On the eve of Richmond’s first pick in last year’s National Draft, talented small forward Daniel Rioli, coming up for the first time against his second cousin, Hawthorn superstar Cyril Rioli, in a second-round NAB Challenge match at Beaconsfield, we reprint a story that afl.com ran, leading into last year’s AFL draft combine, about the younger Rioli following in the older Rioli’s illustrious football footsteps.
Daniel Rioli isn't an AFL player yet but he's already backing himself to do something most other footballers can't – run down his ‘uncle’ Cyril.
The cheeky and good-natured 18-year-old is confident for a reason – he's already tested himself against the Hawthorn superstar.
"He tells a great story about chasing Cyril with a frog because Cyril doesn't like frogs. It was quite funny," North Ballarat Rebels coach David Loader told AFL.com.au.
"He reckons he's got Cyril's measure, which is a wonderful confident attribute to have."
Rioli dreams of playing AFL and he surged into top 30 draft calculations, thanks to a stellar NAB AFL Draft Combine.
The Northern Territory youngster registered the fastest 30m repeat sprint in 24.15 seconds (only .14 slower than Cyril ran in 2007) and stopped the clock at a blistering 2.89 seconds over 20 metres.
He claims that if they were running down a wing at the MCG he could catch his uncle "easy", but the young gun has a long way to go to match Cyril's exploits.
Rioli had one of the best seats in the house for the Grand Final as he watched Cyril slot two goals and set up four others to claim the Norm Smith Medal.
Earlier that day Daniel played in the curtain-raiser and took a liking to the sporting mecca, with the clever forward/wingman collecting 19 touches and booting a nice goal to be among the Allies' best players against the NAB AFL Academy.
VIDEO: Training Highlights - Daniel Rioli
"It was awesome," Rioli said.
"The ground was perfect; you're all suited up. I was happy with my performance as well.
"It topped things off with him winning the 'Normie'."
Rioli's eyes light up when speaks about his uncle, who has been a rock to lean on since he moved to Ballarat from the Tiwi Islands four years ago.
"In Year nine, I would go to his house often, every weekend," he said.
"My Aunty Shannyn cooks a lot, but mostly we go out for tea or get a coffee. He takes us out to a restaurant or some nice place.
"This year I haven't seen much of him. TAC Cup has been full on and when you've got a bye you've got to stay down and train, so I didn't really see him much until (the Grand Final)."
Rioli went around to Cyril's house and caught a glimpse of his Norm Smith Medal, but after a night of celebrations his uncle dozed off in a chair soon after he arrived.
The Riolis don't generally talk much footy, although they did chat about the combine.
Cyril famously struggled to complete the 3km time trial in his draft year, while the story goes that he only performed well in interviews with clubs he wanted to play for.
"I spoke to him about the combine and he said not to worry about it, just do your best and be yourself," Rioli said.
"He didn't do too good when he did the combine. He could've done better but he did average. Like he said he was lucky enough to get picked up by the Hawks and he's committed now."
