Player Watch #17 Maurice Rioli Jnr Re-Signed 2026

[Football Tragic]

It's all about balance. You can't have too many defensive forwards in the F50, no more than you can have too many offensive forwards. If truth be told, we erred on the side of pressure in the past, with Castagna, Butler, Rioli and Townsend all primarily defensive focused. Now we have one player.

Despite MRJ not kicking goals, we actually need MORE players like him imho. Jack, Lynch, Dusty and Bolton are all offensive forwards who apply very little pressure on defenders. It's why this year, the ball is rebounding out of our forwardline as fast as its going in.

So, despite all the big names in there, our forwardline needs a rapid overhaul with Dimma going back to basics. We have been a flag team for half a decade because of our turnover game and defensive pressure. Now all of a sudden were going all out attack?! It doesn't work. Balance. Balance. Balance. Make space for more defensive crumbers and stop this obsession with keeping all our mids in the side.

MRJ should be the second picked forward player after Lynch every week. He is more important to us winning than Jack, Dusty, Bolton and even Cumberland. He creates goals through implied and direct pressure. Without him, teams have all the time in the world to cut through our zone, straight up the corridor and in the hands of their forwards practically unopposed.

Rather than looking at his offensive output, look at how many goals he thwarts and how many he creates, through just pressuring their half backs. I want MORE MRJ's in the side but sadly, all of a sudden, we're very light on for his type.

 

[Coach_Required]

It's all about balance. You can't have too many defensive forwards in the F50, no more than you can have too many offensive forwards. If truth be told, we erred on the side of pressure in the past, with Castagna, Butler, Rioli and Townsend all primarily defensive focused. Now we have one player.

Despite MRJ not kicking goals, we actually need MORE players like him imho. Jack, Lynch, Dusty and Bolton are all offensive forwards who apply very little pressure on defenders. It's why this year, the ball is rebounding out of our forwardline as fast as its going in.

So, despite all the big names in there, our forwardline needs a rapid overhaul with Dimma going back to basics. We have been a flag team for half a decade because of our turnover game and defensive pressure. Now all of a sudden were going all out attack?! It doesn't work. Balance. Balance. Balance. Make space for more defensive crumbers and stop this obsession with keeping all our mids in the side.

MRJ should be the second picked forward player after Lynch every week. He is more important to us winning than Jack, Dusty, Bolton and even Cumberland. He creates goals through implied and direct pressure. Without him, teams have all the time in the world to cut through our zone, straight up the corridor and in the hands of their forwards practically unopposed.

Rather than looking at his offensive output, look at how many goals he thwarts and how many he creates, through just pressuring their half backs. I want MORE MRJ's in the side but sadly, all of a sudden, we're very light on for his type.

I agree, our forward line balance and setup is just wrong. We have too many mids playing forward. We have a Key forward who is no longer able to apply pressure like he used too but too good to drop as he knows how to hurt teams still with his experience.

Having Lynch, Riewoldt & Dusty up forward doesn't leave us with much room. The next 3 need to be pressure forwards who can also hit the scoreboard. For me Cumberland needs to be played. Leaves us with 2 spots, Graham is more a mid but his pressure and tackling leaves Dusty behind. We just dont seem to have the small forward atm, M.Rioli needs time in the 2's to improve his craft and Mansell is not the answer.

 

[Ralll]

Agree with the general premise that he is not playing well besides the occasional run-down tackle.

I think the problem is the instructions he is being given by the coaches as much as his own failures, just a simple rebalancing of not overcommitting to tackles, and not trying to bite off too much in attack.

 

[sanaya]

Good call fair enough.

However 57.9% isnt that great to be teaching someone who kicked at 50% lol Youve also conveniently brushed past turnovers, funny that. Turnovers IMO are far worse than a clanger kick, turnovers generally hurt you on the scoreboard in today's modern game.

I stand by my call D.Rioli didnt have a good game against the pies, in fact it was pretty s**t. This board is quite fickle, it was only a few years ago D.Rioli was where M.Rioli is right now and every one wanted him dropped.

on the glossing over turnovers i just thought that they probably double dip a bit with the clanger tally idk how it fully works, but apparently dan rioli he had 8 turnovers and 7 clangers so i guess that's where you got the 15 out of 25 possession thing even though he had 12 effective disposals. which is 8 turnovers out of 25 disposals. maurice had 3 turnovers out of 8 disposals which again, worse ratio than dan's, which are both terrible %s. and if you add the 3 clangers to the 3 turnovers, that's 6 from 8 disposals although one of his clangers might've been a free kick against if he got done htb, but again, 15/25 vs 6/8 maurice still loses on the ratio, and yes i know that dan is more experienced and plays an "easier" role, but if castagna played like this in his 20th game im sure everyone would be calling for him to be dropped, rightfully so. like i said i was being pedantic

and like i said i'm not challenging that dan rioli had a good game, i agree it wasn't a good game from dan rioli, but he has good standing with me in his role so i'm not worried about him. i'm just not very convinced with maurice at the moment, would like to do some time in the 2s if we're gonna select on merit. but he probably guards grass well so he'll stay in

 

[Coach_Required]

on the glossing over turnovers i just thought that they probably double dip a bit with the clanger tally idk how it fully works, but apparently dan rioli he had 8 turnovers and 7 clangers so i guess that's where you got the 15 out of 25 possession thing even though he had 12 effective disposals. which is 8 turnovers out of 25 disposals. maurice had 3 turnovers out of 8 disposals which again, worse ratio than dan's, which are both terrible %s. and if you add the 3 clangers to the 3 turnovers, that's 6 from 8 disposals although one of his clangers might've been a free kick against if he got done htb, but again, 15/25 vs 6/8 maurice still loses on the ratio, and yes i know that dan is more experienced and plays an "easier" role, but if castagna played like this in his 20th game im sure everyone would be calling for him to be dropped, rightfully so. like i said i was being pedantic

and like i said i'm not challenging that dan rioli had a good game, i agree it wasn't a good game from dan rioli, but he has good standing with me in his role so i'm not worried about him. i'm just not very convinced with maurice at the moment, would like to do some time in the 2s if we're gonna select on merit. but he probably guards grass well so he'll stay in

Its amazing that what was once considered our strength is now bare. I understand what you're saying, I just hate the kicking down attitude of some here thats all.

I agree Rioli should be in the 2's working on his craft after all he is just a kid. We just really have no one ready to take his spot.

 

[rfctigerarmy]

Its amazing that what was once considered our strength is now bare. I understand what you're saying, I just hate the kicking down attitude of some here thats all.

I agree Rioli should be in the 2's working on his craft after all he is just a kid. We just really have no one ready to take his spot.

 

[Coach_Required]

I miss George

 

[evo]

I miss George

And Towner

 

[jc12]

cant believe there is any talk about his form, he has been pretty solid this season, his pressure is something we reaally need and something i actually notice, he just has to improve his kicking

 

[sanaya]

Its amazing that what was once considered our strength is now bare. I understand what you're saying, I just hate the kicking down attitude of some here thats all.

I agree Rioli should be in the 2's working on his craft after all he is just a kid. We just really have no one ready to take his spot.

yeah i'm not for bagging him and it's a mostly selfless role that he's being asked to play, he's doing a lot that he's asked right but there's definitely parts of the game especially with ball that often lets him down

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

It's all about balance. You can't have too many defensive forwards in the F50, no more than you can have too many offensive forwards. If truth be told, we erred on the side of pressure in the past, with Castagna, Butler, Rioli and Townsend all primarily defensive focused. Now we have one player.

Despite MRJ not kicking goals, we actually need MORE players like him imho. Jack, Lynch, Dusty and Bolton are all offensive forwards who apply very little pressure on defenders. It's why this year, the ball is rebounding out of our forwardline as fast as its going in.

So, despite all the big names in there, our forwardline needs a rapid overhaul with Dimma going back to basics. We have been a flag team for half a decade because of our turnover game and defensive pressure. Now all of a sudden were going all out attack?! It doesn't work. Balance. Balance. Balance. Make space for more defensive crumbers and stop this obsession with keeping all our mids in the side.

MRJ should be the second picked forward player after Lynch every week. He is more important to us winning than Jack, Dusty, Bolton and even Cumberland. He creates goals through implied and direct pressure. Without him, teams have all the time in the world to cut through our zone, straight up the corridor and in the hands of their forwards practically unopposed.

Rather than looking at his offensive output, look at how many goals he thwarts and how many he creates, through just pressuring their half backs. I want MORE MRJ's in the side but sadly, all of a sudden, we're very light on for his type.

MRJ needs a co worker.ATM he's so stuffed its showing in his disposal/Decision making.

 

[peternorth]

He will play this week

 

[richoplzbreed]

on the glossing over turnovers i just thought that they probably double dip a bit with the clanger tally idk how it fully works, but apparently dan rioli he had 8 turnovers and 7 clangers so i guess that's where you got the 15 out of 25 possession thing even though he had 12 effective disposals. which is 8 turnovers out of 25 disposals. maurice had 3 turnovers out of 8 disposals which again, worse ratio than dan's, which are both terrible %s. and if you add the 3 clangers to the 3 turnovers, that's 6 from 8 disposals although one of his clangers might've been a free kick against if he got done htb, but again, 15/25 vs 6/8 maurice still loses on the ratio, and yes i know that dan is more experienced and plays an "easier" role, but if castagna played like this in his 20th game im sure everyone would be calling for him to be dropped, rightfully so. like i said i was being pedantic

and like i said i'm not challenging that dan rioli had a good game, i agree it wasn't a good game from dan rioli, but he has good standing with me in his role so i'm not worried about him. i'm just not very convinced with maurice at the moment, would like to do some time in the 2s if we're gonna select on merit. but he probably guards grass well so he'll stay in

Add to all that you wrote about MRJ and the fact that that mark that Lynch took from his pass was an absolute miracle even Lynch wouldn't take it 99/100 it should've been put out in front of him not having to double back into 2 opponents. I think in the 5 games this season MRJ has successfully done one don't argue and maybe broken away once? But he's been wrapped up every other time and run down like a wounded warthog. He's ignored the first option handball practically every time to take em on to wind up caught resulting in a slingshot turnover. I rewatch every game. So many of his sexy rundown tackles when you rewatch he's already running at a flat footed opponent. I absolutely loathed Castagna more than any other player. MRJ is playing at a lower standard than George and needs a spell in the Magoo's where it's slower and he can actually find the pill. Our forward line isn't functioning and he's practically a witches hat ATM.

 

[Football Tragic]

Add to all that you wrote about MRJ and the fact that that mark that Lynch took from his pass was an absolute miracle even Lynch wouldn't take it 99/100 it should've been put out in front of him not having to double back into 2 opponents. I think in the 5 games this season MRJ has successfully done one don't argue and maybe broken away once? But he's been wrapped up every other time and run down like a wounded warthog. He's ignored the first option handball practically every time to take em on to wind up caught resulting in a slingshot turnover. I rewatch every game. So many of his sexy rundown tackles when you rewatch he's already running at a flat footed opponent. I absolutely loathed Castagna more than any other player. MRJ is playing at a lower standard than George and needs a spell in the Magoo's where it's slower and he can actually find the pill. Our forward line isn't functioning and he's practically a witches hat ATM.

Who would you bring in to take his role?

I think there isn't a harder worker on the field. I wouldn't want his role. It is non stop. By the time he gets the ball in his hands he's so done that he finds it hard just to make decisions under pressure, let alone pinpoint a pass, break away from opponents or kick a goal. He needs more support and less defensive passengers around him.

 

[Rocco sifreddi]

Who would you bring in to take his role?

I think there isn't a harder worker on the field. I wouldn't want his role. It is non stop. By the time he gets the ball in his hands he's so done that he finds it hard just to make decisions under pressure, let alone pinpoint a pass, break away from opponents or kick a goal. He needs more support and less defensive passengers around him.

100% imagine if his role was just to play as a pure dangerous small and not have to chase
All game like a madman, he would be electrifying
His kicking deficiency is down becouse he's spent by the time he he gets it.

 

[tigerfan1961]

Has gone at 40% and 50% disp eff. For the last two rounds from 5 and 6 disposals and provides zero threat in the air .

You think he’s in the side to be an aerial threat?

 

[dktm]

averaging 2 tackles a game
not good enough

 

[Lord of the Wings]

Jnr will be the sub. Will add something in the 3rd and 4th with his forward pressure.

 

[Muddiemoose]

Jnr will be the sub. Will add something in the 3rd and 4th will his forward pressure.

Think you are on the money with this one
He’s an impact player that hasn’t quite got that balance of knowing when to go and when to reserve his energy during the game leaving him spent towards the end of qtrs and especially at the end of the game

But could absolutely break a game open if injected late

 

[db26]

Still puzzling his dropped the only player who has had a defence bone first 3 games and does it regularly I know has improvement, but our seniors last week let us down.

 

[Al Heimer]

Yep sub.

On SM-J250F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[tunksy]

Good hasn’t been performing upto his standards of last year.

His disposal has been rubbish

 

[Football Tragic]

I fear that the Doggies are going to rebound the ball out of our F50 and straight down to their goals now quicker than it comes in. Unless Cumberland, Bolton and Dusty suddenly do an about face and become defensive beasts in our forwardline, we're in deep poo-poo.

 

[Bojangles17]

Will benefit with some midfield time at VFL to build his confidence and add a trick or two

 

[tunksy]

Will benefit with some midfield time at VFL to build his confidence and add a trick or two

Yup get the hand in the ball and start using it.

Don’t think he should be shoehorned into only being a pressure forward.