RICCARDI DID IT BY THE NUMBERS
PETER Riccardi was never a superstitious person when it came to which jumper number he wore.
Starting at Bannockburn in the juniors he donned No.12, while at Geelong, before he got a spot on the senior list, it was No.49 that adorned his back.
It wasn’t until 1992 when he made his senior debut that he was given No.15, and while he soon came to learn about its history, Riccardi concedes he did not know a lot about it at first.
“I remember playing the year before and I was wearing No.49,” Riccardi said.
“I was in the under-19s but I spent most of the year in the twos and had 49, so the following year when I got put on the list I rocked up and they said I was No.15.
“I didn’t know a lot about it other than Marty Christensen wore it before me and because I was a massive Geelong supporter I knew Bernard Toohey had it before that, but after you get given the number you do dive into it a bit more.
“Colin Rice won a premiership in No.15, but I only knew of Christensen and Toohey prior to getting it.”
While not superstitious, Riccardi said he would have kept 49 had it been offered to him, but 288 games later he was glad to have made the No.15 his own.
“I wanted to keep 49 but I was also happy with 15,” he said.
“Once they issue the numbers it is done and dusted, but I was never someone who wanted a low number, I was just happy playing for the jumper.
“Obviously in the end I made No.15 my own but I remember going to New Zealand at the end of 1991 and I still had 49, and I thought this would be cool.
“But going back through the history of the No.15, it is nice.”
Since Riccardi retired at the end of 2006, four players have been listed as No. 15 for the Cats.
Two of the four have played at senior level — for a combined total of 29 games — and while the names of Ryan Gamble, Jordan Schroder and Matthew Hayball might not have reached any dizzying heights, Riccardi likes what he has seen of the untried Nathan Kreuger.
“I actually passed my number on to Ryan Gamble as I saw him as an up-and-comer. Unfortunately he had a few issues with his ankle and I haven’t seen the No.15 run out for years,” he said.
“You do look at it and see who has it, and I know Nathan Kreuger has it now. I know his story and where he has come from, so I wouldn’t mind seeing it back out there.
“But I know I have played in it the most out of any Geelong player and that will probably be the case for a little while yet.”
Interestingly Riccardi opted not to wear No.15 at either Geelong West-St Peter’s or Bannockburn when he went back to playing locally, instead leaving his time at the Cats in the past.
“They (Geelong West) wanted to give it to me, but I went back to No.49 there,” Riccardi said.
“When I played at Bannockburn I wore No.12, which I wore as a kid, and they wanted to give me 15 as well but that was my Geelong history.”