What happened with Rioli and Sydney for those who remember ?.
They made him a huge offer. Was going and for whatever changed hid mind
When he came back he requested that he no longer wear number 17 as he felt he didn't deserve to. Moved onto number 27
Rioli was all but gone. The good doctor Edeleston poached him with a huge money offer.
We refused to clear him though, Sydney couldn't fit him into a already busted salary cap and a stand-off resulted. He sat out some games and then eventually came back with tail between his legs.
Was never the same player again unfortunately.
What hurt more was that Cloke and Raines had both left because Graham Richmond wouldn't give them a few more dollars to match what Rioli was getting. We ended up losing all 3 effectively and that was the start of our 30 lost years.