Just as he has done across a stunning career, St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt produced another stellar campaign in 2016, although this time, he did so playing predominantly on a wing, combined with time inside 50.
The 33-year-old, who handed over the captaincy at the Trevor Barker Award earlier in the month, became just the fifth player in St Kilda’s history to reach the 300-game milestone when he faced the Western Bulldogs in Round 2.
By the end of the season, after playing all but one game, Riewoldt handed over the leadership reins following 220 games as captain of the Saints – the third most by any player at any club in the game’s history.
The five-time All Australian finished third in the best and fairest, behind runner-up Jarryn Geary and now three-time winner Jack Steven. Riewoldt polled in each of the first ten games, before suffering a minor knee injury in the loss to Adelaide in Round 11.
As the Saints marched home in the back half of the year, no one at Linen House Centre finished the season better than Riewoldt. He polled the most votes across the final five games of the season, including a perfect performance against Brisbane in the final round, which brought his season to a sublime finish.
Riewoldt’s breathtaking performance at Etihad Stadium in Round 23 saw him accrue 20 votes from the coaches after he booted nine goals from 26 disposals, 21 marks (career-best), 15 score involvements and 12 marks inside 50. You had to see it to believe it, it was that good.
Alan Richardson’s Views:
“The plan going into the year was to play ‘Rooey’ in the midfield and it wasn’t necessarily just about ‘Rooey’, nor was it about winning a game of footy short-term, it was about making sure that Bruce, McCartin and Membrey got the opportunity to start to function – these guys are going to play together for ten years so we need to fast track that as much as we can. It was incredibly selfless by the skipper. He’s probably still our best forward and yet we were asking him to sacrifice his role, whilst he’s our captain, for the betterment of those goes and for the long-term betterment of the team and of the club. He was simply outstanding in the way that he embraced that.
“And like everything he does, he wanted to be a really good midfielder he didn’t just want to play in the midfield, he wanted to become a really good midfielder and he did that for us around the ball. He was good around stoppage and some of his work through the midfield in general was just so impressive and the best and fairest voting reflected that. We saw in Round 23 when we needed him to go forward that he is still very handy in attack too.
“Like always, he was super impressive as a leader and he will continue to be a critical component of our leadership. From this point on, he won’t be the captain of the team, but ‘Rooey’ will still have real influence and we need him to have real influence with his leadership. He didn’t miss a beat on the training track and he’s got a really good balance with the now and the future with respect to the way that he challenges and the way that he inspires his teammates. He gets it; he’s been through the footy club and has real clarity around different roles inside a club.
“He had a really positive role from a leadership perspective and had real influence on our footy club. He’s such a good thinker of the game, so having him involved in the midfield this year definitely had a positive influence on our young midfielders like Newnes, like Dunstan and like Ross, among others. And because he wasn’t in the front half that helped those guys with their development because they couldn’t rely on him in front of the ball. So it was a win-win for the younger players in both the midfield and the forward line.”
The Numbers:
21 games
3rd in the Trevor Barker Award
41 goals (No. 2 at St Kilda)
20.8 possessions (No. 6 at St Kilda)
15.9 uncontested possessions (No. 5 at St Kilda)
10.6 marks (No. 1 in the AFL)
2.6 marks inside 50 (No. 2 at St Kilda)
3.7 inside 50s (No. 4 at St Kilda)
