Although triple Richmond premiership star key forward Jack Riewoldt is about to enter his 15th season of AFL football, aged 32, and in the final year of a contract at the Club, he believes the finish line for him is still a fair way away.
If Riewoldt’s form in the Tigers’ recent pre-season hit-outs against Melbourne and Collingwood is any indication, that would certainly seem a reasonable assessment of his future at the game’s highest level.
“I feel like I’ve got heaps to offer on-field. I feel mentally really, really refreshed and in a great position,” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 program.
“I was under the microscope a lot last year, as you probably are when a lot of the football media is here in Melbourne and they’re looking through basically a microscope at every part of the game, and everyone in the game up in a hub . . .
“I still performed well last year in games and played my role.”
Riewoldt outlined the significant change that has taken place in his on-field role with the Tigers during the past couple of years.
“It’s completely different. I like to think that I’m probably an extension of the coaching arm, and a pretty strong one. I know the way we play and feel like I can read the play pretty well in terms of what we need to do to change things up,” he said.
“We’re very lucky that we’ve got some players in the back half, probably Dylan Grimes and Dave Astbury, that can do that, Trent (Cotchin), Shane Edwards in the middle, and myself, Dusty and ‘Lynchy’ (Tom Lynch) up forward, that can read the play, and we are an extension of the coach.
“I think, also, the fact that you bring another key forward into the football club, you just don’t get as many looks (at shooting for goal). That’s plain and simple.
“You get better as a team, and you grow as a group, but you don’t get as many looks as when you’re the only bloke down there.”
