St Mary’s captain Shannon Rioli says he enjoys the pressure his famous last name puts on him; recalls how family members have helped him win six NTFL flags
ALL over Australia, ‘Rioli’ is a famous name, as St Mary’s captain Shannon Rioli has discovered – even in innocuous situations. But it’s hard work that will get the Territory’s elite juniors into the AFL, like his legendary family members. Not necesarilly if you carry a well-known name like his, as he explains in this SPECIAL FEATURE.
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IT was only when St Mary’s captain Shannon Rioli was walking the streets of Perth that he realised just how celebrated his family name is right around Australia.
“You hear the stories like ‘your dad (the late Sebastian Rioli – a star at South Fremantle in the 1970s) was a superstar, your dad was a champion’,” Rioli told the NT News.
“And you hear stories about Uncle Maurice.
“In Darwin you’re almost spoiled.
“Whereas if you go down to Perth, my dad and Uncle Maurice are worshipped down there.
“I remember walking down the street one day and someone said ‘hey’, looking me up and down.
“I thought ‘he’s going to get stuck into me or something’.
“But then he said ‘you walk like a Rioli’.
“And I said ‘oh jeez, I’ve never heard that one before’.
“This was 40 years after my dad was there.
“So there’s that fascination with our family.”
The late Maurice Rioli – a former Northern Territory and Western Australia captain, as well as a St Mary’s legend – has a long list of achievements.
He’s a WAFL premiership winner (1980), two-time Richmond best-and-fairest (1982-83), Norm Smith Medal winner (1982), two-time Simpson Medallist (in WAFL grand finals) and a VFL Team of the Year member (1983).
But 29-year-old Shannon – a multiple NEAFL title winner with NT Thunder and a six-time NTFL premiership winner with St Mary’s – said he always loved the pressure to live up to his family name while growing up.
“People always ask if it puts pressure on you, especially for someone like Maurice Jr (who is training with his late father’s club Richmond now),” Rioli said.
“But I think it almost gives you a foot in the door when people go through a team sheet.
“They’ll say ‘oh yeah this guy Johnson, Smith, Jones, whatever, oh Rioli. What number’s he? Is he 33? Or 17? All right, we’ll see how he goes’.
“If you don’t live up to the name then you’re under the pump.
“But if you play all right or do something a bit special, people will think ‘oh Maurice did that’, or ‘Cyril did that’, or in a couple years time it’ll be Willie or Daniel, Maurice or even (brother) Dean.”
Shannon enjoyed the challenges his younger brother Ben, 27, and an NT Thunder Team of the Decade member, set him while growing up.
“There was a strong sibling rivalry there. We came all the way through Thunder and St Mary’s together,” Rioli said.
“He was winning all the trophies and I wasn’t.
“He cleaned up with all the awards and let me know about it.
“It appeared that we were competitive, but we always had each other’s backs. Before games we made sure we gave each other a hug and pumped each other up. If I gave him a spray or he game someone a spray, we’d check each other.
“Whether it was good or bad we always had each other’s backs.
“It was always special to play alongside family.
“Even now cousin Randall or Stephen will message me and say ‘we’re coming to watch you play – make sure you get a kick’.
“If we go back to the club they’ll let me know if I didn’t get a kick or if I only had an all-right game.
“There’s always that pressure to perform for family, but there’s a great sense of pride too.
“It’s always something I can look back on when footy is done and dusted, and look at everyone else as well.”
With such strong family foundations and the want to compete so heavily ingrained in his psyche, it is no wonder Rioli is still smarting from his Saints outfit’s 13-point loss to Nightcliff in the 2019-20 NTFL grand final in March.
This was despite the Green Machine’s massive collective improvement after winning the wooden spoon just a season earlier.
“You go so far from where we were the year before, but to get so close it certainly was a kick in the guts, because we did all the hard work,” Rioli said.
“You’re almost at the peak and then you fall off … There’s that emptiness there.
“Some people take a lot of satisfaction going from the bottom to almost the top.
“But for the guys like myself who have won a few flags and have had success at this club, it does leave a lot of emptiness and a lot of hunger.
“Everyone here wants to win a flag. I’m the only one here with a wooden spoon next to my name as St Mary’s captain.
“So I want to try and balance that out with a flag. That’s a big motivating factor for me.
“For the guys who haven’t won a flag at the club we want them to taste that experience and success.”
Last season Rioli, with six NTFL premierships to his name, said he wanted to win 10 flags – and that goal has not changed.
“I want to try and get to 10, like Iggy (Vallejo),” Rioli said.
“My uncle Cyril and Uncle Noel Long got 11, and Michael Athanasiou got 12.
“I probably won’t get to their level, but if I can get 10 it’s a good goal because Iggy is someone we all look up to here at Saints.”
Rioli admits he had his opportunities to follow in the footsteps of his famous uncle Maurice or brother Dean (a 100-gamer for Essendon) and make it to the AFL. Not to mention recent AFL premiership winners – Shannon’s extended family members Daniel and Willie Rioli Jr, and Hawthorn legend Cyril Rioli, who won four flags with the Hawks, including the 2015 Norm Smith Medal.
“I got invited to the State Combine in 2010 with (Tiwi star) Dion Munkara. We went to Adelaide and did some testing there,” Rioli said.
“I don’t think I was that close because I didn’t actually speak to any clubs.
“I got a letter from Geelong and North Melbourne, I think. And I spoke to a guy from Freo, but I don’t think it was anything official.
“I should’ve stayed at South Freo in 2010 and done the full pre-season and played the 2011 season.
“But I came back to Darwin and played at Saints and Thunder, and won a flag at Thunder.
“I won alongside Andrew McLeod, Jason Roe and the Ilett brothers (Cameron and Jarred), which was really special to me.
“You look back and you do have your what-ifs. And that’s one thing I look back on being the age I’m now at – it’s something I want to pass on to the younger kids.”
Rioli says hard work and persistence – more than being a household name – can get today’s crop of elite Territory footballers into the AFL.
“Don’t rely on being a Rioli or a Long or a Stokes or an Ah Mat or a Motlop – any of those famous names in the Territory, or a McLean,” he said. “You want to just do your best.
“You look at someone like (Wanderers star) Beau O’Connell who is one of the most talented kids I’ve ever seen.
“He won the (2019-20) Nichols Medal and he’s super fit. You look at Joel Jeffrey and his dad (Russell) played AFL.
“He’s got that heritage. But you also look at how hard Joel’s working as well to make himself ready to get drafted, and hopefully he does.
“Same with Maurice (Jr) – he’s working his backside off from where he was two years ago.”
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