As Tigers’ season turns to nightmare, Rioli awaits Dreamtime clash

“Our intensity is there, our effort’s there, but we just can’t sort of nail our game plan, so if we get that right and tweak a [few] little things, then I think it will come our way. But we’re not going to come out to the ’G on Saturday night hoping to lose. We want to come here and hopefully get a win – and that’s our mindset.

“It’s going to be an interesting game, but we will try and push aside all the negatives that we’ve been facing this year, and hopefully, we can turn the tables.”

Essendon recruit Jade Gresham, also an Indigenous man, will play in the Dreamtime match for the first time, after having a taste of the occasion as a child in a half-time Auskick game.

Part of the appeal for Gresham to leave St Kilda for the Bombers last year was to play in front of bigger crowds and on larger stages, which he said was “awesome”.

“That was pretty cool [playing Auskick] as a young fella, and I also did the Long Walk one year,” Gresham said. “It’s a special game for Indigenous people, and it’s one of the rounds you circle at the start of the year, and one you want to be a part of as a player, so hopefully, I can do my family and friends proud this weekend.”

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Rioli is a veteran of these games after attending them as a spectator during his time boarding at St Patrick’s College in Ballarat, telling his schoolmates about his dream to play in the match one day.

“I went to Ballarat for four years and came to every single one, and I always said to my mates that I wanted to play in this game,” Rioli said.

“Funnily enough, I got drafted to Richmond, and to be able to play in such an amazing game [as] Dreamtime at the ’G is pretty special.”

The legendary Michael Long will be in attendance again for his Long Walk, a charity designed to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives. He said the 20th anniversary had come “very quickly”.

“We’re still continuing the work we do, and obviously using football as a platform for reconciliation, bringing people together … it’s quite a special one this year for us,” Long said.

“[Dreamtime at the ’G] has just grown and grown, and it’s one of the rounds you look for. It does so much for the community, the players, and all supporters; you see all the clubs with different designs and logos. Some of the great work they’re doing, which people don’t see, is really important.”

Long, who played in Essendon’s 1993 and 2000 premierships, and Gresham are cautiously revelling in the Bombers’ uprising this year, knowing there is more than half the season to go.

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“I was actually there last night [at the North Melbourne game], so they’ve been performing really well,” Long said.

“The coach has done a really good job of bringing the club together, and [there are] some young players coming through, so it’s quite exciting. It’s great for the supporters to see their success now. It’s taken a while, so hopefully, we stay where we are, but [there is] still a long way to go.”

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