Rioli meets Eagles teammates for first time, Yeo-McGovern exchange cast aside

Willie Rioli has been able to connect with some of his West Coast teammates for the fist time in recent weeks.

The 26-year-old forward has been back training with the Eagles following his April cannabis indiscretion which led to a 12-month good behaviour bond.

Teammate Oscar Allen says having Rioli back with the group has been great, especially considering some of the younger players on the list had not yet met him.

“Willie has been back at the club for the last four weeks,” Allen said on Sportsday SA.

“He’s been training with us and he’s not able to participate in any games at WAFL level or AFL level until Round 23.

“He’s tracking along well, he’s getting his fitness back and it’s great to have him around the boys.

“Footy aside, a lot of us haven’t seen him for a year and a half. With the heavy turnover on AFL lists, a lot of young players haven’t met him before.

“It’s a great chance for him to make some connections with them.”

Rioli resumed training on June 20 and is eligible to again play at AFL level on August 20 when his two-year ban for testing positive to cannabis and interfering with an anti-doping test is up.

A pair of Rioli’s 2018 premiership teammates, Elliot Yeo and Jeremy McGovern, were involved in a heated exchange during Monday night’s shock loss to North Melbourne at Optus Stadium.

Allen was asked of the incident and feels Yeo’s serve to McGovern was not out of character and insists there is no bad blood between the pair.

“It’s funny, when you lose those things are pointed out,” he added.

“But I think it’s important in a winning culture to be able to give that honest feedback.

“I can assure you, Yeoy’s one for if he sees something, he’ll say something. That’s what makes him a good leader. He’d be doing it whether we were 10 goals up or behind by a goal at that stage.

“They’re all good and they’ve played footy together for the last seven or eight years, so you can say whatever on the footy field and when you’re off the field have a laugh about it and get over it.”

As for the Eagles, the loss to the Kangaroos saw them drop to eighth on the ladder, but finals are still very much on the agenda despite a lean run of late.

“From the outside it’s the same that we’ve been feeling, it’s been a disappointing three to four weeks,” Allen said.

“We understand there’s still six weeks to go and we’re still aiming for finals.”

West Coast will look to bounce back from three straight defeats when they meet the Crows at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday evening.