By Jonty Ralphsmith
Meniscus surgery, a quad tear and a concussion.
Key forward, ruck and intercept defender.
Rising Berwick footballer Riak Andrew has faced a concoction of barriers as he craved the one quality so many sportspeople take for granted: continuity.
The Melbourne Next Generation Academy prospect’s entire 2022 season was wiped out due to a meniscus injury, and he faced a delayed start to both the 2023 and 2024 seasons, due to a quad tear and multiple concussions respectively.
“With my knee and quad (injuries) I lost a little bit of speed and vertical leap which puts doubt in your mind,” Andrew said.
“When you play a bad game you go ‘what’s the outside world going to think?’.
“I lacked a bit of confidence going into games thinking ‘what if I injure my knee or quad again’?
“In the last couple of games of (2023) I got the confidence back.”
After building some form for the Wickers’ under-19s team, Andrew made his Coates Talent League debut midway through the 2023 season, playing with flair and showcasing athleticism, albeit very raw.
The utility played 10 games for the Stingrays in 2023 across all thirds of the ground, unable to cement a role and teasing with his skillset, until the last of those games.
What everyone had been hoping to see all year came together for only a short period in Dandenong’s finals loss to Gippsland in 2023.
It was enough to prove he had compelling AFL attributes, taking a series of intercept marks and setting the game up off halfback with his run-and-carry and ball use.
“I was just (in the mindset of) ‘see-ball, try and mark the ball and see what I can do in the air,’” Andrew said.
“I had a purple patch with teammates getting around me but I wasn’t focussing on my man, I was just trying to mark the ball.”
Andrew pinpoints that as the day he started viewing himself as a defender.
After being overlooked for the AFL draft in 2023, he was given the chance to return to the Stingrays as a 19-year-old this year, after spending preseason training with the Casey Demons and learning the craft of defending.
But a familiar hindrance confronted him just as he had regained full confidence in his body, suffering a concussion in a practice match which ruled him out of the first three games of the year.
It effectively ended his midseason draft hopes.
While he still found a spot in the AFL Young Guns series which brings the best 19-year-old midseason prospects together for two games in front of recruiters, he had no form behind him, restricting his production.
Soon thereafter, he suffered a second head knock following his earlier concussion, which kept him to just one game for Vic Country in the national championships.
“It was a pretty dark time,” Andrew recalled.
“I went to work in the rehab, did everything right and wasn’t putting myself in danger of making the symptoms last longer and when I got my second head knock was when it really hit me because (of how much) footy I was missing out on.
“There’s nothing I hate more than watching all my mates run around and play footy so it was a dark period, but it shows (my) resilient side, coming back and being better and stronger.”
The form he pieced together since returning, though, has propelled him onto AFL clubs’ radars.
His fundamental skills have improved from last year: marks are sticking, groundballs are cleaner and he’s grown his understanding of his role.
Locking down AFL Academy tall forwards Jack Whitlock and Jobe Shanahan fastened scouts’ growing regard for him.
“The focus is positioning, not going body-on-body because a lot of these key forwards are stronger than me so it was honing-in on (playing) on the back shoulder so I can run and jump and spoil the ball.”
As much as injuries, the comparisons to AFL-listed big brother, Mac, have shadowed Riak during his time in the AFL talent pathway.
There were plenty of training sessions together when the pair were younger, with Riak watching with interest as Mac has started to breakthrough on the big stage amid the limelight of a monster contract.
“What I’ve learned from him is the professionalism it takes to be an AFL footballer,” Riak said.
“He’s had his problems in the first couple of years as an AFL footballer and he’s learned and matured from that.
“If you’re good enough, you’ll get there, but the hard work starts day one when you arrive at an AFL club, you can’t just get drafted and think you’ve made it.
“We’re fairly similar, both being fairly tall, skinny and athletic so I’ve just tried to model my game off him – sag off, not initiate body contact, run and jump and use my athleticism.
“He’s been huge for me just giving me tips about how to be an AFL footballer.
“He’s (told me) first impressions are everything so if I land on an AFL list, then I’ll try to earn the respect of senior players and showcase why this club picked me.”
Industry scuttlebutt suggests Andrew is more likely to get picked than not, joining brother Mac, Jaxon Binns, Miller Bergman and Judson Clarke as Berwick alumni on an AFL list.
In a similar vein to his brother’s rise to AFL vogue, Riak’s curiosity, sociability and calmness is at odds with what could lie ahead, with the youngster grateful for the platform Berwick provided.
“I’ve played for Berwick since under-10s and they’ve been huge for me, really supportive with what I’m going through at the moment,” Riak said.
“It’s a family club and a really good community.”
The AFL drafts take place from 20-22 November.
