Riewoldt claims Coleman as Port rescues draw

Updated September 03, 2012 13:54:01

Jack Riewoldt won his second Coleman Medal as the AFL's leading goalkicker, but the party was spoiled as Richmond let a late lead slip away in a thrilling draw with Port Adelaide at the MCG on Sunday evening.

Port Adelaide led by as much as three goals in the third quarter before the Tigers rebounded to go two goals clear deep in the final term.

But a Power behind 20 seconds from the final siren left the scoreline at 16.10 (106) apiece.

Port Adelaide's Brad Ebert told Grandstand that despite the team's comeback the result was a disappointing one.

"It (the draw) is still a bit of a hollow feeling," Ebert said after the match.

"It's better than losing, that's one way to look at it.

"We haven't won in a while, so it's good to finish the season off and hopefully get some things working over preseason and we'll be all right next year."

With only pride at stake for both sides, attention focused on Riewoldt, who started the match three goals behind joint leaders Matthew Pavlich of Fremantle and Tom Hawkins of Geelong (62 goals for the season).

Riewoldt - who won the Coleman Medal in 2010 - was hit and miss early, with two goals to half-time.

He scored his third in the third quarter to draw level with Pavlich and Hawkins, then kicked three more before the end to finish with six for the day and 65 for the season.

Richmond appeared to have the stronger legs in the dying stages, but goals to David Rodan and Aaron Young left open the possibility of a tremendous win for the visitors.

Port Adelaide swept forward in search of the winner, but captain Dom Cassisi's hurried shot bounced just inside the behind post to ensure the AFL had its first draw of the season in the penultimate game of the minor premiership.

Ebert told Grandstand that the pressure the Power mounted on the Tigers late in the game was a good memory to take into next season.

"The last few weeks we've been questioned about our fitness and those sort of things," Ebert said.

"To pull out a four-quarter effort, and in the last five minutes to be able to kick those couple of goals to get back into it, that's at least a positive to take out of it."

The draw means that Port Adelaide finishes the season in 14th spot, while the Tigers end 2012 in 12th position.

Richmond: 16.10 (106) - Riewoldt 6, Edwards 3, McGuane 2, Nahas, Tuck, Astbury, Post, Grigg

Port Adelaide: 16.10 (106) - Schulz 4, Brad Ebert 3, Broadbent 2, Brett Ebert 2, Thomas, Pearce, Wingard, Rodan, Young

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, melbourne-3000, vic, adelaide-5000, sa, australia

First posted September 02, 2012 18:24:32

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Tigers name Riewoldt to face Giants

Updated June 14, 2012 20:57:35

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has praised forward Jack Riewoldt's dedication after going without sleep to give himself every chance of playing against Greater Western Sydney on Saturday.

Riewoldt has been named in the Tigers' squad for the match at Sydney's Olympic Park despite an ankle injury sustained last weekend against Fremantle.

He strapped up the ankle and kept playing, though his impact was limited and he looked at long odds to take on the Giants.

But Hardwick says Riewoldt is an almost certain starter as a result of getting up during the night for several days this week to keep icing his ankle.

"We're very, very confident he'll play, which is a great credit to Jack and the work he's put in to get himself available for this game," Hardwick said.

"It's been a great lesson for our younger players - how much you put into it.

"He's been sleeping about three hours on and off and icing it every three hours."

But the Tigers will be without first-year revelation Steven Morris (shoulder), with Daniel Connors selected for his first senior match of the season as the defender's replacement.

Forward Ty Vickery has also been left out, the Tigers saying he has a leg injury.

The Giants have also been forced into several changes, with consistent ruckman Jonathan Giles out with calf soreness but experienced Dean Brogan replacing him after recovering from injury.

And number one draft pick Jonathon Patton has been named as expected for his AFL debut despite an injury scare at training on Wednesday.

The Giants say 19-year-old man mountain Patton is a certain starter.

St Kilda brings back rebounding defender Sam Fisher and ruckman Ben McEvoy from injury for its match with Adelaide at Football Park on Friday night.

Fisher, who has been missing with a hamstring injury, and McEvoy (knee) have been named in the Saints' side to take on the high-flying Crows.

The hosts will be without Graham Johncock, who was ruled out been ruled out with a back complaint.

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has wielded the axe, making four changes for the Kangaroos match against Gold Coast at Carrara on Saturday night and recalling forward Lindsay Thomas.

Aaron Edwards, Cruize Garlett, Luke and Cameron Delaney have all been dropped.

Mature-age rookie Sam Gibson will make his AFL debut for the Kangaroos after some impressive reserves form and his promotion from the rookie list this week.

The winless Suns have also axed four players and lost experienced Campbell Brown to a knee injury, with ruckman Zac Smith among those recalled.

Brisbane will be without three-time premiership player Simon Black for Sunday's encounter with Hawthorn at the MCG, as he is unavailable for another week, while Ash McGrath is sidelined with a knee injury.

Ruckman Ben Hudson has been named in the Lions' preliminary squad and should he see match time, he will chalk up his 150th senior appearance, having previously had stints at Adelaide and Western Bulldogs.

Derick Wanganeen is in line to make his senior debut for the Hawks after being included in their provisional squad.

Brendan Whitecross has been ruled out with a hip injury.

Port Adelaide added Matt Thomas, Matthew Lobbe and Tom Logan to its extended squad to meet the Bulldogs at Docklands in Sunday's twilight fixture.

The Bulldogs will be without Daniel Pearce because of a hip injury.

AAP/ABC

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, richmond-3121

First posted June 14, 2012 20:49:58

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Riewoldt bags eight as Tigers down Saints

Updated June 01, 2012 23:11:44

Richmond needed an eight-goal haul from Jack Riewoldt and enormous character to post its first win over St Kilda in eight years at Docklands on Friday night.

The Tigers led for most of the night, but the Saints threatened to produce a remarkable comeback victory when they came from 20 points down early in the last quarter to hit the lead with four straight goals.

But Richmond responded with three goals in time-on - two to Riewoldt and one to youngster Brandon Ellis - to surge clear and win 18.13 (121) to 16.17 (113) in front of 49,337 fans.

Riewoldt's haul continued his form resurgence, after he booted six in last weekend's win over Hawthorn.

It took him to top place in the Coleman Medal race with 31 goals for the season.

Midfielders Trent Cotchin (28 disposals) and Brett Deledio (29) continued their stellar seasons, Ivan Maric dominated against a depleted Saints ruck brigade and Steven Morris kept Stephen Milne fairly quiet.

"It's a relief," Tigers skipper Chris Newman admitted to Grandstand.

"It was tight all game and St Kilda are quality opposition, they never say die and they came back at us and hit the front.

"I'm just really happy with the resolve of the group.

"There's a huge amount of belief that we've got and ... I guess it's just another game and we've got to try and dust it off and play next week against Freo."

For the Saints, youngster David Armitage and veteran Lenny Hayes battled extremely hard in the midfield, Hayes having 16 second-half touches to try to drag his side over the line, while Brendon Goddard also had a big game.

Goalsneak Ahmed Saad was a danger man with three majors and Nick Riewoldt battled hard against Alex Rance to also kick three goals.

Richmond's win followed 13 losses and a draw in its previous 14 clashes with the Saints and lifted them to a 5-5 record.

With four wins in the Tigers' past five matches, including quality victories over Sydney, Hawthorn and now the Saints, it will raise hopes they can reach the finals for the first time since 2001.

Jack Riewoldt's big night included a spectacular mark over Jason Blake in the second term.

The Tigers twice looked to have the game in their keeping, when they pushed 20 points clear early in both the third and final quarters.

But the Saints kept coming, hitting the lead in the last term when Armitage, Nick Riewoldt and Jason Gram combined for four goals in a six-minute burst.

"You're always nervous - big games, big crowd, you're always nervous," Newman said.

"You're lying if you say you're not.

"But obviously the boys handled it pretty well.

"We let them score a few goals consecutively and they got back into the game, but as I said the resolve of this young group is really impressive and for a few of the leaders to stand up in that last quarter also is really pleasing."

But, after a series of close losses already this season the determined Tigers bounced back, with Jack Riewoldt sealing the win in his 100th AFL match.

Richmond: 18.13 (121) - Riewoldt 8, Edwards 2, Nahas 2, Tuck, Deledio, Maric, Vickery, Martin, Ellis

St Kilda: 16.17 (113) - Riewoldt 3, Saad 3, Gram 2, Armitage 2, Milera 2, Koschitzke, Milne, Dal Santo, Goddard

ABC/AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, melbourne-3000, richmond-3121, st-kilda-3182, vic, australia

First posted June 01, 2012 22:42:28

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Riewoldt wants more aggressive Saints

Updated March 13, 2012 17:03:02

Nick Riewoldt has called on St Kilda's players to be more aggressive, insisting they cannot rely on him to dominate up front as in the past due to the changing nature of the game.

St Kilda put in an extremely disappointing performance losing in 35-degree heat to the West Coast Eagles at the weekend leading some to re-evaluate its status as finals contenders.

The club captain does not accept there is an attitude problem under new coach Scott Watters but concedes the players must play with a better attitude than they did on Saturday.

"We spoke about the three things we need to address and effort was one of those and we set about rectifying that," Riewoldt told Fox Sports.

"We weren't aggressive enough on either side of the game, We weren't aggressive enough in our defence.

"People talk about the ability to come forward and put pressure on and we didn't do that.

"And we werent aggressive enough with our ball use. We need to improve and improve quickly."

The Saints skipper's form dipped last year and though after rehabilitating a persistent knee problems he feels ready to return to his form of 2008 and 2009, when he was the club's top scorer, he does not feel the club's fortunes will swing with his sometimes errant boot.

"The times of one key forward dominating a competition is going away," Riewoldt added.

"It's not about me kicking 80 goals.

"We need me to kick 30-40 and two others doing the same.

"I feel like the game's really changed in the last three years, certainly more than any other period I've been playing.

"You don't get the one-on-one battle where you know you're going to be on the same guy the whole day.

"Defences work so well now, you run out of one guy's areas and into anothers.

"That's a challenge all forwards face and thats why you see so many rotations because the need to be explosive is greater than ever."

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, st-kilda-3182

First posted March 13, 2012 17:03:02

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Riewoldt retains Saints captaincy

Updated February 08, 2012 14:56:49

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt has been voted as captain once again by his team-mates and after a welcomed quiet off-season is excited about the AFL club's prospects.

The Saints officially confirmed on Wednesday that the five-time best and fairest player will captain them for a seventh season.

He will head an eight-man leadership group which also includes Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Sam Fisher, Leigh Montagna, Adam Schneider, James Gwilt and Ben McEvoy.

Veteran midfielder Lenny Hayes, who is coming back from a knee reconstruction, was not included but was given the official title of leadership mentor.

The captain and leadership group was selected by a player vote, with new head coach Scott Watters and head of football Chris Pelchen also having input into the decision.

Riewoldt said he had welcomed the process and felt reassured to have been reinstalled after the captaincy was thrown open.

He said the new process, instituted by Watters, along with the state of the club's list had him as excited as he had been entering any season.

"It's a combination of a lot of things," Riewoldt said.

"Clearly the club is going through a transition at the moment.

"You've seen a lot of different things in the few months we've been back at pre-season training.

"I think the list is in a really exciting position."

Riewoldt said he felt the club was coming from a position of strength despite having dropped to seventh last season after making grand finals the previous two years, followed by the shock departure of Ross Lyon, the Saints coach of the past five seasons.

Riewoldt said despite those setbacks, some off-field scandals that the club has endured in recent seasons and his own struggles with knee soreness last year, he felt the resilience the players had shown to make a fourth straight finals series was a good base to build on.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, st-kilda-3182, melbourne-3000

First posted February 08, 2012 14:33:45

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Riewoldt rises above the Power

Published:Sunday, July 10, 2011 6:19 AEST

Nick Riewoldt of the Saints competes for the ball during the round 16 AFL match against Port Adelaide at Football Park on July 10, 2011 in Adelaide.

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, sa, port-adelaide-5015, vic, st-kilda-3182

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Henderson shuts down Riewoldt

Published:Saturday, July 2, 2011 5:05 AEST

Carlton forward Lachie Henderson makes a tackle on Richmond's Jack Reiwoldt during their round 15 AFL clash at the MCG in Melbourne on Saturday July 2, 2011.

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Riewoldt says sorry over 'bird'

Updated April 11, 2011 18:02:00

Richmond star Jack Riewoldt has apologised publicly for his on-field dummy spits during his side's big AFL loss to Hawthorn at the weekend.

Riewoldt has been fined by the match review panel for an obscene hand gesture he made as he came to the bench during the game at the MCG.

He was carpeted by Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and the club's leadership group - of which Riewoldt is a part - on Monday over that incident and a rant at team-mate Dustin Martin as the Tigers slumped to a 63-point defeat.

The 22-year-old forward fronted a media conference on Monday to apologise, saying his passion and will to win had spilled over into unacceptable behaviour.

"I'm really disappointed personally in what's happened. I've let the club down, I've let my team-mates down, and most importantly, I feel like I've let my family down and my close friends," Riewoldt said.

"I have great passion for this football club and this jumper and I have to be careful how I portray it. The hand gesture's probably the dumbest thing I've ever done.

"It's something I've got to work on."

Riewoldt has not been penalised by the club for his actions.

He suggested he would make an early guilty plea to the AFL on their charge over his hand gesture - in which he raised his middle finger towards the Hawthorn bench.

If he pleads guilty, that would mean an initial $1200 fine is reduced to $900.

- AAP

First posted April 11, 2011 17:52:00

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