Junior Rioli

WEST Coast premiership forward Junior Rioli is yet to decide where he will play in 2022 after meeting with Port Adelaide on Monday.

Rioli kicked 14 goals from 13 games in his return to the AFL this season, pushing up the ground at times to play as a midfielder. Rioli was in talks for a new deal with the Eagles, but those negotiations were put on hold in July when his father, Willie Rioli snr, died from a heart attack aged 50. Rioli is not a free agent and the two clubs would need to organise a trade, with the Power currently holding picks No.8, No.52 and No.56. Upon arrival in Perth late on Monday, the small forward said he had not made a decision to leave West Coast yet and the club understood he was exploring his options. While the Power now appear in a strong position to win his services, sources close to the 27-year-old insisted Rioli was undecided and was doing his due diligence by meeting with the club and undergoing a medical assessment. "I've been through too much in the last 18 months, so I just want to make the most of being in the industry I am now."

Junior Rioli is hopeful of landing at Port Adelaide during this year's trade period, revealing it's a move he and his late father had planned before his ...

The 27-year-old hopes the contract offer will sets him up for life after a tumultuous 18 months. Rioli met with Port Adelaide premiership star Shaun Burgoyne in Adelaide on Monday, who he says helped give him a perspective of what it’s like to live in Adelaide. Port is understood to have a lucrative multi-year offer for the talented West Coast goalsneak, who is out of contract and already undergone a medical with the SA club.

The Power have been wanting bolster their small forward stocks after the retirement of Robbie Gray and consistent injuries to Orazio Fantastia, with the out-of- ...

2022 marked Rioli’s first year back at West Coast after serving a two-year doping ban. [September 5, 2022] [@coreynorris9] [pic.twitter.com/BkY5GmXnJy] [September 5, 2022]

A trade out of West Coast looks to have taken its next steps for 2018 AFL premiership player Junior Rioli after the 27-year-old's interstate trip to meet ...

“A lot of this has been weighed up before I came back to footy so it’s kind of been playing with me and my dad,” Rioli said. “To play the best footy you’ve got to be comfortable and for me I learned that when I wasn’t playing footy.” The Power’s offer is said to have been made prior to the death of Rioli’s father, which put negotiations on hold.

The small Eagles forward has explained why he wants out of West Coast, but not everyone thinks it's a good idea.

“If I could set myself up for the rest of my life, that’s all I want to do ... “It’s kind of been planned with me and my dad, but it’s been a bit slow now that my dad’s not here. “A lot of this has been weighed up since before I came back to footy,” Rioli said. I’ve been through too much in the last 18 months so I just want to make the most of being in the industry I am now.” In 2021 he was also placed on a good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to the possession of cannabis. But Ellis said Rioli owed it to West Coast “to stick it out” after he was paid for two years when serving a drug ban.