The Interview: Mark Ricciuto
Mark Ricciuto is best known as the inspirational Adelaide Crows premiership winner and Brownlow medallist. What you might not know are the hardships Roo has endured, such as losing a cousin and close friend, Neil Craig’s apology to Ricciuto after Roo’s disastrous final match, as well as the time he was cheering against the Crows.
Mark Ricciuto opens up to The Serve.
G’day Mark, how’s retirement?
I’ve just started to get into it now, actually. It’s been pretty hectic with the carry over from the footy finals, then the book interviews. Now I’m just sitting back of the house with the fiancé and the baby and relaxing.
Is retirement something you worried about?
I was very ready to retire. My body had enough of football. The mind as well. It’s certainly very taxing, sixteen years at AFL level. I’m really looking forward to the next stage of my life, whether it’s just spending time with family or friends or heading deeper the business world. I’m actually pretty excited about not having to go for any long runs anymore.
I remember when Michael Jordan retired, the first thing he said was he wanted to get a pot belly. Is this what we’re going to see from Mark Ricciuto?
Ha! I’ve never been able to get one before. My dad’s certainly got a big one so I’ve got the genes to do it.
How many pubs have you got now?
We’ve got two, plus we’re opening a 111 room hotel in Port Lincoln, which is a big seafood town. That’ll be our biggest venue.
So, when you go to your pubs it’d be a bit rude not to have a drink…
Yes! Well, I had a good out before with training or games, but now I’ve got absolutely no chance. And to be honest I’m very comfortable with that.
You’ve got an Italian background. An Italian living in country South Australia. What was that like?
That was fantastic. I grew up on a fruit property of 40 acres right on the river Murray, which was a great way to be brought up. I’d get home from school, jump on the motorbike and ride for as long as I wanted to. I could always go fishing, or yabbying. It was a big adventure. Great upbringing. Very traditional. We used to go to the Italian club ever a Sunday night and mix with the other Italians in the community.
A lot of Italians came out to the South Australian country from areas like Naples in the late 1920s to escape from the war. A lot of them settled up in the Riverland because they were used to growing fruit and vegetables.
When did you realise that you had a fair-dinkum talent?
I was always playing footy out of my age group. I played A-Grade footy when I was 15, SANFL footy when I was 16, then the Crows at 17, so I was playing pretty high standards early in my life.
My dad had a huge part to play. In 1992, when I was playing for West Adelaide, I was still doing Year 12 at Waikerie, which is 200 kay’s away from Adelaide. We must have done over 50 trips to Adelaide and back. He drove me for all of them. The commitment my parents showed was unbelievable, really. What makes it even better is at that stage, there were a lot of tough times. We were growing oranges, but there was competition from Brazil and California, who were exporting juice. The industry was tough. A real struggle.
As a kid, you don’t totally appreciate what they’re doing. Until you’re a parent yourself and busy with your life, that’s when you realise the effort they put in.
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