Eagles, AFL stars join chorus of condemnation against racist trolling of Liam Ryan

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has implored the community to flood social media with positive comments about our elite athletes as AFL stars condemned racist trolling targeting West Coast’s Liam Ryan.

The AFL community has come together to condemn the racist trolling of West Coast's Liam Ryan.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has implored the community to flood social media with positive comments about our elite athletes to stand up to online trolling.

Clarkson’s call to arms was backed by West Coast coach Adam Simpson, who said the AFL community has “had enough” of racist trolling comments, after a number of stars from across the AFL condemned the targeting of Liam Ryan.

Ryan was labelled a “monkey” in an Instagram post querying whether he should be suspended for a late strike in Saturday’s season opener.

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Clarkson said players should be celebrated for the talents instead of being subjected to online abuse.

“We’ve again seen unacceptable comments towards some of our game’s most excited players,” Clarkson told Hawthorn’s website.

“To vilify someone based on their race, gender, culture, colour of their skin is never OK.

Racial abuse was directed at West Coast’s Liam Ryan on Instagram.

“Rather than sit silently, we refuse to accept this behaviour and instead we’re going to celebrate the excitement, skill and passion that our diverse stars bring to the game.

“What a shame that these guys get vilified for something that they do so well on the field.

“Let’s get behind the guys, let’s flood our news feeds, stories and social media with nothing but positivity about the stars of our sport.”

Simpson said Ryan was “OK” after the incident but urged online commenters to think about the implications of their words.

“Liam’s OK, but unfortunately, it’s not an isolated incident across the AFL in the past month or so,” Simpson told 7NEWS.

“It’s escalated, and quite frankly, we’ve all had enough.

“I suppose it’s a little bit about the stance that you make against what happened today, but also education on why it’s so offensive.

“Those two elements need to be addressed. It’s just really disappointing that we’re still putting up with this in 2019.”

Liam Ryan silences the Gabba crowd after kicking a goal in the Eagles’ loss. Picture: AAP

Nisbett launched a strong condemnation of online trolls targeting Ryan, calling the comments “absolutely abhorrent”.

Nisbett fronted a press conference and put out a club statement to support Ryan, saying it was important to make a stand.

“The continued use of the term monkey is disgusting and these keyboard cowards must be held to account,” Nisbett said.

“To have this occurring so consistently, albeit by a minority of people, is distressing and completely unacceptable.

"It's abhorrent behaviour. We want to stamp this rubbish out. We can’t reiterate enough how disappointing these sorts of comments are.”

Club CEO Trevor Nisbett spoke out against the racist comments made about forward Liam Ryan.

Statement: https://t.co/Xnc59b3aOc pic.twitter.com/mJ1ixC75d6

— West Coast Eagles (@WestCoastEagles) March 25, 2019

“Our society expects better, our players expect better and our club expects better. This must stop and we must make a stand.

“We have to be respectful of all cultures and accept people for who they are. No one should be subjected to this hateful and vitriolic garbage.”

It came after Naitanui has called out the trolls in a social media post late on Sunday night.

Several other Eagles players including Willie Rioli, Brad Sheppard and Elliot Yeo joined in the chorus of condemnation with their own posts, while Fremantle star Michael Walters and Hawk Shaun Burgoyne also got involved.

Willie Rioli uploaded this to his Instagram story after racial abuse was directed at teammate Liam Ryan.

Willie Rioli uploaded this to his Instagram story after racial abuse was directed at teammate Liam Ryan.

Originally published as Eagles, AFL stars join chorus of condemnation against racist trolling of Liam Ryan