The AFL Hall of Fame is a pantheon of football greatness. It comprises hundreds of the greatest players the game has seen. On Tuesday night, another six members were inducted. They included not just stars of the modern AFL era but legends of South Australian and Western Australian football, who Victorian fans were never fortunate enough to see, as well as the emotional induction of a late, great favourite of two states' supporter bases.
MAURICE RIOLI
- 168 games, 133 goal, South Fremantle 1975-81, 1988-90
- 118 games, 80 goals, Richmond 1982-87
- 13 games for Western Australia, 7 for Northern Territory
- South Fremantle premiership 1980, Simpson Medallist 1980-81-83
- Norm Smith medallist 1982; Richmond B&F 1982-83;
- All-Australian 1983, '86, '88
- Indigenous Team of the Century (centre)
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For younger generations of football fans, particularly of the Hawthorn variety, the name Rioli conjures images of a brilliant small forward with cat-like reflexes and a great eye for a goal.
But for older supporters fortunate to have watched Cyril's uncle, the late Maurice Rioli play, it's merely take two. Not necessarily the small part, because Maurice was a bigger, stockier character. But when it came to sharpness of body and mind, in no way did he suffer by comparison.
Rioli was already an established superstar with South Fremantle in the WAFL when he arrived to play for Richmond in 1982. At the same time, Claremont's Krakouer brothers had signed with North Melbourne.
Maurice Rioli in 1982.
VFL football still hadn't played host to many indigenous players, and all would suffer the sort of horrendous racist abuse not tolerated now. It didn't, however, hinder their performances, particularly Rioli, who was a star for the Tigers, winning the 1982 Norm Smith Medal in a losing grand final side.
He'd also take out Richmond's best and fairest in each of his first two seasons with the club, spending six years at Punt Road and playing 118 games before returning to his former WA team for two final seasons, still good enough to win All-Australian selection in 1988.
A member of the Indigenous Team of the Century, Rioli was sublimely skilled, often seeming to glide across the turf, but he was also tough as nails, a quality frequently called upon in the Victorian football climate of the 1980s.
His former South Fremantle coach Mal Brown bore testament to his toughness at Rioli's funeral when he passed away at Christmas in 2010.
Brown told mourners that former South player and later colourful VFL character Mark Jackson had once made the mistake of getting into a boxing ring with Rioli.
"Every time Jacko took a swing, Maurice would duck and swing around and punch him in the head with a left," Brown recalled. "Jacko quickly screamed he had had enough and ran from the ring." What both WA and Victorian football fans remember most, however, is a player of tremendous vision and ability, for whom the game often seemed to slow down, a player who simply saw opportunities other's didn't and couldn't.
Nigel Lappin. Photo: Joe Armao
NIGEL LAPPIN
- 279 games, 174 goals, Brisbane Lions 1994-2008
- Three games for Victoria
- Brisbane Lions premierships 2001-03; All-Australian 2001-04
Brisbane's hat-trick of AFL premierships between 2001-03 was one of football's great achievements, but how Lappin even got on to the field for the third leg of that trifecta was a remarkable feat in itself.
Lappin was in no fit state to play in the 2003 grand final, but with the Lions carrying a score of injured players, Lappin willed himself to the line. He produced a very handy performance, and was promptly taken to hospital after the match to repair a punctured lung.
The wingman lived in the shadow of names such as Voss, Akermanis and Black, but was a genuine star, a superb runner, and highly skilled. Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews called Lappin the "perfect player", as he could win his own ball, use it well, and work hard to regain it from the opposition.
Paul Bagshaw.
PAUL BAGSHAW
- 360 games, 258 goals, Sturt 1964-80
- 14 games for South Australia
Many fine South Australian footballers were never seen at VFL or AFL level. Perhaps the finest, Barrie Robran, is nonetheless an official Legend of the Game. And joining him now in the Hall of Fame is a former Sturt champion in Paul Bagshaw. Known as "Mr Magic", the highly skilled on-baller played 360 games for the Double Blues over 17 seasons, when Sturt won five consecutive SANFL premierships between 1966-70, and seven in an 11-year period.
Bagshaw was part of them all. He was a superb mark for his size and a wonderful exponent of handball, a key part of coach Jack Oatey's Sturt gameplan. Bagshaw even led the club goalkicking at the age of 32. He was arguably the greatest player in Sturt's greatest era.
Ray Sorell.
RAY SORRELL
- 155 games, 55 goals, East Fremantle 1956-63, 1966-67; 23 games, 8 goals, South Fremantle 1964-65
- 18 games for Western Australia
- All-Australian 1958, 1961; Sandover Medallist 1961, 1963; Simpson Medallist 1962-63
Sorrell was a left-footed centreman, a gifted athlete with a raking drop kick. He was a dual Sandover medallist, losing the medal on countback to Neville Beard in 1961 but later deemed a winner when the WAFL awarded retrospective medals to those who had missed out in such circumstances. Sorrell also won the 1963 medal. He also won two Simpson Medals.
Sorrell controversially moved to "Old Easts" great local rival, spending an unsuccessful two seasons as captain-coach of South Fremantle before returning to his old home. " It was a tough time," he recalled later. "East Fremantle supporters disowned me, and I wasn't completely accepted at South either." But the acrimony was forgotten soon enough, Sorrell a bona fide WA great.
Verdun Howell. Photo: Joe Armao
VERDUN HOWELL
- 159 games, 59 goals, St Kilda 1958-68
- Nine games for Victoria
- St Kilda premiership 1966; Brownlow medallist 1959
The St Kilda full-back and premiership defender was a man ahead of his time, a dashing, attacking player in an era when backmen were still mainly cumbersome and often unskilled plodders who thought little of attack. First signed by the Saints at 17, Howell didn't debut until he was 21 after electing initially to stay in his native Tasmania, but had an instant impact, and with his brilliant marking and long kicking was playing for Victoria in his second season.
Later in his career, he became a key forward with success, kicking nine goals in one game against Hawthorn in 1965. He would win the Brownlow Medal (retrospectively) for 1959 along with the Saints' best and fairest. After retiring, he coached WA club Claremont for three years, then Richmond's reserves side.
Ben Hart. Photo: Joe Armao
BEN HART
- 311 games, 45 goals, Adelaide 1992-2006
- Eight games for South Australia
- Four games for Australia.
- Adelaide premierships 1997-98; best and fairest 1999, 2002; All-Australian 1992-93, 1999, 2002
Adelaide had plenty of stars in their formative years, and household names by the time they won their back-to-back premierships of 1997-98, but few if any more effective than reliable defender Ben Hart. Mature beyond his years, Hart was playing senior football with North Adelaide by the age of 16. Hart won All-Australian selection in his first year with the Crows as well as being the AFL's best first-year player.
Cool-headed and a great decision-maker, Hart saved some of his best performances for the biggest moments, tremendous throughout the finals in both Adelaide's flag wins. A four-time All-Australian and dual best and fairest winner, he would also become the Crows' first 300-game player.
