Rita Panahi: The AFL’s statement on Willie Rioli was pitifully weak and another masterclass in AFL duplicity
Willie Rioli’s alleged threat would get you sacked, or at least penalised, in most workplaces. It beggars belief the league can justify letting him escape punishment.
Opinion
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If the AFL didn’t have double standards, they’d have no standards at all.
How the league can justify letting Willie Rioli escape punishment, while they fine and suspend players and coaches alike for relatively trivial offences, beggars belief.
According to the AFL’s warped moral compass flipping the bird (Nick Watson, Bailey Smith and Harley Reid fined), executing the perfect tackle (Paul Curtis suspended), private post-season hijinks involving a skit with a blow-up doll (six GWS players suspended, seven fined) and a little fun and frivolity during a Bali break with your gal pal (Jordan De Goey fined) are far more egregious offences than threatening a player with violence.
Make no mistake, that is what the Port Adelaide forward is alleged to have done; sent a threatening message to the Western Bulldogs’ Bailey Dale, via a teammate, suggesting he may be attacked if he leaves his Darwin hotel this weekend.
And it was hardly done in the heat of battle; Rioli sent the threat the day after the game.
It was a calculated decision, not an ill-considered on-field comment made midgame or post-game like the aeroplane gibe that landed Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley with a $20,000 fine.
Hinkley’s offence was neither menacing nor offensive, it was merely a poor look for a senior coach.
But if that deserved a $20,000 penalty then Rioli should be facing 4 to 6 weeks on the sidelines.
If he’s not careful Rioli will earn a reputation as a hypersensitive hypocrite; one who can dish it out but can’t take it.
His absurd over-reaction to Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall’s self-deprecating Hall of Fame speech was bad enough but this latest outburst crosses a whole new line.
He’s been around long enough to know better, he’s a month away from his 30th birthday and was recruited in 2016.
Rioli’s apology to Dale should not see him dodge accountability.
The reality is that a comment like that would get you sacked, or at least penalised, in most workplaces.
The league’s statement confirming they’ll “take no further action” and calling on “both clubs to ensure communications are respectful” was pitifully weak and another masterclass in AFL duplicity.
This isn’t about Rioli alone – it’s about a league that picks and chooses its principles based on who’s in the spotlight.
Originally published as Rita Panahi: The AFL’s statement on Willie Rioli was pitifully weak and another masterclass in AFL duplicity
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