IT IS a measure of both players that Nick Riewoldt looks to Matthew Richardson. There is a similarity about them but their frailties likewise are familiar, both referencing temperament not technique.

It has been to Richo that Riewoldt has looked as he has dealt with his own game. Richardson has oft been the tortured man before goal — missing the shot he shouldn't, kicking the one he had no right to — but possibly liberated by life on a wing, Richardson has been a truer kick this year. Riewoldt has taken note.

In the Bulldogs game a few rounds ago, Riewoldt faltered before goal. It was not for the first time: the yips have been an occasional visitor over the years and at Telstra Dome, they happened by.

He finished the game with a seemingly respectable 2.2 but he had clearly been unsettled by early misses and he appeared keener to search for teammates than big white sticks as the game wore on — he surprised a flat-footed Jason Gram with a handball at 50 metres on one occasion.

Riewoldt has periodically faced this battle. Previous coach Grant Thomas had him change his grip of the ball to improve his ball drop. But Riewoldt sees the issue now not as one of technique, but of attitude.

"I have seen Richo kicking a fair bit this year and he is kicking really well and he is far more relaxed — you can see he is far more relaxed — and he doesn't have a routine. He is just kicking when he feels comfortable, so I think that is what it is about, stripping it right back.

"I am a good field kick, so it is a matter of trying to replicate that when I am having a shot at goal," Riewoldt explained.

"If someone is in a better position, then, like any player, I will pass it. But because of my history, whenever I do that, people say, 'Oh, he is too scared to take his shot', where I think anyone in that situation if your teammate is in a better position, you are going to offload the ball.

"Naturally, if you kick a couple early, your confidence goes up as was the case on the weekend but obviously, the same is true if you miss a couple early, your confidence drops.

"The most frustrating thing is when you are struggling with something, you like to get out and practise it and do it to death but with my body, I haven't been able to do that."

Riewoldt had a medial ligament strain earlier in the year but surprised expectations of a longer period on the sidelines by returning for the Brisbane Lions game in round nine.

He denies that he came back too soon, that in a desire to lead his side in an important match as it struggled to right a disappointing season, he pushed himself out when he should have rested. "I don't think my effort can ever be questioned. At times, my performance has not been what I would want it to be," he said.

"I think when you are not travelling too well, people look for reasons and you can become a target for criticism. But I thought my form early in the year was pretty solid and I came back from injury against Brisbane and didn't play well but I was declared fit to play and since then, I have had a few games there where I was fairly good and maybe one where I was fairly average. But I think a lot of the criticism is coming at certain aspects of my game and my goalkicking and as soon as people get fixated on one aspect, then it snowballs."

The pointer to Richardson for goalkicking is relevant in that like Richardson and other key forwards Matthew Pavlich and Buddy Franklin, who have spent time on the ball, the query has been whether St Kilda would be better served by Riewoldt carrying the ball inside 50 instead of marking it there. "That is a coaching issue. I enjoy the opportunity to get up the ground, it helps keep you involved in the game. Playing key forward, there are times when you can go 10 minutes without even getting to a contest. Naturally, it is whatever is best for the team but at times, depending on the state of the game, if there is an opportunity to do that, I will be happy to do it without getting into coaching and tactics."

Against Fremantle in last week's game, there was no real question of where Riewoldt could play. With Stephen Milne and Justin Koschitzke out of the side, no other player in the team had scored 10 goals or more this season. The way Riewoldt played that game, however, was a blend of styles. He ran exhaustively around the ground and gathered a formidable 18 marks.

"He covered a lot of ground. That's his trademark — Nick Riewoldt's work ethic and leadership," coach Ross Lyon observed. "His willpower stands out. The great ones like (Nathan) Buckley, Craig Bradley, Robert Harvey, that's what tends to stand out with them, their willpower."

Franklin, as much as Richardson, has recast assumptions of players this year and it has been a performance that has attracted Riewoldt's competitive eye. "I always keep an eye on how the other key forwards are going … you can never stop learning, so I always have a look at Jonathan Brown and Matthew Pavlich …" he said.

"It's hard to try more than your best but I suppose it raises the bar for everyone (Franklin's performances). If you see Buddy come out and kick nine against Essendon, do you think, 'I have got to go out and kick nine to match him'? Certainly not, but it does motivate you to give everything you have got."

Equally motivating tonight is the fact Riewoldt will be returning to where it began for him on the Gold Coast, a return that he admits creates mixed feelings.

Riewoldt's name is invariably linked with the planned new club there but his concerns now are about St Kilda, not an unborn side. The Saints have been a disappointment to no one more than themselves.

"I don't have an answer as to why. We have spent 13 weeks trying to work it out. I don't think it's necessarily a need to change personnel, I think it's a matter of all of us changing aspects of our games," he said.

"I think for where we are at the moment, it would be irresponsible for us to be talking about finals. For everyone who plays the game, finals are in your mind but for where we are, we need to just worry about giving 100% effort and until we do that, we can't go worrying about finals.

"Certainly internally, our expectations were very high but what other people think of us and whether they are angry or disappointed, that is really irrelevant. Internally, it's what we were about. Definitely internally, we are disappointed with where we are at the moment.

"Are we overrated? You can only base that on actions and our actions towards the end of last season and the start of this season should have had us in a better position than we are in now."