Just a few weeks shy of his 34th birthday, Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt has strong claims to earn his sixth All-Australian jumper after booting nine goals to cap a brilliant season.
The veteran forward also must be in contention to win his seventh best-and-fairest award at St Kilda, which would be particularly remarkable when you consider he won his first in 2002 aged just 19.
There can be very few players in AFL-VFL history who have won club best and fairests 14 years apart. Regardless of any official accolades he receives in the next few weeks, Riewoldt’s continued excellence is astonishing.
Five years ago, in the wake of the 2011 season, I thought his career was winding up. He was 29 years old – an age at which plenty of key forwards, even champions, have gone into freefall.
Having spent the previous ten seasons bounding across the turf like a prized stallion, Riewoldt looked comparatively lame in 2011. He had built his game around his aerial prowess, yet his average marks per game in 2011 were the lowest since his debut season when he played only six matches.
It’s not that Riewoldt suddenly had become an ordinary player. Rather that he had fallen back to the pack after being an outlier for so long. Respected pundit Matthew Lloyd wrote a column at this time questioning whether Riewoldt would ever get close to being a dominant player once more.
It was an entirely reasonable viewpoint. Lloyd, who himself was a superstar key forward from a tender age, was in a perfect position to analyse Riewoldt. The Essendon spearhead arguably peaked at 26 years old and by the time he played his last season at 31 he was a shadow of his former, imperious self.
But 2011 turned out to be a mere blip for Riewoldt. The following season he averaged 2.5 goals per game and covered the ground noticeably better. He backed that up with an even stronger 2013 in which he averaged 19 touches, 10 marks and 2.4 goals per game.
Riewoldt was back. Big time. Then in 2014 he managed to win his first All-Australian berth in five years. It was a fantastic story. His form tapered off last year as he missed five games across the season.
Once more I began to think Riewoldt might be finished. It was hard to see him playing on past 2016, particularly when the Saints had two great young aerial targets up forward in Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey.
Now Riewoldt is a lock to take to the field in 2017, and the Saints look good to return to the finals for the first time in six years.
After languishing in 14th spot last season, with just six wins, the Saints finished 2016 with only percentage keeping them out of September. Riewoldt has been one of the key reasons they’ve managed to finish the year with a solid 12-10 record.
It’s not just his brilliance which must inspire his teammates. Riewoldt’s consistency also is phenomenal, even as he approaches 34 years of age. His 222 marks this season are the equal 11th-most ever taken in an AFL season. It’s also the most grabs he’s snared since 2009 when the Saints were a major force.
What is even more remarkable is that his average of 21 touches a game this year is the first time he’s ever reached the 20 mark. To be putting up numbers like this at his age, with 318 games under his belt boggles the mind.
It now looks as if he could continue on for perhaps another two seasons. Not only is his form sensational, but Riewoldt’s body is holding up well. He has missed only two games per season on average over the past six years.
Through some very low years for the Saints, Riewoldt always maintained his dignity and effort. One of the true champions of the game, it would be fitting to see him get another crack or two at September.
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