Elijah Taylor apologises to teammates after COVID-19 quarantine breach, Lance Franklin speaks out against racist trolls
A ‘nervous’ Elijah Taylor has apologised to Sydney players and staff for his COVID-19 quarantine breach, but one teammate says that’s just the beginning. Meanwhile, Lance Franklin has sent a message to racist online trolls.
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Elijah Taylor has apologised to Sydney Swans teammates, but captain Luke Parker says the banned rookie will have to fight hard to earn back their respect.
Sydney has rallied around Taylor in the wake of him becoming the target of racial abuse, but senior players are refusing to pander to the 19-year-old in response to his brazen quarantine breach which could have jeopardised the entire AFL season.
Taylor has the talent to become an AFL star, but Parker warned on Thursday that potential will count for nothing if he’s not prepared to look himself in the mirror and make tough decisions to shape his future.
The club is conscious that Taylor is young and vulnerable as a kid who hasn’t had it all his own way in life, but are refusing to make excuses for him that let him off the hook.
Standing up and addressing the group was a significant step for a shy and rattled Taylor, but he has been reminded he is only at the start of a long road back after an indiscretion which not only cost him his season but has heavily compromised Sydney’s resources in the soft cap for next year.
“He was obviously pretty nervous (addressing the group). It’s always hard when you’re 19 years old and there are 60 or 70 people in the room,” Parker said.
“He was remorseful for what he did.
“The thing now for him is he’s got to make some choices to earn the respect back from the group.
“We take it on board. You can only take him on his word. It’s now about his decision. How he goes on from here.
“Now it’s about actions.”
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Taylor has been on the end of some honest feedback from senior Swans players in the wake of the weekend incident, when he helped his girlfriend break into the quarantine hub and hide in his room for eight hours.
“He was really clear on the views from the players. He made a few phone calls a few days before when he was in the quarantine, to the leaders, a few close mates and close players within the club,” said Parker.
Taylor is wearing the famous No.37 championed by Adam Goodes at the Swans and there have been big things tipped of him since he was drafted last year.
But does he have a big future at the Bloods?
“That’s up to him,” said Parker.
“He’ll have every opportunity to have a really big future. So that’s a decision he needs to put in place and a decision he will make.
“No doubt he’s got the talent, we’ve seen that in games at times, and we gave him opportunities to show that.
“Hopefully he takes this opportunity to grow and move forward in his career.”
BUDDY’S STRONG MESSAGE TO TAYLOR TROLLS
Lance Franklin has made a rare public statement to condemn an online racial attack on teammate Elijah Taylor.
The Sydney Swans great declared he would not be silent on racism and is dismayed the AFL is dealing with yet another case of abuse in the week the code is celebrating Sir Doug Nicholls indigenous Round.
Taylor lived with Franklin when he first moved to Sydney last year from West Australia and the premiership icon has been the 19-year-old’s strongest mentor, presenting him with his debut jersey earlier this season.
Taylor was banned for the rest of the season after his girlfriend snuck into Sydney’s quarantine hub in Perth over the weekend, breaking AFL COVID protocol.
Franklin labelled the behaviour as “selfish”.
But he said the racist abuse that followed on social media was a separate issue and one that needed to be stamped out once and for all.
“Like everyone at the club I’m incredibly disappointed in Elijah’s selfish actions, they were unacceptable and I understand everyone’s anger,” Franklin told News Corp.
“But the racist comments directed at him are unacceptable. There is and never will be an excuse for racism.
“This week is really special for indigenous players with indigenous Round – it’s about celebrating culture. As a society we need to call out racism and make it clear that we will not tolerate it, and we will not be silent on it.”
The AFL has referred the Taylor abuse to Instagram and the e-Safety Commissioners office. Chief executive Gill McLachlan said Taylor had the game’s full backing.
“Our message is clear, if you are going to post racist comments online at our players, then there is no place in football for you,” said McLachlan.
“This week’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round is a celebration … I want Elijah and all our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players to know that I stand with you.”
GWS Giants indigenous leader Zac Williams reached out to struggling Swans youngster Taylor and joined with Franklin in condemning the scourge of racism on the AFL and society.
“It’s just still baffling that in this day and age there is still racism, but there are still people oblivious to the fact that there is racism in this society,” said Williams.
“People just think there is no racism. But for us indigenous people, there is.
“Elijah Taylor has copped a fair bit. Yes, he made a mistake … but for him to cop that racism on the back of that is not OK.
“We need to look after him because stuff like this brings down the indigenous community. Not just him, everyone. It just cuts you straight to the core.”
SEIBOLD CASE COULD HELP AFL UNMASK TROLLS
Brisbane Broncos coach Anthony Seibold’s explosive social media war is shaping as a potential test case for the AFL in its mission to finally make racist trolls criminally accountable.
A racist attack on besieged Sydney Swans young gun Elijah Taylor on the eve of the AFL’s indigenous Round was the latest in a consistent cycle of abhorrent online abuse levelled at the game’s stars, with the investigation into death threats made against GWS veteran Callan Ward also still yet to identify a culprit.
Seibold’s fight centres on defamatory rumours published about his personal life rather than vilification, but the fact the cybercrime specialists he has hired are confident they’re on the verge of unmasking the original source of the slanderous posts would be landmark proof that faceless trolls can be tracked down.
Essendon still haven’t been able to properly identify the Bombers supporter who made a death threat against Ward and the AFL has been unable to bust countless racist trolls attacking players on online platforms over recent years.
News Corp understands the AFL and AFLPA are both keeping a close eye on the Seibold case as the code looks to up the ante with the Federal Government’s eSafety Commission.
Sydney Swans Chairman Andrew Pridham spoke at length to AFL indigenous icon Adam Goodes and AFL boss Gillon McLachlan about the issue on Wednesday and said identifying cyber trolls like Seibold is doing is only part of the solution.
Pridham is adamant it’s up to legislators to beef-up Australia’s laws on racial vilification so that proper deterrents exist to stamp out the spate of ugly abuse.
“I know that in the racial vilification matters that I’ve seen through my football and AFL involvement, people try and hide their identity because that’s what cowards do. But even if they’re tracked down … there’s a feeling in the indigenous community that people do hide behind free speech and argue they can say what they want to say which is very United States, 1960s,” said Pridham.
“If the legislation is not sufficiently broad and robust enough and people can’t be prosecuted, it’s all a bit pointless.
“It’s great people being well-meaning and saying we’ll catch people, but if they can hide behind fake accounts, or just as bad, if we find them and can’t do anything about it anyway, well we have to change the laws, because what they’re doing is wrong.
“The deterrent has to be significant and appropriate to the damage they cause. If the racial vilification laws in Australia aren’t a sufficient deterrent or they don’t work properly, or people can clam free speech – whatever means people use to escape prospection, that’s what needs to be dealt with. There’s no use just talking about it.”
Pridham said Goodes had been a powerful voice behind the scenes.
“I spoke to Adam today a couple of times and his guidance has been fantastic. The big thing I take out of this is … it’s Elijah that has been vilified. But it doesn’t just affect him, it affects all indigenous people. That’s very clear,” he said.
The AFL has been speaking to the eSafety Commission about regulations which would force social media companies to only approve accounts for real people and remove the ability for people to use fake accounts and aliases.
TAYLOR’S GIRLFRIEND BREAKS HER SILENCE
Elijah Taylor’s girlfriend has broken her silence over her brazen quarantine breach for an eight-hour hotel rendezvous in Perth.
Lekahni Pearce, 18, allegedly scaled two fences and made a frantic dash across the Joondalup resort golf course last Friday.
The Sydney Swans rising star and his girlfriend will be slapped with fines by Western Australia police.
They both broke their silence on Tuesday night after avoiding being criminally charged.
She said she was stunned how easily she was able to pull off her daring infiltration of the AFL’s quarantine hub in Perth.
Ms Pearce also revealed she was caught by a Swans “coach” eight hours later inside the rookie’s room.
The WAG told 7NEWS Perth she was “sorry for everything”, admitting she and Taylor made a “really big mistake”.
“I just walked through, went to his room. That’s how easy it was,” she said. “No security. I didn’t see a security guard.”
TAYLOR TARGETED BY RACIST ABUSE
It comes as Taylor was targeted by racist trolls after taking to social media to apologise for his brazen quarantine breach in Perth.
The teen, who is yet to face his teammates, issued a public apology that revealed he was the latest indigenous AFL star to be attacked with disgusting racial slurs on social media.
“Honestly I’m extremely sorry for being selfish with my actions I know what I’ve done not only affected me and the players but many others that all love the game,” the 19-year-old wrote on Instagram.
“I understand that a lot of people are angry but racism really doesn’t fix anything.”
Below his post featured an example of the vile abuse which News Corp has opted not to publish.
The Sydney Swans have condemned the abuse directed at Taylor.
“Elijah made a bad decision and he now has to deal with the consequences,” the Swans tweeted.
“He should not be the subject of abuse. There is NO place for racism.
“This week is about celebrating the indigenous players in our game. It shouldn’t be about this.
“Enough is enough. It must stop.”
COUPLE ESCAPES CRIMINAL CHARGES
Police considered hitting the pair with a criminal charge, which could have resulted in a maximum $50,000 fine and up to 12 months in jail under WA’s emergency management act.
Ms Pearce committed an offence by breaking into the AFL quarantine zone and Taylor has been accused of being party to the same offence by helping her break in from the inside – but WA police commissioner Gary Dreibergs said on Tuesday the couple would cop an infringement fine, but avoid a day in court.
The Swans haven’t ruled out the prospect of punishing Taylor further, but the more likely option is to try and put support mechanisms around the draftee who hails from a tough background, in a bid to ensure he doesn’t become a wasted talent.
Sydney coach John Longmire said Taylor is still coming to terms with the gravity of his blunder and is yet to formally apologise to teammates — two of whom were reportedly placed in the difficult position of catching him out.
“Well, it’s obviously sinking in and he’s very quiet as you’d imagine and no doubt reflective,” said Longmire.
“It’s a very bad decision that he’s made. If you step back, it’s an immature decision and not every player that you get when you go to the national draft has got the same maturity levels and the same backgrounds.
“Everyone is so different in AFL footy that’s what makes it a great sport … We back ourselves in to be able to help Elijah and help educate him and help him mature quicker and try and get those decision-making processes right. It takes time.
“Unfortunately, this is a really bad one that he’s made and we’re just mindful the balance between obviously making him accountable and him understanding the gravity of the situation versus the support. We’re trying to tread that line very carefully.”
There have been some raised eyebrows at the Swans that their heavy $25,000 fine will come out of their already slashed soft cap for next season, while all other offending clubs have escaped that kind of penalty because they all came before the AFL updated their guidelines.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley’s infamous tennis match was snuck in just a couple of hours before the AFL updated its guidelines, and was therefore treated under the old criteria.
This was news to Longmire.
“Obviously I’m assuming that everyone that’s had a breach, that’s in their soft cap,” said Longmire.
It’s a significant blow to the Swans who have already had to let go coaching staff, with $25,000 hypothetically enough to pay for a part-time consultant.
Taylor is suspended for the rest of the season but the Swans are standing by him.
The club won’t rush Taylor to address the wider playing group.
“No, he hasn’t yet. He may get to that point and we’re working through that but it’s just something that needs a bit of time to process,” said Longmire.
“He’s a young fella who has made a bad decision and he’s working through the process of that in his mind. And no matter what we tell him or advise him to do, it’s something he’s still got to get to that point in his own mind.”
PREMIER LASHES AFL, SWANS
Western Australia premier Mark McGowan says both the AFL and the Sydney Swans “let down” the state.
WA has had some of Australia’s strictest rules during the coronavirus pandemic, keeping them to just 646 total cases and nine deaths, but this has also made things more difficult for the AFL, especially compared to what Queensland has allowed.
The league and the Swans have both apologised to McGowan and WA for Taylor’s breach, but the premier was still scathing of the incident on Sunday morning.
“It’s very disappointing,” he said.
“The AFL gave us every assurance this wouldn’t happen. The Swans have let us down, the AFL has let us down. We’re disappointed in both organisations.
“I received an apology from the AFL this morning. I appreciate that but … they promised us this wouldn’t happen and they let us down.”
Sydney chief executive Tom Harley said WA Police had completed their investigation into the breach, finding that Taylor’s partner did not leave his room meaning there was no risk of exposure to the wider community or Swans players.
She will however have to spend two weeks in self-isolation.
“The facts are Elijah’s acts were intentional. He knew what he was doing, he knew he was breaching,” Harley said on 3AW.
“I don’t want to talk about the specifics of how we found out – we were made aware and obviously confronted and found the girl in Elijah’s room.
“It’s a significant breach of not only the AFL protocols but, given the West Australian police and community have allowed AFL football to continue with teams outside of Perth coming in … the privilege of that, it really does double down on the seriousness of the offence.”
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Originally published as Elijah Taylor apologises to teammates after COVID-19 quarantine breach, Lance Franklin speaks out against racist trolls