Maurice Rioli

For his son, who plays for Richmond in the 2020s, see Maurice Rioli Jr.

Maurice Rioli
Rioli in 1982
Personal information
Full name Maurice Joseph Rioli Tipakalippa
Date of birth (1957-09-01)1 September 1957
Place of birth Melville Island, Northern Territory
Date of death 25 December 2010(2010-12-25) (aged 53)
Place of death Darwin, Northern Territory
Original team(s) St Mary's (NTFL)
Height 176 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 85 kg (13 st 5 lb; 187 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1975–81, 1988–90 South Fremantle 163 (129)[1][2]
1982–87 Richmond 118 0 (80)
Total 281 (209)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1978–88 Western Australia 14 (8)
1988 Northern Territory 3 (?)
Total 17
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1994 Indigenous All-Stars (1–0–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1990.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1994.
Career highlights

Club

Representative

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Maurice Joseph Rioli Sr. (1 September 1957 – 25 December 2010)[3] was an Australian rules footballer who represented St Mary's Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL), South Fremantle in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and Richmond in the Victorian Football League.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest players of his era, Rioli was one of the first Indigenous Australian footballers to have a significant impact on Victorian football, and was named in the centre for the Indigenous Team of the Century. A highly skilled and solidly built centreman with exquisite ball-handling skills and lightning reflexes, Rioli was a renowned performer on the big stage.[4]

After retiring from football, Rioli became a politician in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, and then worked in community services on the Tiwi Islands.

  1. ^ "Premiership Players 1931 – 2009". WA Football.
  2. ^ These tallies refer to premiership matches (home-and-away and finals matches) only.
  3. ^ Varghese, Sam (25 December 2010). "Maurice Rioli dead". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  4. ^ Whitelaw, Anna (26 December 2010). "Tigers great Rioli dies". The Age. Melbourne: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 4 March 2011.