Tiger Riewoldt in awe of “super” Crows
School is in for Jack Riewoldt and his Richmond teammates after Adelaide taught them an AFL lesson.
Jack Riewoldt is spoiled in a marking attempt as the Crows take control. Photo: Michael Errey / InDaily
The Tigers’ perfect start to the season came to a screeching halt on Sunday when the Crows took them apart by 76 points at Adelaide Oval.
It left Adelaide, the premiership favourites, as the only unbeaten team.
They are a super, super side and they deserve to be the premiership favourites
Richmond must rebound immediately, with reigning premiers the Bulldogs their next opponents this Saturday night at Etihad Stadium.
The Tigers will also be without in-form ruckman Toby Nankervis, who is serving a one-match ban for striking.
Riewoldt said the focus this week at Richmond is absorbing the harsh realities from Sunday’s loss.
He added now is the time for that sort of loss – not August or September.
“It’s better to learn the lessons early on in the season, rather than come round 22 [get] a whooping and all of a sudden it’s ‘ooh, hang on, this might not be working for us’,” the key forward told Fox Footy.
“Certainly it was back to school today at the footy club, all the reviews were based around getting better.”
The two-time All-Australian says the barren trip to Adelaide would be particularly useful for Richmond’s youngsters.
He remains upbeat, noting that the Tigers remain fourth on the ladder.
“It’s the realisation that there are probably 14 other clubs below us that would want to be in our position,” he said.
“It was a tough loss and a loss we don’t want to have, but it’s a great learning curve for some of our younger kids.
“It was a really good learning curve, to understand what it’s like to travel and play in from of 50,000 screaming Crows fans, and learn a bit about themselves.”
The 28-year-old said the Crows are as impressive as their perfect start to the season suggests.
“They are a super, super side and they deserve to be the premiership favourites,” he said.
“It was a shocking loss, we don’t want to lose like that, but we’ve got some stuff we figured out we can work on.
“We actually looked at them and how they play, (also) stuff we think we can do better.
“They’re as well-rounded an outfit as certainly I’ve played against for a while.”
-AAP
