Rioli paid the price for his weight in 2005-06. His knees packed up on him and he had to retire. Really the issue with him was the condition he was in at the start of the 2000 season. He cost himself a premiership. 2001-03 he was a very good player, 2004 he was good still but around that time is when the injuries started and then 05-06 he was cooked. 100 games. What might’ve been…
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Anzac Day bring
IMO it will be 2 weeks till he plays VFL, 2-3 VFL games and in
Problem is even if smith does get it in our forward line…he cant kick over thirty farkin metres
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RUOK?
You have gone dark since we could not solve your pool dilemma
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Didn’t Rioli miss the premiership cause of a broken collarbone?
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You’re making things up.
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Yeah, I remember it differently. My memory is he missed a fair bit of 2000 and wasn’t in great shape earlier in the year, but got himself into career best shape in rehab, maybe made his comeback game against Carlton (the blockbuster - I remember a lot of silky side steps and perfect disposal), but then popped his collar bone in round 21 against the doggies (Chris Grant bump?). Sure, he could have been in that shape at the start of the year, but it was just bad luck that cost him a premiership really.
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I remember Rioli giving an interview talking about how he wasn’t professional enough early, and one of the consequences of that was how later his knees/hamstrings just kept stopping him despite his efforts to prepare himself (through dedicated training and adherence to dietary instructions) much better.
Whether fit or unfit, he was still magic on-field every minute.
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Lloyd’s always said his eyes would light up the moment Dean got the ball. Lace out
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He was like Darren Jarman by foot.
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Missed Walla today.
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Absolutely. Some of those marking contests inside 50 were screaming for someone like Walla to sweep in a clean up the crumbs. Hopefully we see him back in the VFL nice and soon.
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Can’t come back soon enough.
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Changes us big time when he’s in and fit. The pressure he puts on the opposition defenders can’t be ignored. He isn’t there creating those opportunities and wasn’t towards the end of last season either when we tailed off. He’s the first guy I think of when considering addressing the old problem of the ball rebounding back the other end. We need that back from him or someone.
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Not to mention he’s the best shot for goal in the team,
And the best at delivering the ball into the forward 50.
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Right? Left a very large hole in the team. He wasn’t ever just some cult hero. He was vital to our game plan.
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reckon he might play VFL next week?
Help us McDonald-Tippungwuti. You’re our only hope.
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It’s frustrating that less than 12 months ago we had the guy who was in line to be the AA small forward.
And now we have absolutely nobody.
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