CATHERINE Riewoldt was utilising the in-flight wifi on the plane from New York to Texas last November when she stumbled upon an unexpected headline on her laptop’s internet browser.

She leaned across to her husband Nick and said: “I think you better take a look at this.’’

The St Kilda skipper peered across to read: “Saints Sack Watters”.

Having only just processed the news from the previous week that long-time teammates Nick Dal Santo and Ben McEvoy had been traded to rival Victorian clubs, Riewoldt began to contemplate what a vastly different complexion St Kilda would take in 2014.

“That was the one that really took me by surprise,’’ Riewoldt said of coach Scott Watters’s departure during an eventful off-season. “I didn’t see that one coming. But there’s not much you can do as a player. I’ve been through similar situations before and ultimately players play and those sorts of decisions happen well above their heads.’’

Nevertheless, upon landing at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, he “got off the plane and started making a few calls to find out what was going on’’.

The 31-year-old had followed his usual post-season routine of recent years: surgery to clean up his left knee, followed by rehab and a month of training before flying to the United States the day after the AFL Grand Final. “The club’s been really flexible in allowing me to do that, which is great. I feel like it’s allowed me to freshen up mentally. You’re not immersed in football 24-7.’’

media_camera Nick Riewoldt talks with coach Alan Richardson. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Part of the attraction is the anonymity he enjoys in Texas, his wife’s home turf. “I’ve never had an Australian come up to me in Houston and recognise me as a footballer,’’ he said. “So it’s nice to be able to avoid some of that sort of stuff.’’

Last November, though, there was no escaping football.

“It was good to get away but it was difficult, because I was reading stuff and I didn’t get to have too many face-to-face conversations,” he said.

“I kept in touch with phone calls to the footy department, just to stay abreast of what was happening, and even that was tough because there was a bit going on with sorting out my own situation as well.

“I was semi-uncontracted and bubbling away in the background there was a little bit of interest from the outside (an informal September approach from Collingwood which he ultimately rejected.)”

media_camera St Kilda skipper Nick and his wife Catherine with a Micro Nick Riewoldt figurine.

One of the most difficult phone calls was with Dal Santo, after the silky midfielder moved to North Melbourne in late October. “Certainly with someone like Dal, who is a great mate and someone I’ve played a lot of footy with, that was tough,’’ Riewoldt said. “We had probably 10 guys who have all come through together and it was another one of those who had gone.’’

Other contemporaries, such as Justin Koschitzke, Jason Blake and Stephen Milne had retired at the end of 2013.

“I totally under Dal’s reasons and I think the club made some courageous decisions and have done so over the last couple of seasons. The proof is going to be in the pudding but some of the young guys we’ve picked up look like they’re going to be great players for the club.’’

It was those youngsters who helped switch Riewoldt’s focus from Texas and the past to Seaford and the future.

“While I was in the States I still had a role to play as a leader, talking to some of the younger guys and the recruits over the phone and before long we had our new coach who could map out his direction forward.’’

In late November he met up with the Saints ahead of a 15-day training camp in Colorado, where he was energised not just by youth but by his impressions of new coach Alan Richardson.

He believes both have contributed to his strong start to the 2014 season: Riewoldt has won renewed praise for being among the team’s best two players in each of the opening three rounds and going into Round 4 was equal leader in the Coleman Medal race with 10 goals.

“I’ve had better games and probably better starts to the year, but a bit of that positivity comes as a reflection of the team and perhaps where people thought we would be this season,’’ he said.

“Externally the talk surrounding the team before the season was all pretty negative, but internally we didn’t have any limitations on what we thought we could get out of the year.

“Now it’s only three games in but we’ve had three performances in which the majority of what we’ve put out on the field has been positive. There’s still so much scope for us to improve, but in terms of footy fundamentals — effort, adherence to the game plan, desire, applying pressure and team defence — they’ve all been good and I think all of our supporters recognise that.’’

media_camera Nick Riewoldt takes a flying mark against GWS.

Two standout aspects of Riewoldt’s game this season have been his powerful leadership and his ability to slot clutch goals.

His set shots have looked more fluid and natural than at times in the past, which he attributes to approaching them as he would his accomplished field kicking.

“I think what can happen is you can have one really bad year, which I did I reckon in 2005 (when he kicked 33 goals 36 behinds) and occasionally you can simply spray one, but outside of that my kicking for goal has been pretty good over the last few seasons,’’ he said. “This year it’s just evolved a bit to the stage where the action is just a little bit more natural. I’ve tried to make the action a little bit more like my field kicking rather than a closed goalkicking skill.’’

After the Round 1 win against Melbourne, Richardson spoke of Riewoldt’s significance as an on-field general. “He’s a fantastic leader and I’m blessed, really,” Richardson said. “It’s like having another assistant coach out on the ground in many ways.”

media_camera Nick Riewoldt shoots for goal. Picture: Michael Klein

Riewoldt is 14 games behind Danny Frawley’s record of captaining the Saints in 177 matches and has consistently said he would fill the role as long as the club believes he is the man for the role.

“It’s a position I have a lot of respect for,’’ he said. “I’ve loved working with ‘Richo’ this year, he’s been really challenging and even in the short span that he’s been at the helm I feel I’ve definitely improved as a leader.

“It will be the same next year. If it’s the best decision for the club for me to be captain, wonderful, and if it’s not, equally I’ll do whatever the club needs me to do and my leadership won’t change. It’s all about what’s best for the club.

“But the way I feel about it right now is that I would never abdicate the responsibility. As long as there’s a job to be done and the club needs me to do it then I’ll put my hand up and do it as best I can.’’

He said all of St Kilda’s senior players were conscious of the need to provide strong direction, particularly given the gap in experience to the new wave of young Saints.

“I look across the forward line and it’s a group that’s really young, so I’ve got a responsibility there to be constantly teaching, reminding and encouraging there,’’ he said. “Then you’ve got Joey (Leigh Montagna) and Lenny (Hayes) and Armo (David Armitage) is also stepping up in that area, they’ve got a lot of responsibility in the midfield. And Seany Dempster has that sort of role in the backline.’’

The Saints look to be on the right path, although the challenge to rebuild the team is vast. In a way, Riewoldt would say it’s bigger than Texas.

media_camera Nick Riewoldt cools off at Sandringham Beach.

NICK’S KNEE A DRAIN

MOST weekdays Nick Riewoldt can be seen hobbling around the Linen House Centre with an ice pack strapped to his left knee. Most evenings he can be found wading in the seawater at a bayside beach.

The reason is a knee he damaged as an 18-year-old playing in his first season of AFL football in 2001. At the end of that year he had surgery to remove two thirds of his medial meniscus, the crescent-shaped shock absorber on the inner side of the knee.

“From there it’s just been about managing it, really,’’ he said. “The lateral (movement) started to go a bit and then the last sort of four or five years, probably 2009 it started to get sore.

“The last couple of seasons it’s deteriorated a bit more to the point where I need to do a lot more to be able to get up each week. The first few matches it hasn’t been an issue, I’ve been able to go out and train Monday to Friday, but from now on I won’t do much during the week training-wise. I’ll cross train, mostly bike riding, to try to keep the strength there.

“I go down to the beach and walk in the ocean every evening. I swing by and pick up Joey (Leigh Montagna) and we head down to the beach to walk in the water for 20 minutes most nights.

“Once it gets to a certain point in the season I have to get it drained every week because the swelling becomes inhibitive. You just can’t function as you need to function. It’s more of a functionality issue with the swelling than it is any actual pain.’’

Last season Riewoldt had fluid drained from the knee every week, starting from the Round 5 match against Sydney in New Zealand.

“It varies, they drain anywhere from 40 up to 100 mils. But it’s easy. On the way home from training I’ll swing off the freeway and head to Olympic Park Medical Centre, where Paul Marks drains it for me. I’m in and out in 15 minutes.

“If you didn’t like the sight of needles you’d struggle with it, but it’s just become part of what I need to do to play.”

He also sees chiropractor Azim Hosseini three times a week. ‘It’s a bit of a tune up — whole body stuff — and it’s just become part of my routine over the past 10 years. Manipulation, soft-tissue work, just making sure my joints are nice and loose.’’

In recent seasons Riewoldt has ended each season with exploratory knee surgery -- “pretty much a clean-up so that I can attack pre-season training knowing what condition it’s in’’.

He said that the knee did not cause him any difficulties come match day. Riewoldt favours completing an extensive warm-up out on the field because “I want to get a bit of a sweat going, I want to get myself moving.

“Then for the two hours on game day I can pretty much do what I need to do. It does occasionally get a little sore late in a game, but most of the time it’s not a problem.’’