The stats

AFL games: 21

Disposals per game: 13.7

Marks: 3.7

Kicks: 9.3

Tackles: 6.1

Goals: 47

Review

It was arguably a career-best season for Cyril Rioli in 2016, with the fan favourite putting his injury history behind him and taking his game to a new level.

Rioli was a constant threat in the air and at ground level this season, finishing with career-highs for goals (47) and tackles (128) which reiterates his standing as one of the best small forwards in the game.

His consistency this year was remarkable, going goalless just twice in 21 games and this reliability was recognised with his third All Australian guernsey.

It’s hard to separate Rioli’s best performances, but he was most influential when he was able to apply pressure and kick goals at the same time.

His performance against West Coast in Round 2 when he collected 20 touches, 7 tackles and four goals was a highlight, along with his performance against the Adelaide Crows in Round 5 when the 2015 Norm Smith Medallist racked up 14 disposals, 10 tackles and another bag of four goals.

Rioli’s dead-eye accuracy in front of goal makes him such a dangerous proposition for opposition teams – his 47.13 goal kicking record in 2016 meant his accuracy was 78.3%, second-best across the competition.

At 27 years of age, Rioli is in the prime of his career and Hawthorn fans can expect him to continue to do miraculous things on the field for a long time to come.

A word from: Brett Ratten

“Finished with 47 goals which was great but the high marking was a real feature of his game this year.

“Whether Cyril is kicking goals or not he's always in the game offensively or defensively and he creates so many opportunities for us.

“Played 21 games and made All Australian for the third time which really just backed up his Norm Smith Medal from last year.”