Hawthorn urged to release Cyril Rioli into midfield to find form and help kickstart Hawks’ season

AS HAWTHORN looks for answers and a spike in form from its premiership heroes to kickstart its season, the answer could be in an old plan: throw Cyril Rioli into the midfield.

Cyril Rioli is down on his usual impact this year. Picture: Michael Klein

HAWTHORN has been urged to use Cyril Rioli as a midfield wildcard as he battles the worst slump of his magnificent career.

As Hawks vice-captain Isaac Smith on Wednesday admitted his team was playing “bloody hopeless” football, Alastair Clarkson is demanding his All-Australian stars lift.

One of those is Rioli, who after a month of action has career-low figures in every key footy statistic.

He is averaging just 61 rankings points per game and recording 10-year lows in disposals (11.3), marks 2.8), goals (0.8), score involvements (five) and pressure points (22.6).

All of those key figures are rated as poor or below average by Champion Data, with Rioli seemingly uninjured apart from a Round 1 corked leg.

Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton, 200-gamer Ben Dixon and recently retired star small forward Brent Harvey on Wednesday defended Rioli’s workrate.

Cyril Rioli is down on his usual impact this year. Picture: Michael Klein

But Dixon said it might be prudent to inject the 27-year-old into the midfield more given his time spent onball percentage of 20 per cent is his lowest since 2011.

“I have been watching him closely and he is still getting to the right spots, but the Hawks just keep breaking down with ball movement and the forwards are getting starved,’’ Dixon said.

“It could be Cyril plays as the fifth midfield or high half-forward and he can cause that unpredictability. No one knows what the little master is going to do.

“They need a line-breaker and Isaac Smith needs more help and he can provide that.

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“It would do him the world of good, but also give Hawthorn more pressure around the midfield.”

The Hawks are generating 48 inside 50s a game — ranked last — down from an eighth-ranked 54 last year.

Rioli has just 3.3 from four games this season after 47 goals last year, the biggest tally of his career.

Brereton said for the first time in his career, he was just out of touch.

“His pace is still there, his sidestep and freakish talent to evade is still there,” Brereton said.

“To me right at the moment he is having one of those good cases where you use that Jack Dyer terminology: he is going where the ball ain’t.

“He doesn't know how to bludge, he doesn’t know how to ease back, he is just going where the ball isn’t.”

AFL games record holder Harvey said on Wednesday he had made a focus of watching Rioli in Monday’s loss to Geelong.

“I am not saying he isn’t working hard, but when I used to get tagged early on everything came back to workrate,” Harvey said.

“At the end of the day if you work hard you get your hands on the footy. If you are prepared to do that your form slump goes away quickly.

“Individually (going into the midfield more) would help him out, but collectively I don’t know if Hawthorn wants that to happen.

Cyril Rioli and teammates Tom Mitchell and Luke Breust leave the MCG after another loss. Picture: Getty

“Do they want Jaeger O’Meara and Tom Mitchell and Billy Hartung getting their hands on the ball with Cyril still playing forward?”

Smith on Wednesday backed the club to bounce back but admitted on RSN their season had been terrible so far.

“It’s Round 4 and we have lost four games and been playing bloody hopeless footy, but footy turns around pretty quickly,’’ he said.

“We need to change a few things but hopefully that first win comes this Sunday. Footy doesn’t take to long to turn around.

“We went from being very good and losing a qualifying final by less than a kick — and I remember that one — to playing some pretty hopeless footy.

“So we are confident we can turn it around and play some pretty good footy.”