AFL 2023: Willie Rioli the x-factor Port Adelaide need in the finals
After a slow start to the season, Willie Rioli is showing exactly why the Power chased him so hard, SIMEON THOMAS-WILSON reveals what has changed.
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Willie Rioli is back to his damaging best.
And it is coming at the perfect time for Port Adelaide.
The Power were keen to bring Rioli to Alberton to replace the goals, skill and x-factor that Robbie Gray produced for Port Adelaide.
And ahead of the finals the 28-year-old is showing exactly why the Power chased him so hard.
After being ranked as the 32nd highest rating small forward in the competition by Champion Data from round 1 to 16, Rioli is ranked fifth in the position from round 17 to 23.
His two score assists a game in that period is the third best in the competition for a small forward.
His 2.4 forward-50 ground balls is ranked fourth, his 4.8 marks ranked fifth and his 2.2 goals ranked sixth for small forwards from round 17 to 23.
This stellar run of form by Rioli has come as no surprise to 2018 premiership teammate at West Coast Will Schofield.
“He was one of the most talented players I ever played with at West Coast,” the CODE Sports contributor and host of the Backchat podcast said.
“His forward craft and just his football IQ is very high so put him in the right environment and it isn’t a surprise that he is going well.”
Schofield has watched his former teammate closely this season and said what had coincided with his purple patch of late was a tactical move by Power coach Ken Hinkley.
“I think he has been playing a little closer to goal over the last month,” Schofield said.
“I know he does like to play up the ground a little bit. We definitely used him at West Coast, I remember him being in the last centre bounce of the 2018 grand final, he had the ability to play higher.
“I think with Port Adelaide’s structure and the way their midfield is going at the moment they need a stay at home small forward and I think he is looking pretty close to that.
“And that suits him, his goal sense, his tackling, his ability to win one-on-one. He does that better than most.
“I’ve enjoyed watching him since he has come to Port Adelaide, not just the last month, to be honest.
“He is fit, whether that is stuff that happened at West Coast or not, when he is fit he has a high work rate, gives repeat efforts and his one-on-one ability to beat anyone small or tall he looks like he is moving over the ground really well.
“He looks just electric and when he is like that he is pretty much unstoppable because he can move in directions especially as a backman, I played on him a bit at training, he just does stuff that not many others can do so he is so unpredictable with his movement.
“And when he is fit and moving like that there is nothing you can do really.”
Port Adelaide’s midfield featuring Connor Rozee, Zak Butters, Jason Horne-Francis and Ollie Wines gets most of the plaudits for the Power’s strong season to date.
But Schofield said the Power’s small forward stocks were also a big weapon for Hinkley’s side.
“I really love what Sam Powell-Pepper is doing down there this year. He has been playing forward for a couple of years but he is just a weapon,” he said.
“And Willie Rioli is a different player to Sam Powell-Pepper but when you combine the two as stay at home small forwards, you don’t really get too many stay at home forwards of the smaller variety there might be one at each team.
“Sammy does play a bit higher but their forward line is really dangerous and when you combine that with what they are doing in the midfield it is a pretty good combo.
“Every player is different but I think we are starting to see less of that small nippy forward in the comp and even Willie can do stuff above his head that puts him in that class alongside a Toby Greene-type where they are small in height but they can play taller.
“He can jump, he can run, the ones as a defender that are difficult are the ones when it comes in and they don’t fly and they get themselves in the perfect spot. I think Willie does that really well.
“He is always in the spot where the ball is going to be and I think as a defender you can’t ever switch off.
“You might get it right nine out of 10 times but the one time you don’t he kicks a goal and if he does that three or four times a game there’s four goals.”
Rioli made the move to South Australia from the Eagles at the end of 2022 for a fresh start, after three turbulent years where his indiscretions have been very much public.
The Eagles made their disappointment of Rioli requesting a move away well and truly public, with a debate ensuing around whether he owed them for standing by him.
Schofield said Rioli on the field and what had happened off the field were two different things.
“Willie is a really strong character and to be honest I don’t think the off field stuff is that relevant to what happens on the field,” Schofield said.
“I think football is a sanctuary and it should be and when we start seeing personal things start to be talked about in the media.
“I know he is a person and I do separate the person and the player so I think the things he has gone through off-field, whether it be indiscretions, loss, grief I look at that as Willie the person and then I look at Willie the player.
“They do have some overlap but I think we do get a bit confused talking about those two things in conjunction because they are different things.
“And that is why with social media and what goes on there I think people forget that they are two different things, Willie Rioli the person and Willie Rioli the player and I think everyone would do well to remember that more often.”
In 2023 he twice had to deal with receiving racist abuse online after games, while he missed the Power’s Round 18 loss to Carlton to venture back to his native Tiwi Islands for the one-year anniversary of his father’s passing.
As part of this milestone and the ceremony around it, Rioli reverted to his birth name Willie after going by Junior as is custom for 12-months.
In July he told Port Adelaide’s website “I get my name back. My mum can stop carrying the (visual) pain of a widow”.
Schofield said he was just happy for his former teammate.
“I’m happy that he is doing well,” he said.
“Clearly the way he left West Coast it wasn’t the way anyone wanted it to happen, it wasn’t the way Willie wanted it to happen, it wasn’t what West Coast wanted and it probably wasn’t what Port Adelaide wanted either.
“But I’m just happy that he looks like he is enjoying footy and having fun because guys like that, Liam Ryan, Lewis Jetta, all my Indigenous brothers that I played with at West Coast when they are happy and having fun their ability takes over.
“They are scary when they are in the right headspace so I’m just really happy it looks like he is having fun.”
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