HAWTHORN star Cyril Rioli is committed to regaining form ahead of the upcoming finals series, and Friday night’s clash against Collingwood is the first stop in that ambition.
The Hawks take on the Pies in a Friday night blockbuster at the MCG, a game that could determine the finishing places of both sides in the top four.
Rioli missed nine weeks with a hamstring injury between Rounds 6 and 14, before returning as the sub in Hawthorn’s Round 15 loss to Geelong.
Since then, Rioli’s form has arguably been below the heights reached early in the season, highlighted by 20 disposals and four goals in the match-winning performance against the Kangaroos, ironically also the game in which he suffered the injury.
He returned to form against the Bombers in Round 18, with 14 touches, five tackles and a goal, though his influence on the outcome transcended the stats sheet.
But, a modest performance against Richmond followed by an 18 disposal game against the Saints last week has the critics talking.
Rioli says he is still finding his feet and his form after the injury layoff and it all starts on Friday night as he aims to reach peak performance for September.
“Coming back from injury, it has been a pretty slow start but there are some big games coming up and if I can hit my straps leading into finals, I’ll be happy,” he told hawthornfc.com.au
“I’ve played pretty well against Collingwood in the past, so hopefully I can have another good game against them this weekend.
“I’m really looking forward to a good Friday night clash.”
The speedster has a good record against Collingwood, averaging 17.2 disposals in 10 matches against them - his second-best average against teams other than the expansion clubs.
He knows exactly what he needs to do to on Friday night have an impact, too.
“I’m just trying to get up into the midfield at the moment, get a kick and hit the scoreboard if I can, that’s what I really want to do,” he said.
“I want to lay tackles as well, that’s why I’m in the team, to put pressure on and if I can do that, then I’m playing my role for the team.”
But Rioli isn’t the only one with expectations on his shoulders heading into Friday night’s blockbuster, with Brian Lake and Josh Gibson two players with the big job of curtailing the influence of Travis Cloke.
Cloke has kicked 11 goals in his past two matches against the Hawks, but Rioli has full confidence in his defensive teammates’ ability to stop the dangerous forward.
Lake was recruited to the Club to stand the big, power forwards and Cloke poses another challenge for the former Bulldog.
“That’s why we recruited ‘Lakey’, to play on those big forwards like Cloke,” Rioli said.
“He’s shown a lot this year and I think he’ll match-up well against Cloke or Reid, whichever one he gets and he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“He’s built up his confidence in the last few weeks so hopefully he can have a good game for us.”
Rioli admits having a player of Lake’s ilk gives the rest of the team confidence heading into matches against sides with big, power forwards.
“He’s (Lake) a key part in our ability to shut players down and keeping them scoreless, which gives us opportunities to rebound and get the ball forward,” he said.
“It gives us a lot of confidence knowing we’ve got reliable defenders who can play on the big forwards and helps with our confidence going into games, knowing we can win.”
