A player like Cyril Rioli doesn't come along far too often, with the four-time Hawks champion bringing an unparalleled edge to the AFL across his 189-game career.
The 2015 Norm Smith medallist had an exciting balance of pace, power and poise, causing numerous headaches to opposition defenders on a weekly basis, something his teammates would marvel in when watching on.
One ally Rioli managed to share four Hawthorn premierships with was former Hawks and Demons midfielder Jordan Lewis, who has touted Melbourne young gun Kysaiah Pickett to be one of the closest to match Rioli's archetype.
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Speaking on SEN Drive,ย Lewis said Pickett has flourished in the build up to the 2021 season and is beginning to earn comparisons to the former Hawks star.
โThereโs some players that are standing out, most notably their young drafted kids in Luke Jackson and Kozzie Pickett,โ Lewis said on SEN.
โIโm always wary to compare young players, I donโt necessarily jump the gun, but what Iโve seen with Kozzie Pickett reminds me of a player that Iโve played a lot of footy with.
โOne C.Rioli. Heโs tearing the training track apart to be honest.
โHeโs doing stuff up the field that I havenโt seen since Rioli.โ
Pickett played 14 games in his debut season, booting seven goals for the year and winning a NAB Rising Star nomination in Round 11.
Onya Kozzie!
Kysaiah Pickett is the @NAB AFL Rising Star nominee for round 11 ๐ pic.twitter.com/t8JJIMv7el
— AFL (@AFL) August 13, 2020
