Author Topic: RIP Maurice Rioli  (Read 6915 times)

Offline one-eyed

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #45 on: January 07, 2011, 03:49:59 PM »
According to 3aw

About 1,200 attended the state funeral for Maurice Rioli in Darwin, where his young grandson said: "I want to be just like Mr Magic."

Offline Oiafi

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #46 on: January 07, 2011, 05:23:18 PM »
According to 3aw

About 1,200 attended the state funeral for Maurice Rioli in Darwin, where his young grandson said: "I want to be just like Mr Magic."

A Norm Smith medallist for the mighty RFC. Hopefully in a winning team this time. Sounds good to me.  :thumbsup

Farewell Maurice. Thanks for all the great memories.  :clapping

Offline one-eyed

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #47 on: January 07, 2011, 07:04:59 PM »
Rioli remembered as 'poetry in motion'
By Larine Statham
17:12 AEST Fri Jan 7 2011



The death of Maurice Rioli is a devastating loss for the Tiwi Islands, say friends of the AFL great.

Rioli, a former Richmond player, was just 53-years-old when he collapsed from a heart attack in Darwin on Christmas day.

Long-time friend of Rioli, NT Labor minister Marion Scrymgour told AAP the death had absolutely devastated the Melville Island community.

She said too many strong Aboriginal leaders were dying early.

"He was too young ... Maurice was only getting started in his life."

Rioli was the Tiwi Islands' second Aboriginal leader to die in as many months.

The father of star Melbourne Demons footballer Austin Wonaeamirri was killed in a car accident in November.

Matthew Wonaeamirri was just 63.

Ms Scrymgour she said she hoped their deaths would inspire young Tiwi Islanders to stand up and become strong leaders.

She said it was only fitting Rioli, who served in the NT parliament as the Labor member for Arafura from 1992 until his retirement in 2001, received a state funeral.

When Ms Scrymgour took Rioli's seat in the parliament, Rioli danced her into the chamber.

"From that time, right until his death, I had nothing but support and encouragement from him over this nine years."

More than 600 people, including several high profile AFL figures, gathered at St Mary's Cathedral in Darwin on Friday to celebrate the life of a man who "helped pave the way for Aboriginal players in the AFL".

A procession of Aboriginal dancers led the casket up the stairs and into the cathedral.

Traditional Aboriginal song echoed from the Smith Street church, as politicians, football identities, community leaders, friends and family spoke about a man who was anything but an ordinary footballer.

In 1982, the talented mid-fielder became not only the first Aboriginal Norm Smith medallist, but the first player from a grand final losing side to take the coveted award.

He played 118 games for Richmond Tigers and spent many years playing for the South Fremantle Football Club (SFFC) in Western Australia and the St Mary's Football Club (SMFC) in the NT.

Brian Ciccotosto from the SFFC recited a poem about "Mister Magic" and his wizardry with a football.

"He was a graceful gifted player; he was poetry in motion," Mr Ciccotosto said.

Rioli's love of sport extended beyond Aussie Rules.

As well as enjoying cricket, basketball and rugby league, Rioli won several state amateur boxing titles and represented Australia in Gaelic football.

Two of the Brownlow runner-up's grandsons spoke about how their Pop, who leaves behind seven grandchildren and four children, made them laugh when he tried to dance and sing.

Mourners told stories of how Rioli was a coastal man who hated travelling any further south than Katherine, and spent all his spare time with family, hunting turtle and geese.

Rioli's family embraced the casket in the centre of the cathedral and wailed loudly for much of the service.

Rioli's nephew, former Essendon player Dean Rioli, was one of several family members who carried an offering of gifts down the aisle of the church to his coffin.

Former Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams, who played against Rioli in the AFL, told AAP the ceremony was eye opening.

"Not too many people from down south get the opportunity to attend such a very important ceremony.

"There are some wonderful things and they should be very proud of how they've sent him off."

Recently signed as the senior assistant coach for Greater Western Sydney, Williams said he and coach Kevin Sheedy would spend a couple of days in the NT after Rioli's funeral looking for new indigenous talent.

A traditional Tiwi Island burial will take place at Gardens Point on Melville Island, north of Darwin, on Monday.

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8193572

Offline Mr Magic

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #48 on: January 07, 2011, 08:30:52 PM »
'Poetry in motion' .. indeed.

Going to sidestep his way past the pearly gates.

Offline one-eyed

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #49 on: January 08, 2011, 10:42:11 AM »
Mourners gather to farewell 'Rolls-Royce' Rioli
Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin
January 8, 2011



KEVIN Sheedy has never worked out why the two spa_rsedly populated Tiwi islands off the far north of Australia have produced some of Australia's top indigenous footballers.

''It's like they have radars … they know where the footy is coming from, they know every angle of every ball and every kick needed for any goal,'' says Sheedy, the AFL veteran who is now coach of the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

And Sheedy says Tiwi islander Maurice Rioli, whose funeral he attended in Darwin yesterday, pioneered a wave of indigenous players who have succeeded in the AFL, including Hawthorn's Cyril Rioli.

Maurice Rioli, Cyril's uncle, died on Christmas Day from a suspected heart attack, aged 53. Sheedy said it was a credit to Maurice Rioli there are 100 indigenous players at the game's top level and that 1000 of the 8000 players in the AFL's training program are indigenous.

''It has flowed on from Maurice and a couple of others into a great bridge-building exercise,'' he said.

Two religions melted together in Darwin's sweltering monsoon heat for Rioli's funeral: Catholicism and football. Rioli played 118 games for Richmond and was the first player to win a Norm Smith Medal in a losing grand final side.

But hundreds of Aboriginal mourners also brought their traditional ''sorry business'' to the usually sedate St Mary's Star of the Sea Cathedral to see off one of their most respected leaders.

With their faces painted white, and clapping sticks, mourners led the coffin into the church where Sheedy and other AFL identities sat, including Rioli's former South Fremantle coach, Mal Brown.

In an outpouring of grief, mourners wailed through the service conducted by the Bishop of Darwin, Eugene Hurley, who described Rioli as the ''AFL's Rolls-Royce''.

Cardinal George Pell, the Bishop of Sydney, a 20-year Richmond supporter, sent a message describing Rioli as ''poetry in action''.

Brown told the church Rioli was like an ''18-gallon keg with legs'' who had an unbelievable ability to baulk and weave as well as tackle.

He said Rioli was shy and placid but when he ''got hot, you kept out of his way''.

Rioli loved hunting turtle and dugong on the Tiwi Islands before taking up cricket, boxing and then football.

Brown told mourners that former footballer Mark ''Jacko'' Jackson once made the mistake of getting into a ring with Rioli.

''Every time Jacko took a swing, Maurice would duck and swing around and punch him in the head with a left. Jacko quickly screamed he had had enough and ran from the ring.'''

After becoming a Labor politician in the Northern Territory Parliament between 1992 and 2001, Rioli spent almost 10 years working for the Tiwi community and mentoring young footballers, many of whom play for the predominantly indigenous Tiwi Bombers in the NTAFL competition.

A traditional funeral for Rioli will be held on the Tiwi Islands on Monday. He will be buried near a mango tree.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/mourners-gather-to-farewell-rollsroyce-rioli-20110107-19iuk.html
« Last Edit: January 08, 2011, 08:10:01 PM by WilliamPowell »

Offline Smokey

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #50 on: January 08, 2011, 11:25:50 AM »

KEVIN Sheedy has never worked out why the two spbehindly populated Tiwi islands


I see we still use the same swear filter as the old site.   :rollin

Offline WilliamPowell

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #51 on: January 08, 2011, 08:10:21 PM »

KEVIN Sheedy has never worked out why the two spbehindly populated Tiwi islands


I see we still use the same swear filter as the old site.   :rollin

 ;D

All fixed see above  ;)
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Offline Mr Magic

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #52 on: January 10, 2011, 07:40:46 AM »
Maurice Rioli: he made footy an art
OBITUARY From: The Australian December 27, 2010 12:00AM

Maurice Rioli
Born: Melville Island, Northern Territory, September 1, 1957.  Died: Darwin. December 25, 2010
MAURICE Rioli blazed a path for indigenous footballers, but perhaps his biggest legacy is elevating Australian football to high art.

The Richmond star, who died from a suspected heart attack on Christmas Day aged 53, was justly called "Mr Magic" for the time he had to distribute the ball.

At his peak in the early 1980s, no one could lay a glove on the silky-smooth number 17, who arrived like a breath of fresh air at the same time Jim and Phil Krakouer landed at North Melbourne. The Rioli baulk was his trademark. Often mesmerised opponents would stand off for fear of being flummoxed by his dummy.

He did not fit neatly into the modern typecasts of "inside" and "outside" midfielders. Rioli was both able to do the grunt work deep in the packs and, although by no means quick, was lethal when allowed latitude. Once free he would wheel on to that raking left boot and deliver with telling effect, or bomb the goal square with a soaring torpedo.

But the Rioli tackle was textbook, too, and he had the hardness of a man who was handy in a boxing ring. Gathering all of this in one player created the prototypical centreman in an era before centre square players were bracketed under the generic "midfielder" tag.

Such was his brilliance, Rioli forced Geoff Raines, then seen as the best centreman in the country, out of the pivot, which some say set off a chain of events that led Raines to ask to be transferred to Collingwood. There was no quibbling when Rioli was named in the centre in the Indigenous Team of the Century in 2005.

Rioli's genius helped hoist Richmond into a grand final in his first season. He was the first man from a losing team to win the Norm Smith Medal.

Rioli played 118 games for the club and kicked 80 goals with just 33 behinds -- after being lured to Richmond from South Fremantle in 1982. He left Richmond at the end of 1987 and played out his career in Fremantle, where he gave weight to the laments of those who said he had quit top-level football prematurely, winning a third All-Australian guernsey at the 1988 Bicentennial Carnival.

In 1990 Rioli returned to Darwin where he became the Member for Arafura in 1992 until his retirement from parliament in 2001.

The Rioli name has lived on in the AFL with two of his nephews -- Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli and former Essendon player Dean Rioli -- making major contributions to the code. Rioli not only blazed a path for family members and other Tiwi Islander footballers, he was a staunch supporter of the NT creating its own team, in 2008, to play in the QAFL. Supported by the federal government, the NT Thunder has been a huge success, creating pathways for young indigenous players who in turn have become community role models.

"He was held in high regard by all our indigenous players," Thunder chief executive Stuart Totham said yesterday. "He worked in the local (Tiwi Islands) Shire so he worked with the indigenous players on a day-to-day basis. He was a particular supporter of our desire to teach players what was required to achieve at a high level.

"He went to WA and dominated there then went to Victoria and was one of the first indigenous players to dominate there. It's a big loss. He was one of the pathfinders."

Andrew Faulkner, additional reporting: AAP

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/maurice-rioli-he-made-footy-an-art/story-e6frg7mf-1225976462726

Quite amazing(yet not surprising) how much coverage Maurice's death has received considering his relatively short time in the game at AFL level.
The tributes have been flowing for this super talent and obviously he had an impact on many.

Offline one-eyed

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #53 on: January 23, 2011, 03:00:47 PM »
St Mary’s farewell

RICHMOND will  pay tribute to its late champion Maurice Rioli when the Tigers host a function in Darwin on the eve of their clash with the Indigenous All-Stars in a fortnight. While the match will be played on Saturday, February 5, at TIO Stadium, from 7pm, the night before club great Dale ‘‘Flea’’ Weightman, who played alongside Rioli during his time at Tigerland, will host an evening with many indigenous stars present at the iconic St Marys Football Club. Rioli died after  a heart attack on Christmas Day. For any supporters heading up north for the game who would also like to attend the function, contact the club for more details.

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/bennelong-summer-of-tennis-20110122-1a0rz.html

Offline one-eyed

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #54 on: February 01, 2011, 05:45:42 AM »
In Alice Springs on Friday, the Indigenous All-Stars will take on Richmond. Before the game and at half-time there will be a tribute to Maurice Rioli for his contributions as a footballer, a parliamentarian and a leader of his people.

The players are expected to wear black arm bands to pay their respects.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tribute-to-an-afl-trailblazer-20110131-1ab5v.html

Offline Mr Magic

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #55 on: February 04, 2011, 08:29:49 AM »
In Alice Springs on Friday, the Indigenous All-Stars will take on Richmond. Before the game and at half-time there will be a tribute to Maurice Rioli for his contributions as a footballer, a parliamentarian and a leader of his people.

The players are expected to wear black arm bands to pay their respects.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/tribute-to-an-afl-trailblazer-20110131-1ab5v.html

Hopefully it will be included as part of the ABC coverage tonight.

Offline mightytiges

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #56 on: February 04, 2011, 04:01:06 PM »
With the game cancelled hopefully the Club can organise another time to pay tribute to Mr Magic say prior to round 1 or in some meaningful way by naming something after him.
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Offline Oiafi

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Re: RIP Maurice Rioli
« Reply #57 on: February 04, 2011, 04:05:16 PM »
With the game cancelled hopefully the Club can organise another time to pay tribute to Mr Magic say prior to round 1 or in some meaningful way by naming something after him.

Perhaps at our game in Darwin against Port.