Riley Thilthorpe

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Riley Thilthorpe
Riley Thilthorpe 01 170525.jpg
Thilthorpe in May 2025
Personal information
Full name Riley James Thilthorpe
Nickname(s) Filthy
Date of birth (2002-07-07) 7 July 2002 (age 23)
Place of birth Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) West Adelaide (SANFL)
Goodwood Saints (AdFL)
Draft No. 2, 2020 AFL draft
Debut Round 6, 2021, Adelaide  vs. Hawthorn, at University of Tasmania Stadium
Height 201 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 105 kg (231 lb)
Position(s) Key Forward
Club information
Current club Adelaide
Number 7
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2021– Adelaide 78 (119)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2025 season.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Riley James Thilthorpe (born 7 July 2002) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Adelaide Football Club with the 2nd draft pick in the 2020 AFL draft. [1]

Contents

Early life

Born in Adelaide, Thilthorpe grew up a fan of the Adelaide Crows. His father, Ben, was an Australian ice hockey player, and as such Riley played the sport in his youth, representing South Australia until under-11 level. [2]

Thilthorpe originally played for the Goodwood Saints in the Adelaide Footy League. He made his league debut with West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) in 2019 as a 17-year-old. Across 2019 and his draft year of 2020 he played 15 league games for the Bloods. [3] In his second senior game, Thilthorpe kicked three goals against Sturt and 15 disposals, 8 marks and two goals the following week against Central District. He also impressed with his performance in the NAB AFL Futures match before the 2019 AFL Grand Final. [2]

The Adelaide Crows held the overall number one pick in the 2020 national draft after finishing 18th on the ladder in 2020. After their bid for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was matched by the Western Bulldogs, the Crows selected Thilthorpe at pick two, [4] their highest ever pick in a national draft.

AFL career

Thilthorpe debuted in round 6 of the 2021 AFL season, as he was impressive with 16 disposals and kicked 5 goals. [5] His 5 goals is the highest ever by a Crows debutant, tied with Josh Rachele who matched the record a year later. Jason Dunstall noted the performance as "the emergence of a future star." [6]

In round 13, against St Kilda, Thilthorpe kicked the match winning goal over his head on his opposite boot in the last minute of the game. It completed Adelaide's 36-point comeback. [7] Thilthorpe was rewarded with the NAB AFL Rising Star nomination for Round 13. [8]

After a strong off-season prior to 2024, Thilthorpe sustained a knee injury in a pre-season match against West Coast. He had surgery and missed more than four months of football. [9] Thilthorpe finally made his return in July of 2024, coming on as the substitute in the fourth quarter against St Kilda and kicking two match-winning goals. [10] He played his 50th game just a few weeks later against Geelong, and kicked three goals in the same game, the first of which was his 50th career goal. [11] Following a successful return from injury in the latter half of the season, Thilthorpe signed a contract extension until the end of 2028. [12]

Thilthorpe enjoyed career-best form at the start of the 2025 season. Across his first four games, he kicked 14 goals to lead the Coleman Medal count in round four and at that point was the highest rated player in the competition over the previous 10 regular season rounds. [13] [14] An equal career-high five goals in a narrow loss to Gold Coast earned the forward 10 coaches votes. [15] He improved his personal-best later in the year against the Western Bulldogs when he kicked six goals in a high-scoring affair. [16] The following week, Thilthorpe kicked his 100th career goal in the round 19 win over Gold Coast. [17] He produced a best-on-ground performance against Port Adelaide in Showdown 58 despite heavy rain, winning his first Showdown Medal. [18]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of 2025. [19]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals  
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds  
  H  
 Handballs  
  M  
 Marks
H/O
 Hit-outs
SeasonTeamNo.GamesTotalsAverages (per game) Votes
GBKHDMTH/OGBKHDMTH/O
2021 Adelaide 714181094581524419251.290.716.714.1410.863.141.361.790
2022 Adelaide 7118770431134924550.730.646.363.9110.274.452.185.000
2023 Adelaide 7211891269722374311160.860.4364.6210.623.521.485.522
2024 Adelaide 771565325783212262.10.97.63.611.14.61.73.70
2025 Adelaide 7256029241102343138521642.41.29.64.113.75.52.16.614
Career535932343223566199862221.10.66.54.210.73.81.64.216

References

  1. ↑ Black, Sarah. "NAB AFL Draft recap: Every pick as it happened". afl.com.au. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Pick 2: Riley Thilthorpe". afc.com.au. 9 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "Thilthorpe taken with number two draft pick". westadelaidefc.com.au. 9 December 2020.
  4. ↑ Whiting, Michael (9 December 2020). "Dogs snap up Jamarra after Crows' bid, Roos surprise, Dons go tall". afl.com.au.
  5. ↑ "Hawthorn Hawks vs Adelaide Crows – AFL Round 6, 2021". FOX SPORTS. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Waterworth, Ben (25 April 2021). "'A bag of tricks': Riley Thilthorpe breaks Adelaide club record in super debut". Fox Sports. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  7. ↑ De Silva, Chris. "Thilthorpe's magic downs Saints in final minute". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "Crows' match-winning hero nabs Rising Star nomination". afl.com.au. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  9. ↑ Smith, Martin (5 March 2024). "Huge Crows blow as key forward sidelined for months". afl.com.au. Australian Football League.
  10. ↑ Larkin, Steve; Kimber, Howard (13 July 2024). "Match Report: Crows prove too good for Saints in the wet". Adelaide Football Club.
  11. ↑ Cameron, Ben (3 August 2024). "Thilthorpe-led Crows learn familiar lesson in Cats thriller". tags.news.com.au. The Chronicle.
  12. ↑ Geleit, Lachlan. "Why Cornes wouldn't sign Adelaide contract offer if he were Riley Thilthorpe". sen.com.au. 1116 SEN.
  13. ↑ Blucher, Peter (4 April 2025). "By the numbers: SUNS v Crows". goldcoastfc.com.au.
  14. ↑ Watson, Sam (1 April 2025). "Champion Data's highest rated player since Round 21 2024". 1116 SEN.
  15. ↑ Standish, Zac (7 April 2025). "Coaches' votes: Round Four". afc.com.au.
  16. ↑ Welsh, Sophie (12 July 2025). "Six-goal Thilthorpe thrills in scintillating Dogs shootout". afl.com.au.
  17. ↑ "2025 Season Records". AFL Tables. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  18. ↑ "Showdown 58 medal votes". afc.com.au. 26 July 2025.
  19. ↑ Riley Thilthorpe's playing statistics from AFL Tables OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
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