HAWTHORN Football Club is keen to take its appreciation for Cyril Rioli to an unprecedented level.

The Hawks, led by president Jeff Kennett, will soon begin a process to have the suburb of Dingley Village renamed ‘Rioli’, after their star small forward.

This is no April fool’s joke.

Dingley, as it is colloquially known, is a suburb located in the City of Kingston that is 22km south-east from Melbourne’s CBD and, as of 2016, its population was 10,300.

Finals Week 1

Hawthorn has already purchased the land to build a new state of the art training centre in the region and intends to call the facility ‘The Kennedy Centre.’

The club still has to raise tens of millions of dollars to fund the training centre, with the eventual cost likely to exceed $80 million.

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE FOX FOOTY PODCAST BELOW, OR TAP HERE TO SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES

Speaking on Triple M ahead of Hawthorn’s Easter Monday win over Geelong, Kennett loosely suggested Dingley could become ‘Rioli’ once the project is complete.

But foxfooty.com.au did some digging and can reveal this bold plan has more substance than a throwaway quote from an ambitious and lateral-thinking president.

“I have done a number of surveys out there and it has overwhelming support,” Kennett told Triple M.

“Most of the property residents think it should lift their property values by 10-15 per cent. We are on a winner.

LIVE stream the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week trial >. If you’re overseas, you can still stream it LIVE on Watch AFL >

Cyril Rioli of Hawthorn. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

“We are going to have the Kennedy Community Centre in Rioli.”

Three-time Hawthorn premiership forward Jack Gunston likes the sound of Kennett’s proposal.

“That doesn’t sound like Jeff to make a comment like that,” Gunston quipped on Fox Footy’s AFL Tonight on Tuesday.

“I don’t know how the people of Dingley will love it? But why wouldn’t you name it after Cyril?”

A source familiar with the bold plan said renaming the suburb would put a marker in the ground and capture the rising sentiment of community support.

However Labor MP for Keysborough, Martin Pakula, was not so sure the idea would get out of the blocks.

“If this request has come from Jeffrey, I’m assuming ‘Rioli’ is just an ambit claim and the fall-back position will be to rename the suburb ‘Kennett’,” Pakula told foxfooty.com.au.

“I reckon we might just stick with Dingley Village.”

As the local member, allow me to respond in a time honoured fashion



Yeah....na https://t.co/zckBzPHAXU — Martin Pakula (@MartinPakulaMP) April 3, 2018

An argument could be mounted that the name Rioli is more synonymous with Richmond Football Club than Hawthorn.

Norm Smith Medallist Maurice Rioli enjoyed a decorated career at the Tigers, while grand-nephew Daniel Rioli was a key player in Richmond’s 2017 flag.

Meanwhile, Dean Rioli played 100 games for Essendon between 1999 and 2006.

Only Cyril has worn the brown and gold, but he’s done so with distinction, earning three All-Australian guernseys, four flags and a Norm Smith Medal along the journey.

According to the Victorian State Government website, “anyone” can propose a new name or change an existing name or boundary change.

The second stage in the process involves a naming authority, which is responsible for administering the named location and can often be councils, government departments and some private organisations.

Significantly, “a Geographic Place Names Advisory Committee can develop or review a naming proposal if a road, feature or locality is determined to have a greater than local significance.’

Hawthorn could argue its presence in Dingley will give the region “greater than local significance.”

In 1856 Thomas Attenborough purchased land in the area and named his house Dingley Grange because it reminded him of Dingley Hall, which is a private property that was used as a nursing home in World War II.

Dingley officially became Dingley Village in 1991.