Another masterclass by Maurice Rioli Jr sets up a qualifying final win over the Tiwi Bombers
ANTHONY Vallejo was only half joking on Saturday night when he said he hoped Maurice Rioli Jr would not be drafted by AFL giants Richmond this year
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ANTHONY Vallejo was only half joking on Saturday night when he said he hoped Maurice Rioli Jr would not be drafted by AFL giants Richmond this year.
Rioli, the 17-year-old son of the late Maurice Sr, who won the Norm Smith Medal with the Tigers in their losing 1982 grand final, was outstanding in St Mary’s qualifying win over the Tiwi Bombers.
Rioli’s defensive work — including several rundown tackles — was crucial in restricting the free flowing Bombers to seven goals.
“Maurice is a star and a really good kid, I hope he doesn’t go to Richmond,’’ Vallejo said with a grin.
“I’ve said it before and can’t speak highly enough of Maurice, he really is a readymade AFL player.’’
Vallejo and his players worked hard to hold the Tiwis to a losing score, the coach pointing to his back six of Rioli, Tylah Saunders, Jacob and Jake Long, Tom Davies and Braxton AhMat as architects in the 31-point win.
“Tommy Davies was fantastic, Braxton AhMat has come on in leaps and bounds this season, Jake Long did a very good job on Ross Tungatalum and Tylah shut down Aussie Wonaeamirri,’’ Vallejo said.
“It was a tough game, we’ve got some sore boys to get ready for next week after the Tiwis threw everything at us, they’ve got some fantastic players in their side.
“We were a bit undisciplined in the third quarter, and I had a bit of a spray at the boys for going away from our game plan after giving away downfield free kicks and a couple of 50 metre penalties they scored from.’’
Tiwi midfielder Nathan Djerrkura is confident a refreshed Bombers outfit will be ready for Southern Districts in the knockout first semi-final.
“We know how Districts play and we’ve beaten them this season, so the boys will hit the track this week to get themselves right,’’ Djerrkura said.
“Dion (Munkara) and Ashton (Hames) will be back and Jack Monigatti as well.
“We got a pretty slow start which didn’t help, but we’ll live and learn from that and definitely bounce back hard.’’
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