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Bulldogs present Rioli with 1997 premiership DVD

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - 8:38 PM

SOUTH Fremantle has perhaps the strongest Indigenous heritage of any football club in Australia and recently football operations manager Garry Davidson and vice president Peter Christie went to Darwin to visit with a 1997 premiership star.

Davidson and Christie took the opportunity while in Darwin recently to meet with 1997 South Fremantle premiership player and former Essendon AFL star Dean Rioli, and present the mercurial forward with a DVD copy of the 1997 grand final victory over East Fremantle.
Rioli played a starring role in that grand final victory before embarking on his AFL career with Essendon where he played 100 games between 1999-2006 and kicked 91 goals, but unfortunately missed the Bombers' 2000 premiership so his 1997 triumph with the Bulldogs certainly meant a lot to him.
Dean continued South Fremantle's tradition with the Rioli family on the heels of the legendary Maurice and Sebastian Rioli, and now there is currently another Rioli playing with the Bulldogs with exciting young prospect Willie Rioli Jr playing some exciting colts and reserves football for South Fremantle in 2013.
After his AFL career, Rioli returned to the Northern Territory firstly playing with the Tiwi Bombers before returning to Melbourne to begin his coaching career.
However, the call of home was always there and after setting up the Dean Rioli Aboriginal Employment Services (DRAES) in Melbourne, he returned to Darwin in 2012 and has been working closely with the government helping the Indigenous community.
There have been plenty of other players from Darwin and the Tiwi Islands forge strong careers with South Fremantle as well with perhaps the most notable of those in the last decade being 2005 premiership player and dashing defender Shane Tipuamantamerri.
The South Fremantle Football Club has a strong resolve to continue its strong bond with the Darwin and Tiwi Islands football communities and the visit of Davidson and Christie to the region recently only served to reinforce that.SOUTH Fremantle has perhaps the strongest Indigenous heritage of any football club in Australia and recently football operations manager Garry Davidson and vice president Peter Christie went to Darwin to visit with a 1997 premiership star.

Davidson and Christie took the opportunity while in Darwin recently to meet with 1997 South Fremantle premiership player and former Essendon AFL star Dean Rioli, and present the mercurial forward with a DVD copy of the 1997 grand final victory over East Fremantle.

Rioli played a starring role in that grand final victory before embarking on his AFL career with Essendon where he played 100 games between 1999-2006 and kicked 91 goals, but unfortunately missed the Bombers' 2000 premiership so his 1997 triumph with the Bulldogs certainly meant a lot to him.

Dean continued South Fremantle's tradition with the Rioli family on the heels of the legendary Maurice and Sebastian Rioli, and now there is currently another Rioli playing with the Bulldogs with exciting young prospect Willie Rioli Jr playing some exciting colts and reserves football for South Fremantle in 2013.

After his AFL career, Rioli returned to the Northern Territory firstly playing with the Tiwi Bombers before returning to Melbourne to begin his coaching career.

However, the call of home was always there and after setting up the Dean Rioli Aboriginal Employment Services (DRAES) in Melbourne, he returned to Darwin in 2012 and has been working closely with the government helping the Indigenous community.

There have been plenty of other players from Darwin and the Tiwi Islands forge strong careers with South Fremantle as well with perhaps the most notable of those in the last decade being 2005 premiership player and dashing defender Shane Tipuamantamerri.

The South Fremantle Football Club has a strong resolve to continue its strong bond with the Darwin and Tiwi Islands football communities and the visit of Davidson and Christie to the region recently only served to reinforce that.