Son of late South Fremantle, Richmond champion Maurice Rioli's promising start at AFL under-16 championshipsJordan McArdle,
PerthNow
2 July 2017FREMANTLE and Richmond could be set for a father-son tug of war in a few years after the son of a South Fremantle legend’s promising start at the AFL National Under-16 Championships.
At just 14 years old, Maurice Rioli Jr — the son of late WAFL and VFL champion Maurice — impressed in his recent debut for the Northern Territory against Tasmania.
Maurice Jr’s father played 168 games for the Bulldogs and 118 at Richmond, meaning both the Dockers (150-plus games for eligible WAFL club) and Tigers (100-plus VFL games) can snap him up under the father-son rule in his draft year.
He has the choice of which club he would like to nominate for, or can elect to ignore both clubs and go into the 2020 national draft.
AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan said while it was too early to tell whether he would make it to the top level, he felt there were plenty of encouraging signs.
“His courage, ball-winning ability and use of the ball — all of those things were pretty impressive,” Sheehan said.
“He no doubt has some of the traits of the father, he’s a right-footer though, so you don’t see the classic Maurice disposal.
“He was among the most possessions (14) for the NT playing as a fifth and sixth role up in the forward-line — that’s quite an amazing effort for such a young kid when they were beaten by about 80 points.”
Maurice Jr, a Tiwi Islander who boards at Darwin’s St John’s Catholic College and plays juniors for NTFL side Darwin Buffaloes, boasts some of the best football bloodlines.
He has three Norm Smith medallists in his family including his late father, who made a name for himself in the WAFL — including a premiership in 1980 and three Simpson medals — before a decorated VFL career at Richmond.
Current AFL footballers Daniel Rioli (Richmond), Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn), Willie Rioli (West Coast), Ben Long (St Kilda) and Jake Long (Essendon) are all relatives of Maurice Jr.
“We say that the NT team won’t go around without a Motlop, Long or Rioli around — whether it’s 16s or 18s there will be one there, and that’s been the same for 20-odd years,” Sheehan said. “They’ve made a wonderful contribution to our game at so many levels.”
NT under-16s coach Jimmy Driscoll said the raw talent still had a lot to learn.
But he was a good chance to feature in the team’s final two games against NSW/ACT (July 11) and Queensland (July 15).
“He’s still got another year in the 16s so we’re just looking to get games into him,” Driscoll said.
“He’s a ripper kid and we’re trying to teach him about the higher-lever stuff.”
Brett Peake – the son of WA football league Brian Peake who played the majority of his 400-plus game career at East Fremantle – is the only father-son draftee in Dockers history.
Peake made 75 appearances for Fremantle from 2005-09 before finishing his AFL career at St Kilda, where he played 43 games.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/son-of-late-south-fremantle-richmond-champion-maurice-riolis-promising-start-at-afl-under16-championships/news-story/b245e9ab7a4e8079e672e27d2b95e802
