‘So sad’: AFL icon missing from Hawthorn centenary celebration

Cyril Rioli was a notable absentee during the Hawks’ centenary celebrations with the rift between the footballer, his wife and Hawthorn yet to be mended.

Cyril Rioli was missing from Hawthorn’s centenary celebrations on Sunday and the reason for his absence has saddened commentators across the AFL.

The Hawks legend was the most notable absentee at the event where the football club celebrated 100 years in the VFL/AFL during their Round 8 flogging of Richmond at the MCG.

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Some of the greatest players in the history of the club were welcomed onto the ground and were given a standing ovation from some spectators.

Premiership-winning captain Jarryd Roughead was one of many that walked around the ground holding one of the club’s 14 premiership cups.

Four-time premiership winning coach Alastair Clarkson was also part of the celebration despite his messy exit from the club in 2021.

While Clarkson’s feud with the club appears to have thawed in recent years, there are no signs Rioli will ever patch things up with his former club.

Leading football reporter Caroline Wilson noted Rioli’s absence when speaking on Channel 7’s Agenda Setters on Monday night.

Cyril Rioli and Shannyn Rioli arrive ahead of the 2016 Brownlow Medal. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

“It was an unbelievable celebration, and people there at the function called it a line in the sand moment,” Wilson said.

“Aunty Joy (a local Indigenous elder) was there, she spoke — strong Indigenous leader, Aunty Joy.

“But there was sadness, for me, that there were some who weren’t there. And I don’t want to be a party pooper, but it’s just so sad that one of the all-time greats, Norm Smith Medal winner, four-time premiership player, Cyril Rioli, didn’t go.

“He was in Melbourne and he didn’t go.”

Rioli has previously said he retired from football prematurely in 2018 because of “a long list of racist and culturally insensitive issues” he said he faced at the club.

The mercurial footballer was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the club alleging that he was the subject of racism and racial discrimination during his time with the Hawks.

The Hawthorn racism scandal came to an end in November, 2024, after the football club settled its Federal Court case with Indigenous former players and their families.

Rioli filed the lawsuit, alongside his wife Shannyn Ah Sam-Rioli, former teammates Carl Peterson and Jermaine Miller-Lewis, Mr Lewis’s partner Montanah-Rae Lewis and ex-Hawthorn Indigenous mentor and adviser Leon Egan.

Alastair Clarkson carried a premiership cup alongside Jordan Lewis.

Cyril Rioli waves goodbye at the 2018 AFL Premiership Grand Final parade. Picture: David Caird.

Hawthorn made a public apology to the group when the settlement was announced.

Rioli and his wife said in the documents they felt “culturally unsafe” at the club.

Rioli also made allegations his former mentor Clarkson had made racist comments towards him.

Clarkson repeatedly denied the allegations of racism throughout the saga. The AFL launched an inquiry into the claims made by Rioli and the other players but ended it last year with no findings against Clarkson, Lions coach Chris Fagan or former Hawthorn official Jason Burt.

Footy commentator and Agenda Setters host Craig Hutchison said it was understandably “too hard” for Rioli to return to a club function.

“You can understand his healing and his view on that,” he said.

“I think it would have been a bridge too far for him to go, in the situation that they’ve been in, this soon.

“He was in Melbourne supporting his family which is great, but yeah, too hard for him to attend on the day.”

It was claimed in documents submitted to the Federal Court there was a “final straw” incident that occurred in June, 2018, when Rioli and his wife attended the club’s Indigenous round game in Launceston.

Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett congratulates Cyril Rioli. Pic: Michael Klein.

It was alleged that at the airport the club’s then president Jeff Kennett saw her ripped jeans and said words to the effect of “can’t you afford to buy thread?” and “I’ll give you change so you can afford to buy thread to stitch those jeans up”.

Rioli said he requested two weeks off training and began considering quitting the club.

He announced his retirement soon after and decided to move back to Darwin to be with family.

Wilson said it was a real possibility that neither Rioli or Clarkson would attend — before talks behind the scenes convinced Clarkson to take part in the celebration.

“It wasn’t easy getting Alastair Clarkson there. It’s great he was there,” Wilson said.

“He wasn’t down in the rooms (before or after the game, as others were), there were big questions about whether he would attend the function, but he did in the end agree and want to go to the game and be part of that.

“There were sensitive negotiations, they went on for most of the week, over Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday — great he was there.”

Clarkson had a messy falling out with the club after he was moved on with a full season running on his contract. The club gave Clarkson a tap on the shoulder in order to promote Sam Mitchell to the top job in another ill-fated succession plan.

According to reports in 2021, Clarkson left after negotiating a settlement worth around $900,000.

Four years can be a long time in football.

Originally published as ‘So sad’: AFL icon missing from Hawthorn centenary celebration