HAWTHORN star Cyril Rioli has dedicated his brilliant six-goal effort against St Kilda to the memory of his uncle, who passed away just three days before Saturday night's clash.

Rioli was given the sad news about his uncle Sebastian, the father of former Bomber Dean Rioli, on Thursday and was excused from training.

He gathered with family members for comfort and they swaped stories about 'Sibby's' life. He came away determined to honour him. 

"Coming into this week's game I got a bit of motivation from that and from the performance last week," Rioli said.

"I was happy with my game tonight and hopefully he enjoyed it.

"I've been a bit down on myself and I know I can get a lot better. To kick six tonight - I was pretty happy with that."

Rioli has endured an inconsistent start to the 2012 season, but coach Alastair Clarkson was delighted with the mental strength he displayed in a week when the team also received a barrage of stinging criticism for a second-half fade out against the Sydney Swans.

"We needed Cyril to perform well and 'Buddy' as well," Clarkson said referring to Lance Franklin's five-goal haul.

"We're a much more potent forward line when we can get the ball in there more often and quicker.

"If you get the ball into these guys on a regular enough basis then they'll be able to do some damage for us and Cyril certainly did that, especially in the first part of the game.

"He was our major goal source for a while. Buddy had to work really hard to get into the, but he ended up making a significant contribution over the course of the night.

"[Cyril] did some pretty special things for us. I'm glad he wears the brown and gold jumper."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs