Daniel Rioli goes viral on YouTube with fishing, lifestyle channel
Most people know Daniel Rioli as one of the AFL’s premier halfback flankers. But he has surged in popularity off-field thanks to the success of his fishing and lifestyle channel.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
To the AFL world he is a triple-premiership winner, club best and fairest and the games record holder for arguably the most famous family name in footy.
But to an ever-expanding pocket of the internet, Daniel Rioli is also, “that fishing guy from YouTube”.
Gold Coast’s dashing defender has made waves since landing at the Suns following his much-publicised trade from Richmond last October.
Alongside ex-Collingwood defender John Noble, the 28-year-old has helped to completely transform the Suns’ ball movement and played an integral role in the club’s 6-2 start to the season.
For good reason, he has quickly become a fan-favourite among the club’s growing fan base. But compared to his time in Melbourne, where he was a key player at one of the biggest clubs in the country during a period of sustained success, he still enjoys relative anonymity in the Sunshine State.
That is, until he goes fishing.
Even a cursory glance at his social media will tell you he is a fishing fanatic. For every snap or reel of him in a Suns jersey, there are 10 more in his trademark white singlet, broad brim hat and wraparound sunglasses.
When he isn’t at training or travelling for games, Rioli and his fiance, Paris, can regularly be found wetting a line either in their backyard – which backs onto one of the Gold Coast’s many canals – or a nearby waterway.
In the six months since he moved north, the Suns’ star has canvased much of southeast Queensland in his quest to find the best fishing spots.
Much of that journey has been documented on his YouTube channel, @rollingwithrioli, which already boasts close to 2000 subscribers – despite an almost nine-month hiatus during last year’s football season.
It has become something of a passion project for Rioli, who admits to leaning on his fiance’s expertise in the social media space.
“YouTube is going well. I probably had a bit of a slump there to be honest but I’m still filming, trying to put things together,” he said.
“I’m still filming and putting things on my Instagram and that. But I’m no good at editing. I leave that to my fiance, Paris. We have a couple of videos coming soon, we just have to put them all together and get it out there.”
Rioli’s fishing vlogs are reeling in tens of thousands of views and have already made him something of a minor celebrity on the creeks and waterways of the Glitter Strip.
So much so that he is now being recognised not for his football achievements, but his estuary expertise.
“I’ve found a couple of good spots – but I’ve probably exposed them too much on my YouTube. Now every time I go back there, people are already there,” Rioli joked.
“It’s funny because I get noticed now a lot just because of my YouTube fishing. They don’t actually know who I am as an AFL player.
“I’ll rock up and they’ll say, ‘mate, I watch your YouTube. You’re the reason I have a cast net, this is why I’m here, because of you’.
“They have no idea I’m a football player, which is nice. It’s a first for me. I love it. I get to meet all these new people.”
Rioli said ex-Richmond teammate Bachar Houli would often invite him out on the boat to fish for gummy sharks but, “I used to decline because it was too early in the morning for me, it was too cold”.
“Now that I have this platform with my fishing, if Bachar ever offers me again I’ll definitely go out,” he said.
“Anything to do with fishing, I’m there now.
“I know Danger (Patrick Dangerfield) loves his fishing. That would be nice, imagine that collab.”
The day after Gold Coast’s gritty 10-point victory over the Western Bulldogs in Darwin, Rioli and some of his Suns teammates went offshore to fish for barramundi.
It was the perfect punctuation to a weekend that combined his two loves, football and fishing, back home in Darwin where it all began.
His dream week continues on Thursday night, when the Suns host Hawthorn at TIO Stadium to open Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
The Suns’ annual trip to the Top End was one of the many reasons Rioli requested a trade last year.
A veteran of big games, playing in three grand finals and having called the MCG home for the majority of his 191-game AFL career, he said there were still butterflies in his stomach before running out on the ground he once won junior premierships on for St Mary’s.
“I got the chance to play up here with Richmond (in 2020) and that was something I will never forget,” Rioli said.
“Now I get the chance to play twice every year up in Darwin. I’m super grateful that I get to have this opportunity and hopefully I can make my family, friends and everyone watching proud. It’s a very special time to be up here and it means a lot.
“Obviously it’s not like a grand final but I tell you what, up here in Darwin they come out in full force. They make the stadium feel like you have 100,000 people watching.
“I still have to pinch myself that I’m playing at the ground I played my junior footy on for all that time. To come back here is pretty much a full circle moment for me.”
Originally published as Daniel Rioli goes viral on YouTube with fishing, lifestyle channel
Warner: ‘Creeping incompetence’ at AFL HQ continues to hurt footy
Andrew Dillon is a decent man and football people want him to succeed. But the AFL CEO is being hamstrung by both his executive team and the commission above him, writes Michael Warner.
AFL embarrassed, umpires fume after botched Schultz investigation
An embarrassed AFL has taken full responsibility for the Lachie Schultz concussion debacle and the incorrect statement which claimed its umpires did not see the Pies star in a distressed state.