Osca Riccardi impresses in first appearance for North Geelong, as Magpies extend winning run to 6-0 against Anakie
Osca Riccardi quickly went about endearing himself to new teammates, the former Cats rookie opening North Geelong's scoring on the way to a comfortable 34-point win over Anakie on Saturday.
Riccardi made his Magpies debut days after it was revealed he had joined dad and Geelong legend Peter Riccardi at Osborne Park last week, crossing from GFNL club Bell Park – his feeder club into the VFL with the Cats.
It's the first time the 20-year-old has played under his father, who said there was no expectations of his son coming in other than to 'play a role' for the unbeaten Magpies.
The younger Riccardi kicked the Magpies' first and was their best lining up on the wing against the Roos, who challenged the Magpies in the third term before the home side got back on top to extend their unbeaten start to the season to six games – their best since 2014.
'He going to be handy for us, obviously,' Peter said of Osca, who is listed as a five-point player for the Magpies.
'We don't know how long it's going to be for; with Osca, he lost his passion for the game.
'He's got mates and family at North Geelong, so it was more of a reset for him and hopefully start enjoying his footy again – and it looked like that on the weekend.'
After lining up in the Cats' first five VFL games this season, the 20-year-old Riccardi hasn't played in the state league since April 27.
He is expected to play with the Magpies up until the GDFNL's league-wide bye in three weeks, before reassessing where aspirations lie around higher football.
A father-son selection at Geelong in the 2022 AFL Rookie Draft, Riccardi spent one season on the Cats' list before he was delisted at the end of 2023.
In a scary health battle last year, Riccardi spent three days in an induced coma in May with a brain infection, before making a return to football some three months later via Bell Park.
While an obvious boon for the Magpies' on-field prospects, Peter believed Osca's professionalism and game knowledge was another asset around the Magpies' young and emerging playing group.
'He sees the game fairly well, so when it wasn't going well (on Saturday), when he came off the ground when it was time for his lull he saw something we didn't see as a coaching group, which was good … and it kinda of worked for us,' he said.
With Osca's arrival, and the long-awaited return of Charlie Farrell from injury, sparking plenty of excitement on the training track last week, the Magpies came out firing against the Roos with a five goal to one first quarter, before 'wrestling back momentum' with a four-goal to one final quarter, after the Roos dominated the third.
'It was good, what we wanted to see,' Riccardi said of the response.
Riccardi called Farrell, who suffered an ACL injury in late 2023 before a hamstring injury set back his return, a handy inclusion and a 'see-ball get-ball' type of player. Farrell was eased back in with limited game time against the Roos.
'He's a very kamikaze type (of) player, you can see why he gets injured a bit,' Riccardi said.
Meanwhile, Patrick Cleary will have his hamstring assessed this week after pulling up tight against the Roos, while Blake Miller (knee) hobbled off the ground, though Riccardi didn't seem to think it was too serious as of Sunday.
The Magpies were without exciting midfielder Cooper Vaughan against the Roos, Vaughan under the 21-day concussion protocol caused by a high tackle against Geelong West in round 5, while Jorden Bertucci is expected to miss around four weeks after injuring his hamstring at training midweek. Damien Fazio is also unavailable until after the league-bye.
While a rolling fixture means North Geelong won't meet fellow unbeaten side Belmont until round 11, Riccardi said his group was only focused on the week ahead, a trip to Eastern Oval to play Winchelsea the next on their hit list.
Originally published as Osca Riccardi impresses in first appearance for North Geelong, as Magpies extend winning run to 6-0 against Anakie
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