HAWTHORN great Cyril Rioli is making an official return to football, agreeing to be an assistant coach for Northern Territory Football League club Tiwi Bombers.
The four-time premiership Hawk, who was born on the Tiwi Islands, will front a media conference in Darwin on Friday morning, when he will reveal whether he will also play, on top of his coaching duties.
Rioli retired from the AFL in April last year, but had so far resisted a return to the football field, whether with Tiwi, his father Cyril's old club St Mary's or with NT Thunder in the NEAFL.
The decision to quit and return to the Top End came barely six months after his dad suffered a near-fatal heart attack in AFL Grand Final week.
Rioli does a lap of honour at the 2018 AFL Grand Final. Picture: AFL Photos
Four AFL clubs contacted the 29-year-old's manager Adam Ramanauskas in the weeks after he announced his retirement in an unsuccessful bid to lure him back to the elite level.
There was a strong belief Rioli, affectionately known as 'Junior Boy', would play for St Mary's alongside his cousins and wear his father's old No.1 on his back.
The 2015 Norm Smith medallist and triple All Australian even discussed that possibility with family members before he officially retired from the AFL.
However, AFL.com.au understands honouring his late grandfather, Cyril Kalippa, who died three years ago and was an inaugural Tiwi Bombers board member, was integral to his decision-making.
Rioli was always a fan favourite. Picture: AFL Photos
Rioli will work alongside fellow assistant Brenton Toy in support of Shane Tipuamantamerri and Jamie Scrymgour, who were announced a fortnight ago as the Bombers' new co-coaches.
The NTFL season starts in October and runs until mid-March.
Rioli's last public appearance was on Queen's Birthday, when he was one of 14 sliders for the annual Big Freeze at the 'G event, which raises money for motor neurone disease.
Fellow ex-AFL footballers Chris Judd, Dane Swan, Nick Riewoldt, Jobe Watson and Sam Mitchell also took the plunge.
Cyril gets out of the icy Big Freeze pool. Picture: AFL Photos
