Willie Rioli "on leave" from Port Adelaide after social media post

[Dan]

I don’t endorse racist comments towards players but at the same time…..don’t throw stones and then the next day claim to be a victim.

You can’t act like the hammer and not expect to be the nail at some point.

and now add what we now know….

Scumbag.

 

[Kappa]

So he gets a 1 week suspension for violent threats but Taylor Walker

13

Taylor Walker

Age

35

Ht

192cm

Wt

102kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

5.7

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

2.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

8.0

2star

K

6.4

3star

HB

1.6

2star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.6

4star

G

1.6

5star

gets 6 weeks?

AFL is so lost in their wokeness they don't know which way is up anymore

 

[HairyO]

So he gets a 1 week suspension for violent threats but Taylor Walker gets 6 weeks?

AFL is so lost in their wokeness they don't know which way is up anymore

He got a 0 week suspension. He had already ruled himself out. So the AFL gave him no punishment.

 

[Progressive Aggresion]

Let's be honest, Willie is a bit of a flog.
Obviously Port have turned a blind eye to him previously and it has ended up where we are today.
Compare what Adelaide did with Rachele. He did nothing compared to Willie, yet the club pulled him in, dropped him, critiqued him publicly, and he has turned around and upped his game big time this year.
It could well be the best thing that ever happened to him.

I like this post but unfortunately one additional factor with Willie is that he is turning 30 years old in June whilst Rachele is only in his 4th season of AFL. Not saying it rules him out of finding career best from, but his age and injury history will make that outcome less likely.

I also think that both the backlash and actions that caused it were far less severe in Rachele's case. All he had to worry about was not dropping marks or over celebrating goals. Willie has far more significant bad habits to worry about and by extension far more intense backlash.

 

[golions]

Also with Goodes, he had a tendency to slide into packs with his boot up, at least one occasion got an opponent in the testicles. That's why the crowd were booing that day. Nothing to do with racism as the media wanted you to believe.

Toby Greene made a habit of trying to kick players in the face with studs up.

He didn’t get booed as incessantly and relentlessly like Goodes did.

 

[Satan]

Toby Greene made a habit of trying to kick players in the face with studs up.

He didn’t get booed as incessantly and relentlessly like Goodes did.

You cant boo certain players

 

[TiAn_]

Toby Greene made a habit of trying to kick players in the face with studs up.

He didn’t get booed as incessantly and relentlessly like Goodes did.

Greene’s been 10x the grub Goodes ever was and is still celebrated. He actually assaulted someone off field, on field did multiple studs up kicks, eye gouging, scratching, late hits, you name it. People even came up with that ‘Toby Tax’ nonsense to make out that he was being picked on by the AFL even though he was a recidivist.

The ‘Goodes was booed because he did cheap shots’ thing is revisionist BS. He was booed after his Australia Day stance.

Still pretty pathetic effort by Port in this scenario though. If he’d experienced racism on field then it should have (would have) been called out by them at the time, not vaguely alluded to after his multiple threats to other players have come to light. I highly doubt Rioli would be apologising to Dale if Dale has said anything racist. Likewise the earlier instances. So to muddy that with their statement is really poor.

 

[SC_Power]

Still pretty pathetic effort by Port in this scenario though. If he’d experienced racism on field then it should have (would have) been called out by them at the time, not vaguely alluded to after his multiple threats to other players have come to light. I highly doubt Rioli would be apologising to Dale if Dale has said anything racist. Likewise the earlier instances. So to muddy that with their statement is really poor.

As per their release in response to the AFL, they wrote to the AFL three weeks ago about this exact point. That people incl the media portray systemic racism as reactionary in response to actions by indigenous players.

It’s ok if you don’t accept that explanation however.

 

[TruRoo]

As per their release in response to the AFL, they wrote to the AFL three weeks ago about this exact point. That people incl the media portray systemic racism as reactionary in response to actions by indigenous players.

It’s ok if you don’t accept that explanation however.

That wouldn’t have been after another brain dead moment by Rioli would it?

Seems port is happy enough for Rioli to act like a dick, then just explain it away as his response to racism.

Racism is bad, but that doesn’t lessen Rioli’s lack of emotional intelligence.

 

[SC_Power]

That wouldn’t have been after another brain dead moment by Rioli would it?

Seems port is happy enough for Rioli to act like a dick, then just explain it away as his response to racism.

Racism is bad, but that doesn’t lessen Rioli’s lack of emotional intelligence.

And that’s almost exactly what they put in their public response to the AFL. Explaining a situation is not the same as explaining away a behaviour, but understanding it. Should Rioli know better than what he did? Absolutely. Does he understand that? Possibly not.

I think the double standard at play is that we’re all saying (including me) that he should know better and to put up with it rather than exhibit his bad behaviour, but side-by-side with that, as a society in general we keep trying to explain away racist behaviour as reactionary rather than systemic. Why shouldn’t WE (as a society) just know we need to be better? As Eddie Betts has so eloquently said on previous occasions, why we look to indigenous players and people to constantly accept our apologies in order to move on, rather than just acknowledge their hurt and fix ourselves.

Nothing that hasn’t been said before, just my 2c worth.

 

[TiAn_]

As per their release in response to the AFL, they wrote to the AFL three weeks ago about this exact point. That people incl the media portray systemic racism as reactionary in response to actions by indigenous players.

It’s ok if you don’t accept that explanation however.

That doesn’t in any way change the fact that Port’s ham-fisted statement implicates opposition players when the only player who has done anything wrong is Rioli.

 

[SC_Power]

That doesn’t in any way change the fact that Port’s ham-fisted statement implicates opposition players when the only player who has done anything wrong is Rioli.

And there you are reinforcing the narrative…. no one has ever done anything wrong by Willie Rioli because, in your words “the only player who has done anything wrong is Rioli”. He has done wrong, but the only one, you really think that?

And you are entitled to your opinion, of course, I’m not going to change your mind.

Maybe to follow up your concerns, Port need to go retrospective on this. Geelong and Essendon didn’t go any further and report Rioli’s bad behaviour, but now the AFL has found out about it then a pattern of retrospective behaviour is demonstrated and a punishment has been applied. Should this apply across the board? As Rioli has clearly documented systemic on field racism with the Port Adelaide hierarchy previously, if subsequently this been discussed informally with other clubs, should this be made public?

I reckon that would be an interesting insightful follow up question if any media could look past the headline, don’t you?
“David Koch, have you had discussions with other clubs about their player/s on field behaviour as you alluded to in your statement, and if so will these communications now be made available to the AFL, in order to hold those players to account?”

 

[TiAn_]

And there you are reinforcing the narrative…. no one has ever done anything wrong by Willie Rioli because, in your words “the only player who has done anything wrong is Rioli”. He has done wrong, but the only one, you really think that?

And you are entitled to your opinion, of course, I’m not going to change your mind.

Maybe to follow up your concerns, Port need to go retrospective on this. Geelong and Essendon didn’t go any further and report Rioli’s bad behaviour, but now the AFL has found out about it then a pattern of retrospective behaviour is demonstrated and a punishment has been applied. Should this apply across the board? As Rioli has clearly documented systemic on field racism with the Port Adelaide hierarchy previously, if subsequently this been discussed informally with other clubs, should this be made public?

I reckon that would be an interesting insightful follow up question if any media could look past the headline, don’t you?
“David Koch, have you had discussions with other clubs about their player/s on field behaviour as you alluded to in your statement, and if so will these communications now be made available to the AFL, in order to hold those players to account?”

In a number of ways their statement was for their supporters like you, to point the spotlight away from Rioli and the club. And you’ve taken that hook, line and sinker by the looks of it. And it did so by in part throwing opposition players that have been threatened by Rioli under the bus.

Rioli’s experience of racism via social media, or that of his family members at football clubs in the past, should not be minimised. But that is distinct to what he has done on field in threatening multiple players. Linking the two in this situation is really poor.

 

[Bostonian]

You are a flog also.

From the neutrals perspective looking at the back and forth you're having with the Crows fan it's not him who is looking the flog.

 

[Bostonian]

Am I the only one who laughed at his apology?

"It’s not in my true nature or character to say those things and I apologise for any distress I cause to individuals or their families."

Yet in his previous sentence before this, he states he says things he regrets on field from time to time, which means they happen on a somewhat regular occurence which suggests it IS his nature to say those things...

Spot on.

It's 100% part of his nature.

 

[Enviable Tradition]

In a number of ways their statement was for their supporters like you, to point the spotlight away from Rioli and the club. And you’ve taken that hook, line and sinker by the looks of it. And it did so by in part throwing opposition players that have been threatened by Rioli under the bus.

Rioli’s experience of racism via social media, or that of his family members at football clubs in the past, should not be minimised. But that is distinct to what he has done on field in threatening multiple players. Linking the two in this situation is really poor.

You dont think there is any link between the disadvantages first nations people challenge in their upbringing and the disgusting racial abuse they face on a daily basis and Willie's inability to emotionally regulate well?

Why does everyone want to be so black and white on these issues all the time.

Why can't we accept that the social disadvantages play a role and that Willie needs to be better. Both can be true you know.

 

[Mibie]

This is absolutely disgusting. You get 3 weeks for accidentally tackling someone too hard yet you deliberately and repeatedly make verbal threats and just the 1 week. This is after media and public backlash.

The AFL needs to pull their head in as does Rioli obviously.

Spot on. It's disgraceful. It's basically a case of don't tackle too hard, don't criticise umpires, don't pretend to be a plane, but it's sort of ok to make threats to other players on social media..... I bet when he gets boo'd everyone will be labelled a racist too.

 

[voorhees]

dumbfounded at how the AFL came up with a 1 week ban.
And they wonder why people are so frustrated with the running of the game.

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

I know where i'd be if i threatened a fellow worker.
1 week pffttttt

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

I think we should all congratulate the AFL for the tough stance they have taken, in giving a one week suspension to a guy who had already said he wont play.

Imagine if the AFL was a parent

“That’s it son, I’ve had enough of your attitude. I’m grounding you for 1 day. That’s right. On Monday you must stay in your room, no school. Just your room . All you will have access to is your PlayStation and everything in the pantry. That’s it . Anyway I’m going to work. I’ve left 100 bucks on the counter for you and your friends. Make sure you take care of them right”

 

[zyzzbruh]

Still pretty pathetic effort by Port in this scenario though. If he’d experienced racism on field then it should have (would have) been called out by them at the time, not vaguely alluded to after his multiple threats to other players have come to light. I highly doubt Rioli would be apologising to Dale if Dale has said anything racist. Likewise the earlier instances. So to muddy that with their statement is really poor.

I think it's a reference to racism being the crux as to why the behaviour may be occurring, rather than a racist scenario itself. Willie's actions over the past year clearly point to a sort of built up resentment. If he's been exposed to racial abuse over the years you can't expect his behaviour to be as rational as you or I in scenarios where he's being provoked, whether that be racial or not, and then expect the punishment to be the same.

Whether we like hearing it or not the decisions Indigenous players are making in their lives whether it's crime, weed and alcohol dependence, or lashing out, it's all ultimately a result of the marginalisation of aboriginals stemming back over decades.

All well and good being where we are at now, but in the end these guys are born and bred in communities where the after affects of it all put them on the back foot when it comes to becoming A1 professionals. Port and the AFL have to tred carefully, you can't just go dishing out a hefty ban and risk Rioli going into even more of a resentment spiral. If the behaviour continues beyond this then yeah it then comes to a point where the other players welfare takes absolute precedence. The initial response though has to be careful.

 

[Tiger Prowess]

"It’s not in my true nature or character to say those things and I apologise for any distress I cause to individuals or their families."

Let's see what Willie Rioli means by "true nature,"

"True nature" refers to the essential, inherent qualities and characteristics of something or someone, often distinct from any superficial or disguised aspects. It can also refer to the unaltered or natural state of something, without interference or manipulation.

Yet in his previous sentence before this, he states he says things he regrets on field from time to time, which means they happen on a somewhat regular occurence which suggests it IS his nature to say those things...

He has made two empty threats on the football field in the past with the one he made against a Geelong player being reported by Andrew Mackie to the AFL so it could be put on the record, that means the AFL knew about it and accepted that it was all part of white line fever and the mental warfare that goes on on the football field from time to time.

The AFL expects that what is said on the field should stay on the field, so, the mistake Willie Rioli has made here is taking what happens on the football field onto social media after the game, giving the fans an insight into what goes on on the football field from time to time.

The mistake the AFL has made is allowing the bootlickers in the AFL media to bring up those two previous empty threats that they accepted were a part of white line fever and the mental warfare that goes on in a game from time to time.

To me this is a problem the AFL has created and their attempt to throw Willie Rioli under the bus by bringing up those two previous empty threats that they accepted as part of the game is really disgusting in my opinion.

 

[Tiger Prowess]

So he gets a 1 week suspension for violent threats but Taylor Walker gets 6 weeks?

I would prefer it if you said empty threats whilst suffering from white line fever.

 

[Bostonian]

This feels like it would have made a great book for Pate Biscuit to have read.

Silly Willie the Great Big Dilly.

 

[Bostonian]

I would prefer it if you said empty threats whilst suffering from white line fever.

You miss the bit where he made the threat off the field?

That's not white line fever. Unless you mean the other kind of white line...