AFL 2024: Maurice Rioli Jr talks Tiwi Islands, on-field improvement and designing Dreamtime jumper
He’ll be in the stands for Dreamtime on Saturday night, but injured Richmond forward Maurice Rioli Jr has an extra reason to be excited about his teammates running out at the MCG.
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He’s not quite ‘home sick’, but Maurice Rioli Jr does find himself missing aspects of life in the Tiwi Islands.
The Richmond forward has become accustomed to the big city, having relocated from Melville Island to Melbourne for boarding school at Scotch College in early 2018.
But some day he expects to move back to his treasured home in the Top End.
“I miss it all the time. But home’s always going to be home,” Rioli Jr said.
“Our parents always said to us when we were moving away from home, ‘We’re on an island but it’s not going to float away, it’s always going to be there’.
“I’ll probably move back home when I’m a bit older. After footy I’ll probably stay in the city for a bit. It’s awesome here, but I love going back home for holidays.”
Rioli Jr and his nephew — fellow Tiger Daniel Rioli — led a group of 10 Richmond players on a trip back to the Tiwi Islands in February.
They visited the Rioli’s home community of Pirlangimpi, holding football clinics for local children and giving teammates including Jacob Hopper and Jack Ross an insight into their upbringing.
“Just to show them where we grew up was pretty special to us and it helped us build that bond and get a bit closer,” Rioli Jr said.
“We got to take them to the area where Daniel and I and everyone else went camping and fishing and hunting in the dry season.
“A lot of the kids recognised the players from the TV and it was just a surreal experience for them to see them in real life.”
‘KICK IN THE BACK’
The off-season trip to the Tiwi Islands came on the back of a tough 2023 for Rioli Jr.
There were hamstring issues and form woes, which meant the 2020 father-son selection only played 10 senior games.
Rioli Jr was caught on camera refusing to take a phone call from the coach’s box after being subbed out of a game against West Coast in round 18, highlighting his frustrations.
“It was a bit of a mistake there,” he said.
“But everything’s all cool now. I just laugh about it. It was just a heated moment at the time and I wasn’t playing great footy and I probably saw it coming (being subbed out) but I didn’t really expect it.”
In the early part of this season, Rioli Jr got back in his groove.
The 21-year-old felt fitter and his confidence levels grew on the back of that as he was able to have more impact on games.
Against Sydney in round 3, he recorded a career-high 17 disposals and six tackles.
In round 6 against Melbourne, he racked up 14 disposals, seven marks, four tackles and kicked two goals.
“This year I took initiative and got out there and just played the way I wanted to play,” Rioli Jr said.
“I trained hard in the pre-season just to get my body right and get where I needed to be. It’s my role to get up and down the field and I love doing the team stuff. It brings me into the game.”
Rioli Jr lost his father — two-time Richmond best-and-fairest winner Maurice Rioli Sr — to a heart attack on Christmas Day in 2010.
But he gets the sense that his dad would be proud of how his football career is progressing.
“I reckon last year, if he was alive, he’d kick me in the back and tell me to pull my head in,” Rioli Jr said.
“But I think this year he’d be so proud and happy with the way I’ve been going about my footy. It’s hard not having him around, but I know he’s always going to be there in the corner, supporting me from above.”
‘BIGGEST SUPPORTER’
The request came through from Richmond’s Indigenous leadership director Angela Burt in the lead-up to last year’s Dreamtime game.
Plans were already afoot for Sir Doug Nicholls Round in 2024 and Rioli Jr was approached to design the Tigers’ jumper.
He had quietly been hoping that he would be asked to assist and later decided to also involve his mother, Alberta Kerinauia.
“I was going to do it by myself, but my mum’s an artist so we flew her down,” Rioli Jr said.
Richmond printed out some blank jumper graphics and mother and son went back to the Hawthorn home of Rioli Jr’s host family to get straight to work with some pencils at the kitchen table.
“I told mum to do her own design and then I did mine,” Rioli Jr said.
“Then we headed back into the club, because it only took a couple of hours to do it. The club said, ‘Why don’t we put them both together?’”
The end result was a jumper design which features both a crocodile and a turtle on the front.
The crocodile is the totem for Alberta’s family, while the turtle represents the Rioli side of the family.
A line that runs through the sash represents the path that Rioli Jr’s parents created for him and spears on the back of the jumper symbolise hunting, as well as ancestors defending their family.
There is also a nod to Rioli Jr’s late father on the back, with a small graphic of him.
“Mum’s really happy with it,” Rioli Jr said of the jumper.
“She is my biggest supporter. She has always been by my side and has always been supporting me to get away from home to pursue my career in footy. There’s more opportunities down here than up there.”
UNTIMELY INJURY
Rioli Jr had been looking forward to wearing his own Dreamtime jumper for months.
Less than two weeks ago, those dreams were shattered when he suffered a syndesmosis injury in the final four minutes of the round 9 match against the Western Bulldogs.
He has since had successful surgery and hopes to be back on the field in eight weeks’ time.
But on Saturday night, he will be in the stands at the MCG sitting alongside his mother Alberta and sister Maria.
“I was pretty upset after the (Bulldogs) game because I knew I wasn’t going to play,” Rioli Jr said.
“But it’s pretty special to still have my mum come down … and to watch it live and watch all my teammates and my nephew Daniel run out.”
The injury-hit Tigers sit second-last on the ladder, with opponent Essendon at the other end of the table in second spot.
Rioli Jr just hopes for his teammates can do his jumper proud.
“As long as they put up a good fight, it doesn’t matter if we win or lose,” he said.
“It will be awesome just to be there and witness it.”
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Originally published as AFL 2024: Maurice Rioli Jr talks Tiwi Islands, on-field improvement and designing Dreamtime jumper
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