SUPERSTAR Hawk Cyril Rioli came so close to retiring after his dad's near-fatal heart attack that he discussed playing alongside family for St Mary's in Darwin after Christmas.
AFL.com.au understands the triple All Australian, four-time premiership player and 2015 Norm Smith medallist confided to loved ones over summer that he was contemplating retirement.
Rioli, who turns 29 in July, hinted as much in late February at his first media conference after returning from extended compassionate leave in January.
He was asked directly whether he thought during that harrowing time he had played his final AFL game.
FATHERS AND SONS: Who's on the radar?
"To get the phone call that he'd had a heart attack and they weren't too sure if he was going to make it; a lot of things were going through my head," Rioli answered.
"That time off the club gave me (allowed me to do a lot of thinking) and made me appreciate life a lot more and was something I really needed."
His manager, Adam Ramanauskas, met with then-AFL Northern Territory chief executive Michael Solomon in Melbourne pre-Christmas to talk about Rioli's post-playing job options.
There were also suggestions Rioli, known as 'Junior Boy' to friends and family, could return home and work as a recruiter for Hawthorn, which has a Next Generation Academy in the NT.
But sources close to the Hawk, who could be out for another month with a medial ligament issue, revealed he planned to fulfill his contract, which expires at the end of the 2020 season.
His cousin, ex-Essendon footballer Dean Rioli, told AFL.com.au that Rioli and Ramanauskas, a former teammate of Dean's at the Bombers, were simply making sure he was prepared for life after football.
"He is in a very good place right now," Dean said.
"Obviously the incident with his father over the break was tough on him, but he just needed to go away and spend some quality time with him and he is reinvigorated – that's for sure.
"When I first moved down here (from Darwin), I moved in with Cyril for six months and I was lucky enough he put me up and my conversations with Cyril were, 'What are your plans like after football?'.
"He's 28 now and he wants to play for as long as he can, but there's still a part now where he has to start planning for life after football."
Being back in Melbourne and around the club environment again helped reinforce in Rioli's mind that he should stick it out at AFL level.
Rioli said in an interview on Triple M on Saturday that his playing future was a "year to year" proposition since his father's heart attack, which happened in AFL Grand Final week.
"I know I can still play, but it's just that mental side of being away from home, which is hard," Rioli said.
"I definitely wish I could get up there a lot more and I always dream about there being a footy team up there and how good it would have been if I could play the game and still live at home.
"I feel like I don't get as much time as I would like up there … but when I'm up there I make sure I'm out on the boat or out shooting or with family."
It is believed that reaching the 200-game milestone – Rioli's four matches this year increased his career tally to 189 – is a motivator for him.
The game would be worse without Cyril. Picture: AFL Photos
Rioli's aunty, Jennifer "Lulu" Coombes, designed Hawthorn's indigenous round guernsey for this season in a nod to his Tiwi Islands heritage.
He faces a race against time to be fit to play on that round 11 weekend against Port Adelaide in Launceston.
The Hawks' improved form and more cohesive football have buoyed him as well.
Importantly, his Alice Springs-based father, also named Cyril, has recovered well from his health scare after undergoing surgery in Adelaide in November – and even visited his son in Melbourne recently.
The heart attack was particularly frightening, because the family had already lost Maurice Rioli snr and Sebastian Rioli the same way.
Another family member, Emmanuel 'Manny' Rioli, also died of a heart attack while Cyril's father was still in hospital.
One of Rioli's football dreams is to win an NTFL premiership with St Mary's, where his dad, who the Hawthorn champion "idolises", played in 12 flags.
His cousins Shannon Rioli, Maurice Rioli jnr and Jack Long all played for the Saints in the 2017-18 season and Jack's younger brother Jacob might step up to senior footy next season.
Fifteen-year-old Maurice jnr, considered the legendary family's next AFL prospect, is attending Scotch College, where Rioli went for four years from age 14 before joining the Hawks.
AFL.com.au understands while Rioli is almost certain to return to the Top End once his AFL playing days are over, he is "comfortable" in Melbourne after spending half his life there.
He lives with his wife Shannyn and has a strong family support network close by, including cousins Dean and Daniel Rioli, as well as Jake and Ben Long.
Rioli's time away from Hawthorn, spent in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin and with his wife's family in North Queensland, could end up being a blessing in disguise in the long term.
He plans to visit his father in Alice Springs in the coming weeks before his on-field return.
