Nine years after Matthew Richardson finished equal-third in the AFL Brownlow Medal, Nick Riewoldt might be about to follow his lead.

Riewoldt’s successful transformation from a key forward to a near-permanent role on a wing is raising speculation about his Brownlow chances.

The former St Kilda captain’s pre-season form had commentator Brad Johnson predicting that Riewoldt can finish among the top five.

Richardson was the sentimental favourite in the 2008 count when the Richmond star finished only two votes behind Adam Cooney.

He was 33 and, like 34-year-old Riewoldt, had switched to a running role on the wing after a successful career as a key forward.

Riewoldt played a lot on the wing last year and finished equal-10th in the Brownlow with a career-high 19 votes.

It was his best count since finishing equal-seventh in 2004 on 17.

On Friday, Riewoldt laughed off questions about his Brownlow chances.

It was put to him that if he won the medal this year, he would have no choice but to keep playing and be part of the club’s return to Moorabbin.

“That would be a good situation to be in,” he said with a grin.

But Riewoldt is relishing his new on-field role.

While he has long-term knee problems, Riewoldt is in excellent shape and remains one of the game’s top players.

The development of Paddy McCartin, Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey as key forwards means he is not needed so often in attack.

“I will spend a bit of time up forward, but the majority on the wing,”‘ he said.

“It seemed to work pretty well for myself and the team, so hopefully that continues.”

Riewoldt has stepped down as captain after 11 years in the role and is impressed with the job that his successor Jarryn Geary is doing.

But he joked that during the pre-season, the change occasionally left him confused.

“Even in the first pre-season game, I wasn’t too sure where to run out – do I wait to the end? Do I run out second? – a few little quirky things like that,” he said.

“Look, Gears has done a great job so far, he has the full support of the playing group.”

And the team is progressing well, with finals a realistic aim for the first time since 2011.

“We know we still have a lot of work to do to improve on last year, that’s clearly our aim,” he said.

“But particularly as an older player, that gives you a real sense of excitement, that you are on that upward trend.”