Michael Rischitelli (born 8 January 1986) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He previously played for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

AFL career

Brisbane Lions (2004–2010)

Rischitelli's first game in the AFL turned out to be a dream debut for the then-teenager, playing as a late inclusion in the Lions' Round 17, 2004 side against . The Lions kicked an incredible 21 goals in the second half and went on to win by a whopping 141 points making it Brisbane's biggest win in their history. Rischitelli kicked two goals. It was his only game for the season.

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

wasn't much of an improvement for Rischitelli, and definitely wasn't for his team either. The Lions finished eleventh on the ladder, a poorer season than 2004, in which they were Grand Finalists. Mainly due to a quad injury, Rischitelli played only three games for the year, in which he made a minimal impression. Rischitelli's 2006 season ended up being his breakthrough season, finding a regular spot in Brisbane's side and playing in the first eighteen matches of the season. He started to find a lot more of the ball than in previous years, and in rounds

six 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

and

seven 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

his disposal count was in the twenties, earning him two Brownlow votes and a Rising Star nomination. His impressive season was further accoladed at the Lions' 2006 award night, where he was awarded the Most Improved Player award. Rischitelli had a solid 2009 season, but was shocked when he was offered up, along with Daniel Bradshaw, as a possible trade option for controversial Carlton full-forward

Brendan Fevola Brendan Fevola (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and radio presenter. He played with the Carlton Football Club, Carlton and Brisbane Lions football clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Fevol ...

after the conclusion of the 2009 season. Although under intense public pressure to agree to be traded, Rischitelli ultimately decided that he wished to stay with Brisbane, meaning that particular trade option fell through and the Lions instead got Fevola in a trade for

Lachlan Henderson Lachlan Stuart Henderson (born 14 December 1989) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played for the Brisbane Lions, the Carlton Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Junior career Henders ...

and a draft pick. Rischitelli was offered up to trade and has been suggested as a possible reason why he left to play with the Gold Coast a season later. Rischitelli's had his best season to date in 2010, becoming the most consistent player in the Lions injury-riddled midfield, playing every match and leading the club in kicks, handballs, marks, clearances and contested possessions. Due to his outstanding season he was pursued by the newly created

Gold Coast Football Club The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The ...

and announced that he had signed with the Suns at the conclusion of Brisbane's disappointing season, where the club finished 13th. Shortly after his decision to leave Brisbane, Rischitelli won his first

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award, ahead of club stalwarts

Simon Black Simon Black (born 3 April 1979) is a former Australian rules football player and current assistant coach, who played his whole career with the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Black was a midfielder with a reputation fo ...

and Jonathan Brown.

Gold Coast Suns (2011–2019)

On 7 September 2010, it was announced that Rischitelli was joining the AFL's 17th club, the

from 2011 onwards.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of round 9, 2016'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 1 , , 2 , , 0 , , 6 , , 2 , , 8 , , 4 , , 4 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.0 , , 2.0 , , 8.0 , , 4.0 , , 4.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 3 , , 2 , , 0 , , 11 , , 2 , , 13 , , 3 , , 7 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 3.7 , , 0.7 , , 4.3 , , 1.0 , , 2.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 18 , , 8 , , 4 , , 161 , , 130 , , 291 , , 71 , , 67 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 8.9 , , 7.2 , , 16.2 , , 3.9 , , 3.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 22 , , 6 , , 10 , , 158 , , 209 , , 367 , , 86 , , 99 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 7.2 , , 9.5 , , 16.7 , , 3.9 , , 4.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 21 , , 9 , , 10 , , 218 , , 148 , , 366 , , 92 , , 92 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 10.4 , , 7.0 , , 17.4 , , 4.4 , , 4.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 24 , , 13 , , 9 , , 187 , , 182 , , 369 , , 88 , , 116 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 7.8 , , 7.6 , , 15.4 , , 3.7 , , 4.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 22 , , 7 , , 6 , , 278 , , 252 , , 530 , , 126 , , 97 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 12.6 , , 11.5 , , 24.1 , , 5.7 , , 4.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 21 , , 10 , , 9 , , 241 , , 256 , , 497 , , 97 , , 114 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 11.5 , , 12.2 , , 23.7 , , 4.6 , , 5.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 14 , , 6 , , 4 , , 89 , , 114 , , 203 , , 38 , , 59 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 6.4 , , 8.1 , , 14.5 , , 2.7 , , 4.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 11 , , 6 , , 6 , , 91 , , 94 , , 185 , , 32 , , 43 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 8.3 , , 8.5 , , 16.8 , , 2.9 , , 3.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 21 , , 8 , , 10 , , 201 , , 192 , , 393 , , 70 , , 74 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 9.6 , , 9.1 , , 18.7 , , 3.3 , , 3.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 21 , , 8 , , 13 , , 282 , , 189 , , 471 , , 81 , , 127 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 13.4 , , 9.0 , , 22.4 , , 3.9 , , 6.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 35 , , 6 , , 2 , , 0 , , 41 , , 75 , , 116 , , 16 , , 28 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 6.8 , , 12.5 , , 19.3 , , 2.7 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 205 ! 87 ! 81 ! 1964 ! 1845 ! 3809 ! 804 ! 927 ! 0.4 ! 0.4 ! 9.6 ! 9.0 ! 18.6 ! 3.9 ! 4.5

Personal life

Michael Rischitelli was born and grew up in the Western Suburbs of

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Before being drafted into the AFL, Rischitelli completed his schooling at

Victoria University Secondary College Victoria University Secondary College is a state government co-educational school for years 7–12. The junior campus is located in Deer Park, Victoria, Australia. The senior campus is located in Cairnlea, Victoria, Australia. The college was f ...

''(formally known as Brimbank College)'' Rischitelli played for the

Western Jets The Western Jets is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Victorian premier U19 competition, the Talent League, since its inception in 1992. The club have developmental squads in the U16, however much of the attention is towards it ...

before beginning his AFL career. He showed great promise and potential playing for the Western junior sides,Burgo’s take: Beatson’s babes
carltonfc.com.au. Retrieved 2009-09-23. but was hindered by a bout of

osteitis pubis Osteitis pubis is a noninfectious inflammation of the pubic symphysis (also known as the pubis symphysis, symphysis pubis, or symphysis pubica), causing varying degrees of lower abdominal and pelvic pain. Osteitis pubis was first described in pat ...

during his year playing in their under-18 side.Michael Rischitelli Player Profile bio
lions.com.au. Retrieved 2009-09-23. He was the Lions' fifth and eventual final pick in the

2003 AFL Draft The 2003 AFL draft was the 2003 instance of the AFL draft, the annual draft (sports), draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. The 2003 d ...

, and was the number 61 draft pick overall.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rischitelli, Michael 1986 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Brisbane Lions players Gold Coast Football Club players Western Jets players Merrett–Murray Medal winners Keilor Football Club players