Rioli family

The Rioli family are a notable Australian rules football family from the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.

Six family members have played in the Australian Football League (AFL), with a further five playing in the West Australian Football League for South Fremantle.^[1] Many more family members have played for the Tiwi Bombers or St Mary's in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) and the Northern Territory Thunder in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL). Nineteen members of the family have played a combined total of more than 1000 games for St Mary's.^[2] Cyril Senior (7 July 1934 – 3 June 2014) was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2014 for services to develop the Tiwi Island community.^[3]

• Sebastian (Sibby) Rioli (17 Jan 1954 – 3 May 2012^[4]): South Fremantle (1972–1976)^[5]
• Maurice Rioli (1957–2010): South Fremantle (1975–1981,1988–1990), Richmond (1982–1987)
• John Rioli: South Fremantle colts Jack Clarke Medal 1982
• Cyril Rioli Jr: South Fremantle (1987) ^[6]
• Willie Rioli Sr (21 Feb 1972 – 12 July 2022): South Fremantle (1989–1990, 1994)^[7][8]
• Dean Rioli (born 1978): South Fremantle (1995–1997), Essendon (1999–2006)
• Cyril Rioli (born 1989): Hawthorn (2008–2018)
• Daniel Rioli (born 1997): Richmond (2016–2024) Gold Coast Suns (2025–)
• Willie Rioli (born 1995): West Coast (2018–2022), Port Adelaide (2023–)
• Ben Rioli (born 1993): South Fremantle (2020–)
• Maurice Rioli Jr (born 2002): Richmond (2021–)

Michael Long, Benny Vigona, and current AFL Women's player Danielle Ponter are also related to the Rioli family by marriage.^[9][10]

Cyril Sr

Helena[11]

Sibby

Maurice

Cecillia, Manyi, Lawrence, John, Maria & Francis

Benny & Tony Vigona

Georgina Vigona

Willie Sr

Cyril Jr

Cathy Long

Michael, Sue, Noel, Brian, John, Patrick, Stephen & Chris Long

Dean

Bradley

Ben

Shannon, Clinton & Sebastian

Maurice Jr

Donna, Kristen Rhyannon, Gavin & Maria

Willie Jr

Cyril Jr

Anthony, Ben, Jake, Michaela Long & Danielle Ponter

Daniel

See also

• Riolo (disambiguation)

References

1. Browne, Ashley; Collins, Ben (27 May 2017). "Aboriginal football's first family". afl.com.au. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
2. Culpitt, Amy (1 December 2019). "Lucky 1,000: The Riolis smash their way into the footy record books". ABC News. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
3. "Award Extract". It's An Honour.
4. "Family mourns 'Sibby' Rioli's death". PerthNow. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
5. Gauci, Ric. "WAFL FootyFacts - RIOLI, Sebastian Gerald John". waflfootyfacts.net. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
6. Gauci, Ric. "WAFL FootyFacts - RIOLI, Cyril Sebastian". waflfootyfacts.net. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
7. Gauci, Ric. "WAFL FootyFacts - RIOLI, William (Willie)". waflfootyfacts.net. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
8. "Willie Rioli Senior, Northern Territory football great, dies aged 50". ABC News. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
9. McArdle, Jordan (2 December 2016). "Football's Magic Tree". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
10. Black, Sarah (19 October 2018). "Rioli-Long lineage set to continue in AFLW". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
11. Damjanovic, Dijana (7 October 2018). "In the remote community of Pirlangimpi, an AFL family dynasty was born". ABC News. Retrieved 1 December 2019.