The Richmond Football Club is mourning the loss of Club great Maurice Rioli, who passed away from a suspected heart attack in Darwin today, aged 53.
“The thoughts of everyone at the Richmond Football Club are with the Rioli family in this most difficult time,” Tigers’ CEO Brendon Gale said.
“Maurice was an enormously important figure in the game as a player, and more broadly in the leading role he played for Indigenous Australians,” he said.
“He will be remembered as one of the greatest players in the Tigers’ proud history.”
"Maurice was loved by the Richmond Football Club family. He inspired millions. The friendships that he made were enduring,” Gale said.
Rioli played 118 games and kicked 80 goals for Richmond between 1982 and 1987, and won the Club Best and Fairest award twice (1982 and 1983).
He won the Norm Smith Medal in the 1982 Grand Final, was named All-Australian three times and is a representative in the Indigenous Team of the Century.
After his football career, Rioli became a successful politician in the Northern Territory.
