Another Rioli?

[Smokin]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22055023-5012734,00.html

Electrifying Rioli boots seven
By Grey Morris
July 11, 2007 CYRIL Rioli gave his AFL draft prospects a boost yesterday when he booted seven goals for Northern Territory in the under-18 championship match against Queensland at Victoria Park.

Rioli, who turns 18 on Saturday, is the nephew of former Richmond great and 1982 Norm Smith medallist Maurice Rioli and former Essendon stars Dean Rioli and Michael Long.

He was electrifying at full forward in Territory Thunder's 26-point win over the favoured Queenslanders.

The Essendon connection could see the St Mary's (NTFL), NT Thunder and Scotch College product at Windy Hill next season if Kevin Sheedy and his recruiting staff can stitch up a deal.

Cyril Rioli's uncles - Dean Rioli (100 games) and Norm Smith medallist Michael Long (190 games) - were celebrated players with the Bombers.

And he had some interested observers watching him from the boundary line yesterday.

Essendon forward Alwyn Davey, his broken left arm in a sling, two-time Essendon premiership player Long and his dad Cyril "Junior" Rioli watched every mark and kick.

Other draft hopefuls who played in Thunder's winning side yesterday were Peter Rolfe from Alice Springs, Marlon Motlop, Trevor Oliver, Cameron Stokes and Austin Wonaeamirri.

Stokes (Sturt) and Wonaeamirri (Norwood) are playing in the SANFL.

Oliver, the best player on the ground yesterday, is a regular at WAFL club East Perth.

The Rioli-inspired Northern Territory booted six goals to one in the last quarter to overrun a Queensland side that led for the first three quarters.

In another twist, Thunder coach Damian Hale, the "other" person in the Chris Tarrant incident at a Darwin nightclub last month, took charge of his last match before he resigns next month.

Hale is challenging sitting member Dave Tollner for the federal seat of Solomon in the Northern Territory.

what do they mean by doing a deal with us exactly? As in we Rookie list him, and get him directly by him bypassing the draft??

 

[Longy413]

I can only presume Grey Morris knows little about the AFL drafting system. Or by deal, he means we can trade our way into an early pick. I don't think he'll go that early anyway.

We have no claims on him, we'll have to draft him like any other club.

 

[jodo27]

And one also wonders if Sheeds is not there whether we would chase him anyway ?

 

[Longy413]

We would if he's the best player available with our pick.

 

[jodo27]

Agreed. but that focus may change with a different coach (I suspect Sheeds will still be there anyway and it would be nice to get Rioli)

 

[hewer]

Agreed. but that focus may change with a different coach (I suspect Sheeds will still be there anyway and it would be nice to get Rioli)

yeah he's meant to be a bit of alright though... so yeah would be good to see him run around

 

[windyhill]

As if all the clubs below us are going to go " Yeah, he is a star in the making I`d love to see him play for Essendon, and then sit back and watch him kick our heads in, how romantic"

 

[hulld]

he was terrific kicking 7 goals seeing as he didn't really have any praccy games leading up to the carnival. he had been injured for beginning of the season.

he probably won't be a top 10 pick mainly because of his size but it wouldn't worry or surprise me if we took him with our first pick.

he has stated in the past that he wants to play for us so other clubs may be hesitant to pick him up

 

[bossco]

Get Junior Boy! If he is still there he will be our first pick without a shadow of a doubt.

 

[carnthedons07premiers]

anyone got a picture of him?

 

[bossco]

he was terrific kicking 7 goals seeing as he didn't really have any praccy games leading up to the carnival. he had been injured for beginning of the season.

he probably won't be a top 10 pick mainly because of his size but it wouldn't worry or surprise me if we took him with our first pick.

he has stated in the past that he wants to play for us so other clubs may be hesitant to pick him up

178 cm, thats a good size

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Remind me again why we would go after ANOTHER forward..how many do we want! We have our current crop plus Gumbleton, Johns as well. I would rather use our first pick for a quick midfielder or a ruckman. We do not need any more forwards to be honest.

 

[mattdavies_03]

As if all the clubs below us are going to go " Yeah, he is a star in the making I`d love to see him play for Essendon, and then sit back and watch him kick our heads in, how romantic"

Yeah, I think the clubs have learnt their lesson. Think of all the Indigenous talent that we have drafted in the past couple of years, Clubs have been torched by the likes of Lovett, Lovett-Murray, Jetta, Davey, Ryder. There's no way they will let us get Cyril as a late pick. We'll draft him 1st round if we really want him, but there are no guarantees, as Melb, Carl or even the Tiggers may get him first.

But having said that, if we can somehow get him 1st or 2nd rnd, then get Darcy Daniher as a F/S in the 3rd rnd, will be a great draft for us

 

[ant555]

Remind me again why we would go after ANOTHER forward..how many do we want! We have our current crop plus Gumbleton, Johns as well. I would rather use our first pick for a quick midfielder or a ruckman. We do not need any more forwards to be honest.

He does normally play midfield but he was carrying an injury into the champs so he was used as a forward.
I am not completly sold on taking him with our first pick but it seems a lot of people in general rate him as first round pick.
As for drafting a ruckman at number one , no thanks unless Kreuzer is somehow available when we come up to the table.

 

[GoDons]

It's an interesting one. He would certainly add to our plethora of indigenous talent.

At the moment, I have a few doubts as to whether he's the man for us. He reminds me a bit of Richard Tambling, he can look all class as a receiver but when it comes to winning his own ball he can find himself out in the wilderness. He doesn't look like a genuine centre square player, but more of a flanker. Given that we have Nash, McPhee, Lovett-Murray, Lovett, Welsh, Davey, Monfries, Jetta, Ramanauskas, Cole and Reimers, we're pretty well off for those types of players.

Then again, he is a talent, he's keen on Essendon and he's good enough to be better than most of the aforementioned players.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

He does normally play midfield but he was carrying an injury into the champs so he was used as a forward.
I am not completly sold on taking him with our first pick but it seems a lot of people in general rate him as first round pick.
As for drafting a ruckman at number one , no thanks unless Kreuzer is somehow available when we come up to the table.

Have a close look at our side..considering Laycock is one of our ruckmen..I think we DO need a ruckman with one of our first two picks! I would however take a midfielder withour first pick, ruckman second. As GoDons said, we already have enough options in the area Rioli would help!

 

[ant555]

Have a close look at our side..considering Laycock is one of our ruckmen..I think we DO need a ruckman with one of our first two picks! I would however take a midfielder withour first pick, ruckman second. As GoDons said, we already have enough options in the area Rioli would help!

Have a look at this years draft and tell me if we should use a number one pick on ruck talent that clearly isnt great. Yes we need a ruckman but we dont want to waste picks on kids who clearly arnt early round picks.
Like i said if by some miracle Kruezer is still around for our first pick then yes we do take him. Otherwise the ruckmen in this draft are not worthy of a number one pick. There will be some ruckmen that will go later in the draft that we can pick up.On top of all this it will take 2 to 3 years for any of them to make an impact.
By the way incase you havnt noticed i said i wasnt sold on Rioli as a first round pick. At no stage have i said we should go for Rioli in the first round. I simply said that Rioli was more than just a small forward. He can play as a genuine midfielder.There are a couple of other good midfielders that i would prefer in front of him.

 

[Tundrawolf]

Would love him at Freo where we(South Fremantle) have had Rioli's since 1972 when Sebastion(Deans dad) arrived from St Mary's.

Sebastion, Maurice, Jon, Cyril, Willie, Clinton and Dean all made the trip to Fremantle Oval over the years, it would be nice if Cyril Mark II found his way there!

 

[Rexcellent]

he was terrific kicking 7 goals seeing as he didn't really have any praccy games leading up to the carnival. he had been injured for beginning of the season.

he probably won't be a top 10 pick mainly because of his size but it wouldn't worry or surprise me if we took him with our first pick.

he has stated in the past that he wants to play for us so other clubs may be hesitant to pick him up

no, he has said that he wants to go to Essendon, but doesn't mind where he ends up as long as he plays

other clubs won't be put of by that

 

[GoDons]

Have a close look at our side..considering Laycock is one of our ruckmen..I think we DO need a ruckman with one of our first two picks! I would however take a midfielder withour first pick, ruckman second. As GoDons said, we already have enough options in the area Rioli would help!

I'm always pessimistic about taking ruckment with early picks unless they're supremely talent ina particular area. Guys like Leuenberger, Fraser, White and now Kreuzer have gone early because of their terrific agility and athleticism. Laycock went early because of his great marking ability. Whilst guys like McEvoy and Bellchambers have ability, they don't seem to stand out to mine as being exceptional in any one area. There's a high possibility that they won't amount to much.

I think we're better placed to try our luck with a later pick, in the pre-season draft or in the rookie draft. I actually favour the pre-season draft because that allows the club to invite guys down to train with them and get a good look at them, see if they're good enough.

If I were Essendon, I'd be going at a midfielder with the first pick. I'm less than convinced that Rioli will amount to a midfielder but if he's the most talented midfielder/flanker around when we come into the draft, I think we should definately take him, even if we do have a lot of options in his area of expertise.

In summary, I'd look for a lesser known ruckmen, possibly a guy like Phoenix from the NT and take a midfielder with the first pick.

I'm also hoping that we're in a position to snap up Naitinui next year to further beef up our ruck stocks. That guy is loaded with talent.

 

[GoDons]

no, he has said that he wants to go to Essendon, but doesn't mind where he ends up as long as he plays

other clubs won't be put of by that

It played a part in Raphael Clarke going to St. Kilda a few years back.

But you are correct, if a team with an earlier pick than Essendon wants him, they will get him.