RICHMOND defender Alex Rance admits he was wrong about teammate Jack Riewoldt, declaring the star forward is one of the best leaders he's ever seen at the Tigers.

Riewoldt was the hero with six goals on Monday night as Richmond recorded a 13-point victory over Melbourne at the MCG.

The two-time Coleman medallist was this year welcomed back into the Tigers' leadership group following a three year absence, and shares the title of co-vice captain with Rance.

Rance told 3AW Riewoldt's leadership has been key to Richmond's undefeated start to the season.

"I can definitely resonate with the frustrations and things that he went through over the past few years, but I can safely say that I was wrong about a lot of my judgements on his leadership over the past few years," Rance said.

"This year he's been arguably one of the best leaders we've ever had at our football club. We've got a really strong three in Jack, Trent [Cotchin] and myself. We are really trying to steer the ship in the right direction and get the most out of everyone else.

"Jack's been one of the main drivers towards that and I couldn't be more proud of him."

Riewoldt was dumped from Richmond's leadership group before the 2014 season.

The full forward's attitude on the field has been questioned at times, as has his conduct with the media resulting in Riewoldt placing a media ban on himself in early 2014.

He also came under fire from his coach when he publically questioned Damien Hardwick's game plan.

Rance said Riewoldt had since learned his lesson and had matured into a strong leader.

"He was quite vocal and got himself into hot water in the media a few times, speaking his mind and I probably held on to that a lot longer than I should have," Rance said.

"He probably grew out of that over the past two years but he was probably still tarred with the same brush from years prior. I think it was an important learning curve for him, in terms of being part of a whole.

“Sometimes you need to bite your lip and not necessarily say exactly what you're thinking.

"This year and last year especially he's been probably a more well rounded leader. He's always been a superb leader on field, and his actions speak for themselves.

“He has an amazing care and passion for people around him and it's just a matter of how best he can portray that to get the most out of others too.

“He's really turned it around more so from an external perception and we're seeing the fruits of that now."