AFL 2022: Richmond wins Dreamtime at the ‘G clash as Tiger stars suffer setbacks
Richmond could be without Tom Lynch for multiple weeks but premiership star Dion Prestia says 2022 is starting to feel a lot like 2019 for the Tigers. Here’s why.
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Flag hero Dion Prestia believes Richmond can replicate its famous premiership feats again this year despite the likely absence of hamstrung star Tom Lynch for up to a month.
The Tigers take on Sydney on Friday night with Lynch (hamstring) and Kane Lambert (hip) out but Jack Graham (toe) a certainty to return to the side.
Richmond is hoping scans show Lynch’s injury is on the minor end of the scale but if they show it is a recurrence of the pre-season hamstring tear, the Tigers will be determined not to rush him back.
Lynch has been monumental in 2022 with 31 goals in 10 matches but kicked 0.4 as the Tigers cruised to a fourth-straight win, while Lambert will again be sidelined with the hip issue that has restricted the gut-runner to only four matches this season.
Richmond has a bye after the Swans clash and then takes on Port Adelaide, with no obvious key-position replacement for Lynch.
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Sydney Stack (three VFL goals) will be strongly considered while the club’s fifth selection last year in Judson Clarke (pick 30) is closing in on a debut as a dynamic half-forward.
Prestia revealed on Sunday the Tigers had deliberately attempted to sped up their speed of ball movement to get the ball into Lynch and evergreen forward Jack Riewoldt.
Now Riewoldt will have to again fly the flag while the Tigers rotate one of their ruckmen through a key forward post.
Lambert will have a fortnight’s break as he manages a hip injury that has Richmond’s coaches and medicos in awe of his capacity to play despite significant pain.
Prestia told ABC Radio the Tigers’ campaign had a similar vibe to premiership triumphs with only Lynch, Lambert and Noah Balta (hamstring) in the rehab group.
“To be honest, it feels pretty similar to 2019, we were about 7-8 at the bye and we ended up winning every game from there,” he said.
“It was a similar story in 2017, we got to the bye and only lost two games in the last 12, so it definitely feels the same. I don’t think we had anyone in the rehab group two weeks ago.
“We have added a few with Tom Lynch and Noah Balta but I just think we have been able to stay pretty healthy throughout my time at Richmond, and it helps a lot.
“We have changed our style of play over the last few weeks, going a bit quicker to get it into Jack and Lynchy so they can go one-on-one so giving us the licence has helped a bit.”
He said Maurice Rioli Jr, who again set the MCG alight with two goals and five tackles, was also benefiting from the swifter ball movement.
“He is pretty cheeky with that big smile and I think he has just been given the opportunity. He was playing pretty good pressure with his footy and since he’s come in it’s chase-down tackles and setting up goals. He has only played five games and the more he plays the more confidence he will get. Our fast game style suits him perfectly and it is great to see him playing great footy.”
Coach Damien Hardwick said Graham was certain to return after a painful toe injury.
“He was touch and go (against Essendon). We thought he was no chance. He pushed and wanted to play such a significant game and then at the captain’s run he just decided he wasn’t quite right,” Hardwick said.
“We had fit players. Jack Ross came in and did a really good job, but Jack will be available to play next week at this stage.”
Hardwick has already confirmed Lynch and Lambert would sit out next week’s blockbuster Friday night clash against Sydney before a timely bye the following week.
“Those boys won’t play next week. We’ll assess the damage and go from there,” Hardwick said.
“(Lynch) went down, he felt something, (but) we’re not too sure of the significance.
“He probably didn’t have his goalkicking boots on today but had four or five shots on goal before he went off, so he was in good form.”
The triple-premiership coach conceded he was concerned about Lambert, who is crucial to Richmond’s setup.
The Tigers win more than 70 per cent of games when Lambert plays, compared to 48 per cent when he doesn’t.
“It’s concerning, any other player wouldn’t be playing, to be honest,” Hardwick said.
“What he does to get up for games is incredible.
“We thought we were probably going to get one, at maximum two games (out of him) but he’s played the last four.
“It probably shows you how important he is, all of a sudden we start winning games.
“His leadership both on and off the field is really important.
“He does get effectively a two-week break now with the bye coming as well.”
The coach called on Richmond’s developing talls to step up with Lynch’s key-forward position now up for grabs.
“We were probably looking for some key forwards to step up so we’ll have a look at our VFL (team) and see how they perform.
Tigers’ brutal injury cost of win as Bombers fly flag
— Owen Leonard and Scott Gullan
Richmond’s stunning rebound back into premiership contention has continued despite a hamstring injury to star forward Tom Lynch, heaping more misery on a disappointing Dons campaign with a ninth-straight Dreamtime win.
The Tigers will be sweating on the prognosis of Lynch, who sits second in the Coleman Medal race and was forging an arguably career-best season before being benched with ice wrapped around his hamstring at three-quarter time.
But Richmond managed to see off an improved Essendon outfit in his absence, claiming a fourth consecutive win and buying some breathing space at the bottom end of the top eight.
The backline Tiger trio of Jayden Short, Liam Baker and Dan Rioli was prolific, while Dion Prestia – claiming the Yiooken Award for best-on-ground – was at his industrious best through the midfield.
Maurice Rioli lit up the first half with a pair of majors, with the electric Shai Bolton proving a point-of-difference with speed and skill throughout the contest.
Jack Riewoldt, now 33, could’ve easily booted six if not for a pair of set-shot misses, scoring four goals in a youthful display.
The win was also soured by an injury to Kane Lambert, however, who was subbed out with hip soreness.
Lambert has been restricted to only three games in 2022 in an injury-plagued season.
The Bombers had a point to prove after being labelled submissive through the week and set about making a statement from the get-go, with a host of Dons defenders remonstrating with Tigers spearhead Lynch for a late push in a marking contest early in the first term.
But Dylan Shiel – the man at the centre of the scrutiny after being taunted by Swans star Luke Parker last week – again looked like a player lacking confidence moments later, when he fumbled a seemingly simple ground ball in a moment symbolic of he and his team’s 2022 season so far.
Essendon, to the club’s credit, did show patches of its 2021 form in the game’s remainder but never seriously threatened a Richmond side on a mission to return to its dynasty-building best.
BOMBERS FLY FLAG BUT CLASS PREVAILS
It took six minutes for the Matthew Lloyd statement.
When Richmond’s centre half-forward Tom Lynch cannoned into the back of Matt Guelfi after arriving late for a marking contest, the Essendon faithful held its breath.
Flying the flag had been put on the agenda by Lloyd after he was outraged at how the taunting of Dylan Shiel by Sydney’s Luke Parker went without any remonstration by his teammates a week earlier.
Thankfully Andy McGrath and Sam Draper got the memo during the week as they were quickly over to let Lynch know that wasn’t going to go unchecked this week.
The second statement - which we’ll call the Mark Johnson statement in honour of the hard nut from the Bombers 2000 premiership team - came five minutes later when Mason Redman buried Tiger Shai Bolton into the dirt in the middle of the MCG with a brilliant tackle.
Tackling had also been on the agenda after the Sydney debacle. They only had 30 for the game against the Swans. After 16 minutes against Richmond they already had 10.
By quarter-time that had grown to 20 tackles compared to Richmond’s 11 with Redman leading the way with three while Shiel, Archie Perkins and Zac Reid all had two.
The result of all this was a seven-point margin Richmond’s way which was considered a major win by the Bombers.
Unfortunately Essendon ran out of ink for any more statements in the second quarter.
It took them eight-and-a-half minutes to go inside 50 for the first time and at the 23-minute mark they’d only had five tackles for the quarter.
This allowed Richmond to make plenty of their own statements which included five goals to two.
Emotion can only go so far before class and system take over. Sadly Essendon are lacking both at the moment.
At least they still flew the flag in the second half despite never really getting close enough to make the Tigers nervous.
High elbow to the throat from Redman, he could be in big trouble.
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) May 21, 2022
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When young ruckman Nick Bryan kicked the first goal of his career in the third quarter his teammates came from everywhere.
Richmond co-captain Toby Nankervis had been less than impressed with the free-kick that had been rewarded to Bryan so decided to make his presence felt in the Bombers huddle.
A sizeable scuffle broke out but while that would get a tick from Lloydy, he would be blowing a gasket again in what happened a couple of minutes later.
Essendon big man Peter Wright, who’d already had a dirty night, dropped a basic chest mark which turned the ball over, allowing Jayden Short to pump the ball back into Richmond’s forward line.
That high ball fell 20m out where Essendon skipper Dyson Heppell sat under it and then proceeded to also drop a chest mark. The ball spilled with Shai Bolton doing what he does so well, seizing on a small error and turning it into a brilliant goal.
Class over emotion. Tick
DREAMTIME BACK AT THE ‘G
Dreamtime was back the ‘G for the first time since 2019 following editions in Darwin and Perth on the back of Victoria’s Covid lockdowns.
The sporting mecca glowed before the city skyline as fans flocked from Richmond Station and flowed in from Yarra Park’s tree-lined paths for the AFL’s annual celebration of Indigenous culture.
Pre-game entertainment was sparked by Electric Fields and rocked by King Stingray while The Long Walk’s participants graced the hallowed turf along the boundary line.
Crowd members’ phone torches sparkled around the ground with the light towers switched off for cultural performances, before now-retired Bomber Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti – one of the most electrifying Indigenous players of the modern era – briefly entered the arena in a show of support for the club he officially farewelled on Friday.
Each team’s War Cry marked the start of the battle, with Richmond’s – centred around Shai Bolton, Shane Edwards, Rhyan Mansell and Dan and Maurice Rioli – rousing the Tigers’ faithful.
CANBERRA CLASH
The on-field jumper blunder – both clubs opted for predominantly dark guernseys – wasn’t the only clash of the night, with the highly-anticipated match going head-to-head with the Federal Election.
While vote-counters went to work around the country, Dion Prestia and Trent Cotchin laboured on the inside, Dan Rioli dashed liberally on the outside and Maurice Rioli was as disruptive as a teal independent with a pair of first-half goals in an exciting display.
Essendon’s tackling was almost as scrutinised at Scott Morrison’s through the week – the Bombers laid just 30 of them last Saturday night and the Prime Minister was front-page news for accidentally nailing a young schoolkid during a friendly game of campaign-trail soccer – and the Dons almost surpassed their round nine tally in only a half, laying 27 by the main break.
SCOREBOARD
Richmond: 2.3 7.5 9.12 11.14 (80)
Essendon: 1.2 3.3 6.3 7.6 (48)
BEST
Richmond: Prestia, Baker, Short, Riewoldt, D. Rioli Cotchin
Essendon: Redman, Parish, Merrett, Heppell
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Bolton 2, Edwards, Castagna, Soldo
Essendon: Hobbs 2, Waterman, Bryan, Francis, Perkins, Shiel
INJURIES
Richmond: Lynch (hamstring), Lambert (hip soreness)
Essendon: Guelfi (TBC)
REPORTS
Richmond:
Essendon: Mason Redman (striking)
UMPIRES
Power, Brown Meredith
CROWD
70,226
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dion Prestia 3
Liam Baker 2
Jayden Short 1
RIOLI OPENS UP ON FATHER AND TIGER LEGEND’S DEATH
— Lauren Wood
Maurice Rioli Jr just wishes he’d had more time.
“MJ” had just turned eight when he lost his famous dad — a man who not only embodied family life, but also football greatness.
The most formative years of a young man’s life were still to come as he kicked footballs with his family members and friends in Pirlangimpi, in the Tiwi Islands.
“I wish I had my dad when I was growing up,” Maurice Jr says.
“And to have him teaching me a lot more about footy and hunting.
“I’m lucky enough to have families and people that are friends who became close to me … luckily I had people around me who supported me through it all, especially my mum.”
It was Christmas Day in 2010 when his father, Richmond champion Maurice Rioli, collapsed at a family event. It was a fatal heart attack. He was just 53.
A Norm Smith medallist and a Tiger great, yes. But more importantly he was a father to MJ and his siblings, both older and younger.
Now 19, MJ talks to his mother, Alberta Kerinauia, nearly every day from Melbourne.
She still lives on Melville Island, not far from where Maurice Sr’s grave sits adorned with a photo from his time at Richmond. Born and then buried at Pirlangimpi.
MJ now calls Punt Road home after he was taken as a father-son selection at the end of 2020.
He’s playing alongside his nephew, Daniel, whose own father Bradley became “like a dad” to MJ in the wake of Maurice’s shock death 12 years ago.
MJ’s memories are unfortunately anything but vivid — bar one in particular, when his father took him out in a bid to teach him how to shoot.
“I was very young (when he passed),” he says.
“I remember he tried giving me his gun to shoot once. He went out into the middle of the road and stood up a bottle and told me to shoot it.
“I was young and said ‘no, I’m too scared’. It’s funny now — but I was so scared at the time.”
There’s few regrets, but one still burns.
“I wish he had taught me a bit more about footy growing up,” the 19-year-old says quietly.
Childhood days were filled with hunting, shooting, swimming and looking for wallaby.
It was a far different life to the one MJ found himself in at 15 when he moved south to board at Melbourne’s Scotch College, where his cousin, Hawthorn great Cyril Jr, had also boarded.
He spent Year 9 in Darwin before the big trip at the encouragement of his mother, who backed her boy to “get out of the community”.
In Melbourne he became close with a schoolmate and then moved in with his friend’s family as Melbourne endured lockdown after lockdown.
MJ’s nephew Daniel — six years older — was already here, playing for Richmond, after moving to Ballarat on a similar pathway, boarding at St Patrick’s College when he was 14.
Both missed home and had contemplated leaving at times. They were rugged-up teenagers in the big smoke who wondered whether they had made the right call.
But Pirlangimpi would always be there, they were often reminded – and told each other.
“I never thought this would ever happen – being two Riolis at the same club,” Daniel said.
Their girlfriends Paris and Madina are also pillars of support.
“I never thought that would even happen and then that one year (2020) got closer and closer and there was speculation that he might come as a father-son (pick) to the club,” says Daniel.
“It’s just really special.”
ISLAND DREAMING
The Dreamtime at the ’G clash with Essendon is one of football’s biggest events, under lights at the home of football.
And it couldn’t be further from the street lights the Riolis became used to as kids, kicking around Coke bottles or bound up balls of socks as makeshift Sherrins.
“We never used to have an oval under lights back home,” Daniel says.
“We always used to wait until it was really dark and then the street lights would turn on along the road. We’d play football outside near the lights, and that was pretty cool back then.
“It was really fun and then looking back at it now, we’ve played on cement under the street lights and now we play AFL footy at night under bright lights.
“In front of no one, to 60-odd thousand people. It’s something pretty special and we’re really grateful about now, and it’s something that we’ll treasure for the rest of our lives.
“We always think about how lucky we got. When you’re kicking a Coke bottle around, that’s where you started from and now kicking an actual footy out on the MCG, is pretty remarkable.”
Footy was life for MJ in Pirlangimpi.
Fifteen minutes by light plane from Darwin, the remote and picturesque spot was formerly known as Garden Point Mission, where the Catholic Church placed young children from the Stolen Generations.
Many records don’t exist – others with plenty of gaps.
There’s a legend floating around that it was one of the Catholic brothers who introduced an inter-Tiwi competition, where Hawthorn champ Cyril Rioli’s father once said they “got stuck in” to footy for real.
The Tiwi Islands – and most specifically, Pirlangimpi – has produced three Norm Smith Medallists. Maurice Sr, Michael Long and Cyril, and with Daniel’s three Richmond flags added and cousin Willie’s 2018 triumph, a total of 10 premiership cups.
Despite the island’s glory, the silverware only visited for the first time at the end of 2019 when Daniel made a sacred journey to Maurice Sr’s resting place with Richmond’s prized cup.
The church still plays a role in the kids’ footy up there nowadays, in a way.
“We love fishing and playing footy. If you’re not playing footy, then you’re probably out fishing,” MJ laughs. “We’d kick on the paddock, and on the church lawn, always.
“Now, it’s the MCG, Optus (Stadium), Marvel. It’s just unreal.”
LEGACY LIVING ON
Maurice Rioli Sr arrived at Richmond for the 1982 season, having played 121 games for South Fremantle.
There’d been two best on ground medals before he got to Punt Road, adding a third in his first season in yellow and black – the first player to win the Norm Smith Medal from a losing side. He played 118 games at Richmond, and is widely considered one of the best players to ever pull on the jumper.
Determined, albeit quiet, was how he was remembered by former teammate Kevin Bartlett a few years ago.
Tigers legend Francis Bourke declared him the best tackler he had ever seen.
Rioli Sr returned to South Fremantle after leaving Richmond at the end of 1987, before turning his hand to politics and serving in the Northern Territory parliament from 1992 until 2001.
And he was always watching, Daniel recalls.
“He always used to love fishing, hunting, going out on country,” he says.
“There’s a chair sitting (at favourite spot Wulawunga Beach), and I always will have memories of him, like we would go fishing or walk on the beach and he’s always sitting there looking at us, just keeping an eye on us and making sure we don’t go swimming with the crocodiles.
“He was always that real figure that everyone knows that you felt safe around. There’s a lot of stories that you get told as well.”
MJ doesn’t feel any pressure bearing one of the club’s most famous names now that he treads the corridors at Tigerland.
“I didn’t really think of it at the time. I don’t really think of it at all,” he says.
“I’m just myself pretty much, and that’s how I feel. I’m myself. My dad is my dad – he’s always going to be the great Maurice Rioli. He’s a different player to me. I love watching replays of him. He was amazing.”
Daniel is determined to ensure his young uncle is recognised as his own man.
“I think he’s a completely different player to his dad. Everyone’s expecting son of Maurice, he’s going to be like his dad,” he said.
“He’s a different player. His dad was a pure midfielder. He’s a small forward, apply the pressure. You can see that and how damaging that is. People have to know that he’s not going to be exactly like his dad – he’s going to be a great player in his own right.”
CHASING A DREAM
Chasing was a non-negotiable in Pirlangimpi footy. Duck, weave, chase, win. Again.
It’s become something of a trademark for this next generation of Riolis, who many say bear the blessed bloodlines of the superstars that have gone before them.
Things just happen.
As teammate Shane Edwards joked recently, there must be something in the water up Tiwi way when it comes to chasedown ability.
“It was always competitive,” Daniel beams.
“There was a lot of tackling – we never used to think of the offensive side like getting the ball in our hand. It was always ‘I’m going to chase you, I’m going to run you down’ and it probably stemmed from that.
“Now, obviously in the AFL system, you see that happening and Maurice is probably one of the key players that do that now.
“So I think it’s stemmed from growing up as a kid, you always used to be competitive and always have the mindset of chasing. But now it’s what we pride ourselves on.”
Maurice – who played his first two games in front of no crowds as the pandemic gripped the competition – doesn’t feel nervous, as such, with five games and five goals now under his belt.
“As soon as I’m on the field or when the siren goes, that’s pretty much it – I leave everything behind,” he says.
So what would dad think about all this?
“Definitely he’d be super, super proud,” Daniel says, almost bursting with that himself as he gives his uncle a nudge.
“(Maurice) obviously would have liked his dad to be here, watching live in person, but there’s no doubt he’d be up there watching with a big smile on his face with how proud he is of both of us playing. He’d be so proud, no doubt, with the way he’s going. He hasn’t put one foot wrong … and he’s got a long future ahead.”
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