Riewoldt was a revelation for the Tigers up forward last year kicking 78 goals and stamping himself as one of the best contested marks in the game.
Understandably, he was Richmond's No.1 forward target with the young Tigers hitting him up 189 times, while their next two common targets up forward were Andrew Collins, who has since been traded to Carlton, and Jayden Post (targeted 18 times each).
The new interchange rules will allow Vickery to spend more time in attack this season as well as pinch-hitting in the ruck, a role he played as a junior.
With Riewoldt set to receive a lot more attention from the opposition this season, Vickery says that will allow him play as another viable target in attack.
"We all realise Jack's talent so he's going to draw the ball. We think teams are going to be dropping numbers off and that's going to open up other opportunities for other forwards," Vickery told afl.com.au.
"Jack's pretty unselfish and he realises there are going to be times when we're not going to kick him the ball because he's got too many guys dropping on to him and that will hopefully free up some of the other forward-line players."
Coach Damien Hardwick was very aware his side's structure was built around Riewoldt at full-forward and decided towards the end of last season that Vickery could be a solution to the problem.
After playing 14 of the first 16 games for Richmond, Vickery was dropped to the VFL to begin the transition towards playing in attack.
"My form had sort of tapered off a little bit and Andrew Browne had certainly had a good year and deserved a shot at AFL level," Vickery said.
"There were a few reasons but Damien sort of said to me that I'd have to go back and play as a forward in the VFL for a bit because that's what I'd be doing this year, so it was good to have a couple of games in the VFL as a forward to get that first taste before pre-season this year."
Since then the 20-year-old has spent all of the off-season training with the forwards with assistant coach Danny Daly instrumental in his move into the forward line.
"Danny's been great. He's really good with his knowledge and being able to pull up footage to help me improve.
"I've spent the whole pre-season training with the forward line which took a while to get use to but it's certainly paid off especially in the last month."
His hard work was recently rewarded when he kicked five goals against Port Adelaide in his club's NAB Challenge match in Alice Springs.
The 200cm ruckman/forward weighs in at 95kgs, adding an extra three to his frame since last year and hopes to reach his ultimate weight of 100kgs, which will definitely benefit all aspects of his game.
The Tigers will field an almost full-strength side when they head to Shepparton on Friday night for their NAB Challenge match against Hawthorn.
Captain Chris Newman, Brett Deledio, Daniel Connors and Shane Tuck will come into the line-up, while Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt will be rested for another week as he recovers from a knee injury.
Tyrone Vickery is a $172,000 ruckman in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition.
