Why Maurice Jr wants to join Tigers over FreoWest Australian
15 Nov 2018Sorry, Fremantle fans. Maurice Rioli Jr wants to be a Tiger.
The 16-year-old son of late Richmond and South Fremantle champion Maurice has the choice of which club he would like to nominate for under the AFL’s father-son rule, or can elect to ignore both clubs and go into the 2020 national draft.
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.
But it’s not looking good for the Dockers, with Maurice Jr declaring he wants to follow in his late father’s footsteps at Richmond.
“I barrack for Richmond and see (cousin) Daniel (Rioli) on some weekends, so hopefully I’ll get to play for the same team my dad played for,” he told NT News.
“But right now I’m a St Mary’s player, all my family played there and that’s what I’m doing right now.”
A student at Melbourne’s Scotch College, the same school that his relative and four-time Hawthorn premiership player Cyril Rioli attended, the promising forward/midfielder was one of St Mary’s best in their NTFL loss to Tiwi on Saturday.
He was one of four Riolis in the team alongside captain Shannon, Ben and Brayden, the exciting younger brother of Tigers premiership forward Daniel.
It was a big day at Bathurst Island with Tiwi Islander and West Coast star Willie Rioli coming home with the AFL premiership cup alongside coach Adam Simpson and forwards coach Jaymie Graham.
Cyril, who returned to the Northern Territory after retiring from the AFL, turned out at Saints training last Tuesday and “looked a million dollars” but is yet to pull on the green and gold this season.
Link to vision of MR jnr here:
https://thewest.com.au/sport/fremantle-dockers/why-maurice-rioli-jr-wants-to-join-richmond-over-fremantle-dockers-ng-b881021998z
