Tara Murray
Twelve months ago, Riley Bice wasn’t even on a Victorian Football League list. He could soon find himself on an AFL list.
Bice played three games for the GWS Giants in 2022 and decided that he was keen to give it one more crack this year.
Some connections with players saw him head to Werribee.
It resulted in a VFL premiership a couple of weeks ago and he attended the AFL state draft combine and met with AFL clubs.
It’s been a whirlwind period for Bice who became one of the rising stars of the competition.
“It’s sort of starting to all sink in,” he said. “It’s been a few weeks now and it’s awesome.
“You don’t win a flag every day.”
Bice said when he came down to join Werribee, he could see that they had a talented list of players, so nothing for him was a surprise for him in terms of team success.
Having had a strong season in the Ovens and Murray League, Bice decided to have another crack at the VFL this year.
“I always wanted to, but it was about timing,” he said. “I thought it was now or never as I didn’t want to look back and regret it.
“I knew a few boys at Werribee and that made it easy, it’s a great club. There’s 10 or so blokes from up my way, I’ve seen how amazing it is.”
Bice made his Tigers debut in round one and he didn’t look back.
He was one of three players nominated for the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal, which recognises the best player under-23 in the VFL.
Bice then played a key role in Werribee’s grand final win, having 23 possessions and three tackles.
“I wasn’t even sure that I was going to play a game when I rocked up,” he said. “It’s pretty crazy.
“I was pretty fortunate to have landed at Werribee.”
Bice said he thought he had a reasonable season but AFL clubs showed enough interest in him to be invited to the state draft combine on Sunday.
It meant that Bice had to temper his grand final celebrations a bit.
“I was a bit stunned, I didn’t expect it at the start of the year, it was a bit of reward for effort,” he said.
“It was a bit different as I was a lot older than the other guys, but it was good. “I was relatively happy with how I went, I didn’t have much time to prepare.
“I was still relatively happy.”
Bice had a couple of interviews with AFL clubs at the combine.
He said he was just focused on giving VFL a crack, he hadn’t thought about anything beyond that.
An AFL opportunity would be beyond his wildest dreams.
“It’s everyone’s dream,” he said. “That is what you strive to play for.”
