Port supporter on BF talking about Maurice Rioli junior:I'm a commentator for ABC for the Northern Territory Football League, I covered the match he debuted in and I even work with the OP of this thread doing footy journalism up there. As for biased, not a Tigers fan or even a St Mary's fan.
At the very least it's not like the debut was a token appearance. He made about 3 or 4 more appearances last season and played Round 1 again this year. He hasn't played Round 2 or 3 and I believe once he comes home from school he will play the majority of the season in the Under-18s as St Mary's tend to get progressively stronger as the season goes on. It's obviously a far worse level of football but worth mentioning he's played a bit of senior footy with Imalu Tigers in the Tiwi Islands FL, the club that pretty much every Rioli started out at. He also went to the Under-16 Championships last year for NT.
In terms of his ability, he doesn't look out of depth at Premier League (NTFL A Grade) level but at the same time he doesn't have much of an impact. He has ferocious intensity and bravery; he will literally throw himself at opposition players to make a tackle and I'm surprised he hasn't injured himself yet. He has great footy vision and is very crafty, does the one-percenters well and has great acceleration off the mark. Good use of handball and not afraid to play contested footy despite his size, whether it be a pack around the ball or going for a contested mark. These are the pros.
However, there are some downsides to his game. The major deficiency is that he has very little kicking penetration especially off one foot. He struggles to kick further than 30-35 metres at times and the kicks are usually low enough that they can be intercepted after 15 to 20 metres. He doesn't have a lot of stamina, although this is something that will only improve in time along with his strength and size. The kicking penetration really is the big weakness though. There's a few 15/16 year olds playing seniors at the moment and unfortunately I can comfortably say the majority of them have offered more so far.
In terms of his personality, I met him last year when he did his first media engagement on a radio show I was co-hosting. He is very, very nervous around people he doesn't know but it's to be expected when he lived on the Tiwi Islands for most of his life and unlike some of the Riolis had two Tiwi Islander parents. He is definitely Richmond-mad due to his dad and also Daniel, who he is very close with. As I'm sure many of you know he has already met and had dinner with the Hardwicks and I believe Richmond are helping him attend school down south like Cyril and Daniel did. I honestly think that if the Fremantle or Essendon recruitors him they are terrible people and it would go a long way towards making him want to come home early. He's a lot closer with Daniel than Willie which kind of negates the WA argument.
In short, he has had a good taste of senior footy in the NTFL with St Mary's. He has terrific intensity and footy vision akin to Cyril and Daniel, but has no kicking penetration which combined with his size hinders his impact on games. He's an okay talent but behind some other 16 year olds in the NTFL. Very shy type and needs to go to Richmond for welfare reasons.
https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/15-year-old-maurice-rioli-jnr-to-make-senior-debut.1181254/page-27#post-58653592
