By Sam McClure, Michael Gleeson and Andrew Wu
Port Adelaide forward Willie Rioli is in doubt for this weekend’s Showdown after the AFL launched an investigation into alleged threats he made to three on-field opponents.
A decision on whether Rioli should – or is allowed to – line up in Saturday night’s Showdown against Adelaide will be made on Thursday, but Port say they will not stand him down as a disciplinary measure.
Willie Rioli may be investigated by the AFL again.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
The Power goal sneak, who took part in training on Wednesday night, spent two hours in the afternoon being quizzed by the AFL as part of a probe into his on- and off-field interactions with opponents.
Though Port accept Rioli has overstepped the mark with his threatening message to a Western Bulldogs player directed to that player’s teammate Bailey Dale after the weekend’s game, the Power are angry at what they say is the “pile-on” from people who have no understanding of the impact of the racist abuse he receives.
Separately on Wednesday, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon met club bosses and implored them to inform the league in the future when such allegations emerge against players, telling them the league could not act on incidents it had no knowledge of. The club bosses were told it was possible the league would have taken a stronger stance on Rioli earlier this week, had it been aware of the earlier allegations.
Rioli apologised to Dale for the online threat, and the Power and Bulldogs dealt with the matter privately on Monday, in consultation with the AFL, and there was no sanction for Rioli. But then two further claims of threats by Rioli against emerged.
This masthead revealed on Tuesday that Rioli was alleged to have threatened a Geelong player during a round nine game last year, while a report on Nine, which owns this masthead, on Tuesday night claimed Rioli had also used violent language towards an Essendon player in a game this year.
Clubs did not report those previous matters because the comments made on the field, while surprising, were considered at the time to be an over-the-top heat-of-the moment sledge.
The zoom meeting between Dillon and club chief executives on Wednesday afternoon had already been scheduled to discuss matters including proposed changes to the football soft cap, but proved timely in raising the Rioli matter.
Port said Rioli made a “significant error” with his post-game message but emphasised he was not the first player to make idle threats on the field.
“If we were to sanction every threat of violence on the field, I think the AFL are going to have their hands full,” Davies said. “That’s not to say that it’s right.”
Both Davies and Port Adelaide chairman David Koch referenced Rioli’s history of being racially abused to explain the context behind his behaviour.
“Willie deals with a whole heap of stuff that I’m 100 per cent convinced that you and I don’t have to deal with, and that is an ongoing issue that Willie has to deal with, and he clearly has to deal with better at various points in time. But it doesn’t dismiss the fact that these things are constantly happening to him,” Davies said.
Davies said the club would not stand down Rioli, believing he should not “sit at home and continue to read the rubbish that he gets constantly on social media”, but could not guarantee he will play in the Showdown, even if cleared by the AFL to do so.
“I think it’s fair that we will see how he goes after training, we’ll work with him and continue to talk to the AFL,” Davies said.
Koch said the club was “incredibly angry” with Rioli, but the distinction between on- and off-field comments was important.
“We’re incredibly angry about the situation and Willie knows that,” he said on 5AA on Wednesday morning.
“What is said on the field is one thing. What is done off-field, particularly on social media and a private message to another player he thought would stay private but then was passed on ... we’ve talked pretty sternly to Willie about it and said it’s just not on.
“I’m making absolutely no excuse for Willie’s private message after the game. But you can’t mix on-field and off-field comments or it will lead to places people don’t want to go.”
Rioli took a day of personal leave last month after revealing he was racially abused online following a social media post he made declaring his “hatred” for Hawthorn following their Gather Round clash. Rioli’s cousin is Cyril Rioli, the Hawthorn premiership champion, who was a key figure in the Hawthorn racism scandal. Port said in a statement last month that Rioli and his family “continue to carry deep-seated pain and sadness from past family experiences”.
Rioli was also racially abused during last year’s Showdown.
“You’ve got absolutely no idea what they go through, both on-field and off-field. The threats we receive as a club against our Indigenous players would just horrify you, and we see a responsibility to protect them in that situation as well,” Koch said.
“It’s a build-up of pressure and abuse that they’ve received and every individual handles that differently and that’s what we’ve got to take into account.
“There’s no excusing that and don’t get me wrong, but we have a duty to support the players and turn a bit of attention on to what society is doing to these players.”
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley was due to give his weekly press conference on Wednesday afternoon, but that was now been moved to Friday.
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