Michael Rischitelli Biography

Michael Rischitelli announces his retirement from AFL football.

"All I ever wanted to do was play footy. I had a ball in my hand every day, it didn't matter where I was," he said.

"I'm happy with what I've been able to achieve and I've left nothing in the tank. I've squeezed out everything I can. I'm one of the lucky ones to be involved for so long."

Gold Coast select Michael Rischitell with pick No.2 in the 2018 Rookie Draft.

Michael Rischitelli signs a new deal with Gold Coast to remain at the club in 2019.

"It's great to see the direction the club is heading under coach Stuart Dew, and I'm excited by the opportunity to be able to play on in 2019," Rischitelli said.

"I definitely feel there is a lot I can still contribute around the club."

Tom Lynch and Steven May will again co-captain Gold Coast in 2018.

Ruckman Jarrod Witts and midfielder Pearce Hanley have been added to a leadership group that again contains David Swallow, Matt Rosa, Michael Barlow and Touk Miller.

Michael Rischitelli has stepped aside from the role.

"Both Tom and Steven have been extremely invested in the program since my arrival," Suns head coach Stuart Dew said.

"The eight-man leadership group will work closely with myself and the entire football department to ensure we can create an environment that is aligned to our values and provides the best possible opportunity for growth both on and off the field."

Michael Rischitelli admits he'll be playing for his future for the rest of the year in a Gold Coast team currently fighting to revive its season.

"I'm probably playing for another contract at the moment so I'll be doing everything I can to try and get one," he said.

"If the body allows me to (I'll play on)."

Michael Rischitelli is hopeful of playing his first game of the season in May – just 10 months after rupturing his ACL.

"I've ticked off a lot of boxes, which is good. The volume of my running has gone up," Rischitelli said.

"I'm probably ahead of schedule, but the main goal is to hopefully get back and start playing around May.

"That'd be nice, but you just never know with these things."

Jarrod Harbrow and Gary Ablett are dropped from the Suns' leadership group for 2017.

Harbrow and Ablett are replaced by off-season recruit Michael Barlow and midfielder Touk Miller.

Michael Rischitelli, Matt Rosa and David Swallow have held their spots in the group, alongside co-captains Steven May and Tom Lynch.

"Michael Rischitelli, Matt Rosa and David Swallow are already established leaders at our football club and in Michael and David's case they've been playing that role for some time," Suns coach Rodney Eade said.

"Similar to Matty Rosa last year, Michael Barlow has made an immediate impact on the playing group, leading by example on and off the field, and his elevation to the player leadership group demonstrates the influence he has had on the team in a relatively short period of time."

Gold Coast is officially facing an injury crisis with vice-captain Michael Rischitelli adding to a growing list with a subluxed shoulder.

The Suns fear the worst, after the veteran was brought down in a marking contest by North Melbourne skipper Andrew Swallow on Saturday night.

In a worst-case scenario, Rischitelli could miss the rest of the season, but the club will know more once all scans are returned and they can assess an appropriate course of rehabilitation.

The driver of so much of Gold Coast's cultural change last year, Michael Rischitelli, says it simply got to a stage where enough was enough.

Rischitelli said he'd seen enough misdemeanours and was very direct with coach Rodney Eade onthe areas he thought needed addressing.

"Not being in a state that's heavily scrutinised by media, and for whatever reason, last year was the time I decided I'd had enough," Rischitelli said.

"There probably weren't enough guys to steer the ship, and enough was enough.

"You get to a point when you keep following or you can do something about it.

"I'm not really one to say a lot away from the club. I like to be pretty quiet, but when it's business, she's on."

Michael Rischitelli signs a contract extension with Gold Coast.

"I’m really pleased to extend my contract, especially as the future direction of the club has never been clearer," the 29-year-old said.

(It) has been a tough year, but I really believe we have learnt more as a group in 2015 as we ever have before.

"It’s about living and breathing the brand, our values and standards, if we can do that anything is possible. The players are up for it and I know our supporters are as well."

Michael Rischitelli has been rewarded for an outstanding season with a one-year contract extension with the Swans.

"I'm really excited about the future and where the club is heading," Rischitelli said.

"We have a unique team, we know we still have plenty of improvement and hard work ahead of us and hopefully we'll reap the benefits of that in the coming years."

Nathan Fyfe is out of Brownlow Medal contention and will miss Fremantle's clashes with Hawthorn and Essendon after accepting a two-match ban for rough conduct following a bump on Gold Coast's Michael Rischitelli.

Gary Ablett will remain Gold Coast's captain for a fourth straight season, while the Suns have elevated youngsters David Swallow, Dion Prestia and Tom Lynch into their leadership group.

Swallow, Prestia and Lynch will join Nathan Bock and Michael Rischitelli as vice captains.

"We have been really pleased with the way our playing group has evolved," Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna said.

"Our experienced guys, like Gary, Nathan and Michael, have had a huge task in not just establishing and growing our club but also our players, and for us now to be in a position to elevate some of our inaugural season debutants can be attributed to their great work."

After struggling with injuries for the past two seasons, Gold Coast believe that Michael Rischitelli will be back to his best in 2014.

"It was hard for him to compete at the level he wanted to because his body wouldn't let him," Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna said about Rischitelli's past two years.

"He's probably back to that first year (2011) as far as his output goes, so that's exciting.

"To get him back in our side is a big tick. It's like an in-house trade. We haven't had an experienced hard-bodied player and midfielder, which is important.

"He's battled some physical and mental demons over the last two seasons but produced some really good football. He's got that hard edge to him too… and the young guys learn from that. I'm just really excited."

Michael Rischitelli signs a one-year deal to remain with the Gold Coast for 2014.

Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna says Suns veterans have all been offered contracts for 2014.

"Michael Rischitelli is a wanted player, he has a contract before him, like Campbell Brown and Nathan Bock," McKenna said.

"[From] what we understand, they're all very comfortable with those contracts and we're very confident they're all going to stay."

The Gold Coast board endorse Gary Ablett as captain of the Suns for the third straight season.

Ablett will lead the team ahead of vice-captains Nathan Bock and Michael Rischitelli.

Gary Ablett can add the Gold Coast Suns' inaugural club champion award to his long list of honours, claiming the title by a wide margin on Friday night.

Ablett tallied 196 votes to easily finish well in front of vice captain Nathan Bock (138) and Michael Rischitelli (100).

"It's been a pretty tough year. There's been a lot of ups and downs but I've really enjoyed it," Ablett said.

"I'm really excited about the future. With all these young kids I've been really proud of the way they've gone about their footy this year and the amount of improvement they've had."

Michael Ricchitelli says he is enjoying taking on more of a leadership role this season after serving as acting captain during the 2011 NAB Cup.

"I've been in the system for a while and once you've been around for seven or eight years, it's time to stand up and lead a team. It's just something that comes naturally because it's a young group, but the more leaders we have, the better the team and the club is going to be," Rischitelli said.

Michael Rischitelli talks about his role as part of Gold Coast's leadership group.

"I've just got to get around the boys and make them feel they belong in the AFL," Rischitelli said.

"I guess that is the best way I can lead and hopefully around the training track and the gym is where I can be the most help. It is not to say I'm off-limits. If the boys need me, they can always call and I will do whatever I can."

Brisbane loses midfielder Michael Rischitelli to the Gold Coast Suns. Brisbane Lions CEO Michael Bowers says the club was desperate to keep Rischitelli but couldn't match what the Suns had to offer.

"There's a bundle of things [the new clubs] have at their disposal - rules, regulations, the ability to attract uncontracted players outside the draft, as well as a war chest," Bowers said.

"That's very, very difficult, and ultimately for us impossible, to compete with."

Michael Rischitelli's reluctance to join the Blues puts the trade involving a swap for Brendan Fevola with him and teammate Daniel Bradshaw in jeopardy.

''He's staying in Brisbane,'' Rischitelli's manager Rick Olarenshaw said.

''He's got a Queensland girl, long-term partner, and he's happy in Queensland. And he loves playing for Vossy.''

Carlton captain Chris Judd has made an unsuccessful appearance before the AFL appeals board on Thursday night and his three-match ban for making contact with what Judd described as Lion Michael Rischitelli's "pressure point" will stand.

"I'm disappointed with the result," Judd said.

"Obviously the act itself was less than a second's worth of stupidity. Probably even more stupid were my comments in the press the next day with reference to a pressure point.

"It was a comment which evoked a lot of passion amongst both the media and the public alike. I've since watched a couple of Steven Seagal movies and realised that pressure points are no laughing matter."

Carlton aims to overturn captain Chris Judd's three match suspension for misconduct against Michael Rischitelli.

Carlton is appealing on the basis that ''the decision was so unreasonable that no tribunal acting reasonably could have come to that decision having regard to the evidence before it''.

Judd has earlier claimed he was attempting to inflict pain on Rischitelli by making contact with a "pressure point" on Rischitelli's face but later claimed it was just a "poorly timed joke".

Carlton captain Chris Judd will miss the first three matches of the 2010 season after being found guilty of misconduct for making inappropriate contact with Lion Michael Rischitelli's face.

Judd was initially offered a two-match suspension but chose to contest the charge unsuccessfully resulting in his three-match ban.

"Obviously I'm disappointed with the outcome but now we'll go and assess our options and we'll make further comment at a later date," Judd said after the hearing.

Chris Judd's is expected to face an eye-gouging charge against Brisbane's Michael Rischitelli despite the Carlton captain claiming he was only making contact with Rischitelli's pressure point.

"I was pushing my thumb into the pressure point behind his ear," Judd said.

"It's a pretty stupid thing to do. I haven't actually seen it on the footage, but I assume my hands are close to his eyes. I don't know if the pressure point was really hurting him, but it was a dumb thing to do."

AFL Ron Barassi slams Carlton captain Chris Judd over his maneuver involving facial pressure points on Brisbane's Michael Rischitelli.

"It's disappointing because this guy is a hero for many, many people, including myself. Because he's a great player, he's got strength, skill, the whole lot. And he seems to keep himself in good shape mentally and physically and he says the right things. He'll regret this day for a long while," Barassi said.

The match review panel charges Carlton's Chris Judd with misconduct for making unnecessary contact with Lion Michael Rischitteli's face.

Judd can accept a two-match ban for his transgression.

Carlton captain Chris Judd is seen to have made questionable contact with Lion Michael Rischitelli's face as the two struggled while on the ground in the elimination final between the two sides at the Gabba.