One-game Wonders: Ex-North Adelaide captain John Riley recalls court injunction stopping him from playing more games at Footscray
Every AFL player has a story about their debut – even those who never played again. Part four of our One-game Wonders series is an ex-Bulldog whose VFL stint was stopped by a court injunction.
Local Footy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Footy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
He was the SANFL captain who created headlines after switching to the VFL while under contract, ended up at the centre of a state football legal battle and only played one game for his Victorian club.
John Riley had been North Adelaide’s skipper in 1982-83 and a one-time Roosters best and fairest when he caused a stir by accepting an offer from Footscray for the 1984 season – Mick Malthouse’s first as a senior coach.
Riley lined up for the Bulldogs against Richmond at Whitten Oval in round one of that campaign.
Not before a Supreme Court challenge from North and an anxious wait in a lawyer’s office a day before the Tigers game, not knowing if he would get his chance.
He did but there was soon an injunction that stopped him from playing in the VFL and Riley ultimately returned to North, where he finished his career with a premiership.
Reflecting 35 years later, Riley concedes he was “young and naive” to sign with Footscray while under contract at the Roosters.
But he says he wanted to test himself across the border and had a “pretty compelling offer” from Bulldogs general manager Shane O’Sullivan, whom he knew.
“It took me a while to make the decision but I thought ‘let’s have a go at doing this’,” Riley, now 61, remembers.
“It wasn’t the best decision I ever made in the world but it was certainly an experience.
“Being a uni student and someone offering a lot of money, they got me a place to live that was fully furnished and took me to a caryard and pick a car (Mazda RX-7) – it was a different world.
“I went and trained with them, played a few practice games with Footscray.
“There was a lot of angst between the VFL and SANFL at that particular time about stealing players and the SANFL, was very keen to make a stand and a statement.
“Footscray’s lawyers managed to hold off the injunction and basically said ‘hop on a plane and play the next day against Richmond’.”
Riley finished his sole match with four kicks and four handballs as Footscray beat the Tigers by 39 points.
Doug Hawkins, Brian Royal and Simon Beasley, who booted 11 goals, were among his teammates that day, while Michael Roach, Maurice Rioli and Mark Lee featured for Richmond.
“My preparation was terrible because I’d been sitting in lawyer’s offices for that week and then on Friday night Malthouse gave me my instructions for the next day,” recalls Riley, who played on a wing and at half-back.
“It wasn’t a fantastic game from what I remember.”
Riley reckons he could tell that Malthouse, who went on to become a three-time premiership mentor and coach more games than anyone in VFL/AFL history, was very driven, and “you could see he was going to do well”.
“But maybe not as well as he ended up doing,” he says.
After the match, North was awarded an injunction, preventing Riley from playing in the VFL.
The Bulldogs were keen to keep fighting the decision so they could hang onto him.
Riley, who had been the subject of intense media scrutiny, was not.
“It wasn’t just about me, it was about the SANFL versus the VFL,” he says.
“I was chased around Flinders Uni, there were people outside my home … so I’d just had enough.”
There was only a fortnight between Riley’s game for Footscray and his first one back playing for North – a defeat to Sturt.
“I had to do my penance and lost the captaincy when Michael Nunan was coach but eventually after two or three games was welcomed back in and the rest was history,” he says.
Returning to the Roosters quickly paid dividends for Riley – on and off the field.
He played in three consecutive grand finals for North from 1985-87, including the ‘87 flag, and met his wife at the club.
Coincidentally, she had been a secretary with the Supreme Court during his case against the Roosters.
“I have no real regrets,” says Riley, who retired from North in 1990 after 250 games.
“Footscray pursued me again and tried to convince me a year or so afterwards to come back and wait till my contract finished, but by that stage North was doing well and I was settled in Adelaide.
“Being part of that era in North Adelaide with some amazing players – the Jarman brothers, Tony Antrobus, Michael Redden – was a fantastic experience.”
Life could have been much different if Riley had managed to stay in Melbourne.
Instead, he has a PhD in atomic physics at Flinders University and is the chief of the weapons and combat systems division at the Department of Defence, Science and Technology, where he has worked since 1988.
His contribution at North was cemented in 2000 when the club named him on a half-back flank in its Team of the Century.
“In the end, looking back, success and being part of the North Adelaide team was worth more than cars and money.”