Aiden Riley Q&A

You’re here full time now, what’s it like being at the club permanently?
“Yeah, it’s heaps different. I do more of the training now than when I was over here on a visit. I could only do bits and pieces whereas now I’m involved in full training and getting a good feel for the club and all of the boys. When I was over here only for a couple of days I didn’t really get to see how hard the boys work throughout a weekly period. It’s a much more intense obviously when you’re here full time compared to when it was only a week or so.”

Feeling more settled now obviously as well?
“Yeah, I’m staying with two of the boys Will Young and Ricky Henderson who have been really good. It’s good to see how they go about their footy. You can learn off them and mentally it helps it’s a good transition knowing a few of those boys. Then you can slowly progress into the main playing group and get a few solid hitouts under your belt.”

How did you find balancing your footy with year 12 and also coming over to Adelaide for visits?
“Yeah this year was a big year. I was playing for the state team the RAMS and had a few injuries and had a few visits here in Adelaide and of course doing my HSC as well. So it was a pretty tough year trying to balance it out but got through it pretty well and I’m just wrapt to be here now training full time and looking forward to next year.”

Were you happy with your footy this year?
“I set myself a goal at the start of the year to make the RAMS team which I did, then the Crows offered me a scholarship as a NSW player and I played well at the national carnival. The club said they liked what they saw and offered me a rookie spot for next year which I was over the moon about.”

It would have been a huge benefit visiting the club during the year before you started training full time?
“It was good to get to know some of the boys beforehand so when I came everyone knew who I was. I knew a bit about the club and knew my way around whereas other draftees take some time find their way around and settle. Having the experience of some training with the boys before made it a lot easier to settle in because I’d already been in the surroundings before and knew what to expect.”

Did you look at what someone like Taylor Walker was able to achieve and get confidence from that?
“Extreme confidence. He’s done exactly what I’ve done playing for the RAMS and he started off as a rookie, and then played in the SANFL for Norwood and he’s done what the club has asked him to do. Now he’s reaping the rewards, playing his first game this season and it’s a great confidence booster for someone like that to play league footy and it’s something I hope to achieve as well.”

What was it like growing up in Wollongong where AFL is not the dominant football code?
“Growing up through my junior footy a lot of my mates would ask why I was playing Aussie Rules and wanted me to play rugby league with them. The sport has come a long way in that area; when I was growing up there were four teams in our whole competition and we were playing the same teams pretty often. Now there are nine or ten teams which is good, they’re starting to build numbers even though it’s still dominated by rugby league or union. When I was growing up all it was all league or union and the AFL had no attention. Mum and Dad were really supportive of me and kept pushing me to play and I loved playing it and you couldn’t get me away from it when I was younger. I bought a few of my mates along and they liked it as well so I kept at it and went alright.”

Did you ever get tempted into playing rugby league?
“I did go and play a few games for the school and had some fun but I’ve always found Aussie rules more enjoyable. League I think gets repetitive; it’s the same thing all the time and AFL is always changing which is good and that’s why I wanted to stick with it.”

What made you want to play football?
“I was originally born in Western Australia and moved over to NSW when I was three or four and my grandad played for Richmond in the VFL. Mum and Dad were both AFL fans and the local club started up so they took me along and I started playing in Auskick and loved it so kept playing.”

What are you hoping to achieve in your first year at the club?
“I just want to get some solid games under my belt with Sturt and give me a good base to maybe push make my case for 2011 to play some league footy for the Crows. I’m just happy to be here at the moment and just loving being at an AFL club.”

Looking forward to your first full pre-season?
“Yeah, the first few weeks have been pretty tough. We did a 6km run the other day and it was tough. There’s just a whole new level of fitness I have to maintain and it is just so different to playing league footy back at home where you can get through a pre-season and be right. This is a different level that I have never experienced before which is good and I’m looking forward to pushing myself.”