It’s 10 years today, Christmas Day 2010, since Richmond great Maurice Rioli Sr passed away. The following tributes from four of Rioli’s top Tiger teammates paint a vivid picture of his on-field brilliance.
Kevin Bartlett
“I played just the two years with Maurice – 1982 and 1983 – but when I picked the best team of Richmond players I had played with, in a book I did (‘KB: A Life In Football’), I had no hesitation in including him in it.
“In 1982, which was his first year at Richmond, we made the Grand Final and he won our Best and Fairest.
“In 1983, he lost the Brownlow Medal to Ross Glendinning by one vote and, if he had have won, he would have been the first Indigenous player to win the game’s most coveted individual award.
“Francis Bourke believes Maurice was the greatest tackler to ever play the game. His chasing and harassment of the opposition was amazing, as was his ability to zig-zag his way out of trouble.
“He was loved by all his teammates at Richmond. He was very quietly spoken, but a person of great determination.”
Michael Roach
“He was the best tackler that I’d seen at Richmond . . . he was a tackling machine. None of us had ever seen anything like that. It just never happened back in our day.
“He’d even be a better player now. Back in those days there was the diet and stuff like that. There was none of that. Now, with training full-time . . . he’d just be a better player now.
“His awareness of what was around him, what was going on, was amazing.
“Maurice was just awesome.
“He wasn’t a real powerful kick, but it (the ball) just lobbed in your arms. You didn’t have to change stride. Maurice would loop it up and it would just land in your arms. You didn’t have to change stride. He’d actually kick it to where you should be . . . ‘You just go there and I’ll put it in your hands’.
“It was just a dream as a full-forward to have him kicking the ball to you. He was a great player. Being a left-footer was always handy, too.
“And, although he was fairly quiet, he had a burning desire to succeed, and was a fierce competitor.”
Dale Weightman
“He didn't talk much, but he let his footy do the talking, and he was poetry in motion.
“Pure class, silky-smooth, a great ball-handler, a great dodger and weaver, and a beautiful left-foot kick.
“He always seemed to have time and he never lost his feet – he had unbelievable balance.
“He was ahead of his time with his tackling.
“He'd say (to teammates), ‘Hey brother, you've gotta draw from the hips like a gunfighter.’ That's how he wrapped them up and made sure he didn't go too high.”
Brian Taylor
“He was just one of the greatest natural talents I have ever seen.
“He was the best tackler in his day and is still the best tackler I have ever seen.
“There was nothing better than being at full-forward and leading to Maurice Rioli.
“There are only a few players in your time that you can lead to with great certainty, you knew they could put the ball where it needed to be put. Maurice was certainly one of them.”
