BLUES BROTHERS!

Cyril came, he saw and was seen, then he sprinkled magic dust over the battling Tongala Blues, and everybody went home a winner – except Cobram.

Unfortunately the reigning Murray League premiers rolled into Tonny on Saturday, with four points already pencilled in, and were sent packing by a roaring home crowd of almost 4000, still wondering where it all went wrong.

Cyril Rioli – playing his first real match (Legends games don’t count) in Victoria since leaving Hawthorn in 2018 with four premierships to his name – might not have been amongst the best on the day but he made all the difference.

As club president Daniel Cox says: “Knowing he was coming didn’t just lift the team, or the club, it has given our whole town a lift, it has been fantastic”.

“It was good, he was very nervous, I caught up with him the night before and he admitted he was very nervous,” Cox says.

“But he’s still fit, he still looks exactly the same, and you can still see the glimpses of brilliance with him,” he says.

“He’s very silky skilled and definitely played some roles and some inside 50s, he was great – including a couple of vital spoils and contests in the dying minutes.

“He tried to wind the clock back and take a couple of good hangers, and he had some good sits, but not quite.”

But the reason it will be a long time before all Tongala forgets this day in the sun took place came on Friday night, the man they call Junior turned up unannounced to watch the under 10s and 12s, got team photos with everyone and anyone, then gave out awards.

Football royalty had come to town and happily mixed with the common folk, juniors with stars in their eyes and parents looking on adoringly as their children mobbed the superstar.

“It was probably just as important to the club, that night before, as the game itself,” Cox explains.

“That was unreal, we didn’t ask him to do any of that, he was more than happy to do it off his own bat, he’s such a gentleman,” he says.

“And on Saturday he must have got writer’s cramp he signed so many things for so many people.

“It’s been a great weekend – and win, lose, or draw, it always was going to be a great day, but the win, well that’s such a fairytale finish and topped it all off.”