Wallabies Rugby League Football Club breaks silence after a club legend their star player was racially abused

“It’s 2021, racism of any kind is not warranted and we all need to stand as one to stamp it out for good.”

Gladstone Wallabies Rugby League Football Club has released a statement regarding the alleged racial abuse 'Bundi' Dodd received at Tannum Seagulls last weekend.

Wallabies Rugby League Football Club has pledged swift action after one of its players was racially heckled at a senior game at the weekend, as Rugby League Gladstone investigated the incident.

As previously reported, 48-year-old Wallabies player Ashley Dodd was the victim of an alleged racial slur while playing Tannum Sands Seagulls on Saturday.

Wallabies president Brendon Hunt issued a statement saying the club stood by all its members.

“No matter what race, religion, colour of their skin, we are all one family, our club is proud to have over 50 per cent of our members of Indigenous descent and we 100 per cent do not condone the abuse our players and staff received while playing at Dennis Park,” Hunt said.

“The incident that happened on Saturday night is certainly a disappointment, one of our Indigenous players was directly targeted with vile racial abuse.

“Instead of escalating the situation, he left the field and was supported by two other players, at this stage as a team we walked from the field with approximately 11 minutes remaining of the game in a show of unity around our players.”

Hunt said as a local competition you could expect a bit of flack from the crowd at home games and that was fine.

“But sometimes it can go too far, this is one of those times,” he said.

“The player directly targeted stated this is the first time in their long playing career that they have ever had to deal with racist remarks.

“It’s 2021, racism of any kind is not warranted and we all need to stand as one to stamp it out for good.

“We need to be the ones enforcing positive behaviours into our kids from the highest level within sporting groups that this is not OK, maybe it’s time for some cultural awareness training in clubs.”

Hunt concluded by saying he never thought racial abuse would be something he would ever have to deal with as the president of a rugby league club.

“But here we are. As for the process, we will be supporting Rugby League Gladstone to do a thorough investigation on the incident,” he said.