on,” he said.

“It’s something we were poor at last year, and those three kids have got it in spades.

“It may not be a chase-down tackle, although they’re certainly excellent at that . . . it’s their ability to put on that referred pressure.

“What it does is it starts to bear down on the opposition.

“They start to second guess whether they are there, or if they’re not there.”