Early career (1993–1996) Ricciuto was born in
Waikerie, South Australia. He was recruited by
SANFL team
West Adelaide and soon after – as a 16-year-old high schooler – was recruited by the
Adelaide Crows in 1992. He debuted in the
AFL in 1993. Ricciuto earned his first All-Australian selection as a 19-year-old in 1994.
Rising career (1997–2001) After a stellar year in 1997 (in which he received his second All-Australian guernsey) he ended up missing the 1997 premiership due to a late season injury. Despite this setback, he rallied in 1998 to again be an All-Australian, win the club's best and fairest, and play in his only premiership. He was appointed as the Adelaide captain in 2001.
Career high (2002–2005) In 2003, he was joint winner of the league's highest individual honor, the
Brownlow Medal, with
Collingwood's
Nathan Buckley and
Sydney's
Adam Goodes. In 2004 he came second in the Brownlow medal. In 2004 and 2005 he earned his seventh and eighth All-Australian guernsey. However at the end of the 2005 season, Ricciuto was suspended following an incident in the Crows' final regular season match against
West Coast; thus ruling him out of
Brownlow Medal contention and the Crows' first qualifying final against fourth placed , hampering the Crows' attempts at a straight path to the preliminary final. Indeed, the Crows lost this match by just eight points, and ultimately the Crows finished one match short of the 2005 decider.
Twilight career (2006–2007) Late in the
2006 season, Ricciuto was ruled out of the Crows' final few matches due to a "mystery ailment" which was later found to be
parvovirus B19. Nevertheless, Ricciuto led the Crows to their second straight top-two finish in 2006 and thus a more direct path to the preliminary final, again against the
West Coast Eagles where again the Crows finished one match short of the decider, losing the preliminary final by just 10 points. Ricciuto played his 300th AFL game on 21 July 2006 against
North Melbourne. He kicked 5 goals in a game that Adelaide won by 72 points. He was quicker than any other player in AFL history to this milestone, in 13 years and 83 days, some 11 days quicker than Carlton's
Craig Bradley.
Retirement Ricciuto announced his retirement on 16 August 2007 due to persistent injuries. During his career, he amassed an incredible eight All-Australian selections, a record matched in the AFL era only by St Kilda's
Robert Harvey, Sydney's Lance Franklin, Geelong's Patrick Dangerfield, and Melbourne's Max Gawn. Ricciuto was also twice named All-Australian captain in 2004 and 2005, joining Paul Kelly, Wayne Carey, and Michael Voss as the only multiple All-Australian Captains in the AFL era. ==Personal life==