Richmond livewire and former North Ballarat Rebel Daniel Rioli has been awarded the AFL Goal of the Year for his brilliant banana against West Coast in round three.
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Rioli gathered the ball and shrugged off his Eagles opponent, keeping the ball in play all in the one motion before combining with teammate Dion Prestia by hand and then executing a banana from the boundary line, 30 metres out.
Rioli was awarded the GOTY medal by Shaun Burgoyne at Monday night’s Brownlow medal, he said he would draw on the knowledge of his uncle and Hawthorn premiership star Cyril Rioli in the lead-up to the Grand Final.
“I’ve got a long way to go to catch him,” Rioli said.
“He gave me a text before the Geelong game, (I’m) sure I’ll catch up with him this week, he’s played in about four grand finals I think so I’ll try and get some advice off him.”
Rioli was pivotal in Richmond’s 36-point preliminary final win over Greater Western Sydney, kicking four goals, he will again be a valuable asset come Saturday’s Grand Final.
The other two nominees were Lance Franklin’s familiar run down the wing against Adelaide in round 22 and a crafty Eddie Betts gather a snap against the Lions in round nine.