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Ken Hinkley has backed Port Adelaide’s stance on “persistent, ongoing” racism in the AFL as he throws his arms around troubled forward Willie Rioli, with the league slammed for their handling of the saga.
Rioli won’t play in the Showdown against Adelaide on Saturday night, having announced his decision to sit out before the league suspended him for one match.
It followed Rioli’s “unacceptable” threatening message to Western Bulldogs player Bailey Dale and an AFL probe into two verbal threats the 29-year-old Power star allegedly made to a Geelong and Essendon player.
The ban prompted Port to denounce racism in the game, calling on the AFL industry to do more to understand what Indigenous and multicultural players and staff go through on a daily basis.
Speaking on 3AW on Saturday, veteran journalist Caroline Wilson described the saga as ‘the worst performance by the Andrew Dillon administration since it took over’, comparing it to the league’s mismanagement of the infamous Adam Goodes booing scandal.
“You go back to Gillon McLachlan’s reign, and the one real black mark on his reign, I reckon, the worst thing that happened was Adam Goodes,” she said.
“Still lost to the game, still won’t attend a Brownlow Medal, he’s a dual Brownlow Medallist, has no interest in footy anymore, broken-hearted.
“Willie Rioli has had bigger issues, I know, than Adam Goodes, in terms of his off-field issues in the past, but if the game loses Willie Rioli, and there’s a genuine fear – he’ll probably play next week, but if he goes back to the Tiwi Islands in the coming weeks or at the bye, he might never come back – that is on all of us, I reckon.
“The coverage of what’s happened this week has been really dubious from some media circles.
“I think the initial decision to not fine or punish Willie Rioli was clearly a misstep, but if there was a decision not to fine him then, why ban him for a game after the subsequent releasing of two on-field threats that must happen in games all the time?”
Wilson also described the AFL Integrity Unit, which is meant to oversee investigations into the conduct of AFL personnel, as ‘slow-moving’, ‘cumbersome’, and ‘a joke, quite frankly’.
“Was there any attempt to find out what has been said to Willie Rioli that has provoked this?” she said.
“Now it might not be overt, easy to define racism, but clearly there are racial overtones in what has happened.
“I think Andrew should be embarrassed, and I think [AFL General Counsel] Stephen Meade should be embarrassed, and Laura [Kane].
“Where is the Indigenous voice in everything that has happened? I’m just embarrassed for the AFL.”
Power coach Hinkley refused to shed any further light on the subject when he fronted the media on Friday.
“I’m not going to go into specifics, but I will say that I’m fully supportive of the club’s position,” Hinkley told reporters.
“Unfortunately I’ve been in this job for a long period of time and continually do see and hear different things that get done and said.
“I’m not going to say exactly what that is.
“All I want to do is say I fully support our club’s position. I couldn’t support it any stronger.”
Hinkley said the Power, who accepted Rioli’s suspension, are eager to move on from the drama surrounding the forward’s behaviour.
As well as serving a one-match suspension, Rioli is required to participate in “education on respectful/non-violent language and conduct”.
“From my point of view, the most important thing is that Willie’s OK and he’s under control,” Hinkley said.
“As has been said all week, we will support Willie and put our arms around Willie and look after him.
“He made a mistake. He knows that and he owns that, and the consequences are known to everyone.
“So we move forward knowing that we’re going to look after Willie.”
Willie Rioli celebrates a goal. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Rioli could return for Port’s match against Geelong on May 17, as he would have served the AFL’s one-match ban.
But the Power haven’t yet put a timeline on the 98-game goal-sneak’s comeback.
“They’re not things that are worth chatting about today, other than at the moment we know Willie’s doing OK,” Hinkley said.
“That’s all we care for at the moment.”
Hinkley was asked whether he thought opposition players might try to get under Rioli’s skin when he returns.
“I would doubt anyone would go there, with the stance that the AFL have now put in place around comments said on the field,” he said.
“I just don’t think you’d go there, but Willie will get our support as he always has.
“Willie also has to learn and he knows that. I think he’s publicly said that himself that he’s got to get better.”
Rioli, who met with AFL officials on Wednesday, apologised privately to Dale on Monday and again publicly on Thursday.
Port wrote to the AFL last month after the heated fallout from Rioli’s online post about Hawthorn, concerned about how racist incidents had been portrayed – specifically that players such as Rioli had provoked the abuse.
“By framing racist abuse as reactive rather than endemic, we are contributing to a narrative that undermines the AFL’s stated commitment to eliminating racism from our game,” the club said in a statement on Thursday.
Hinkley’s own focus had largely been on preparing Port for the Showdown, as they aim to bounce back from a horror 90-point annihilation from the Bulldogs.
The AFL say a failure by umpires to notice the sickening concussion suffered by Collingwood forward Lachie Schultz was the reason why the game was allowed to continue.
Schultz was left prone on the ground after copping a shoulder to the head while tackling Dockers’ defender Jordan Clark in Collingwood’s 15.7 (97) to 12.11 (83) win in Perth on Thursday night.
Umpires let the play continue, despite even Fremantle players pointing out Schultz on the ground.
In further worrying scenes, a groggy Schultz collapsed to the turf a short time later after trying to get up and walk off the field.
By this time, Collingwood forward Jamie Elliott had taken a mark in attack, and was allowed to take his set shot as Schultz finally recovered enough to jog off the ground.
After the match, Collingwood captain Darcy Moore described how “rattled” he and his fellow players were after seeing Schultz in distress.
“We were pretty concerned at how severe he looked, how disoriented he looked,” Moore told Fox Footy.
“Players on both teams thought the game should have been stopped at least for 20 seconds to let him off the ground.
“A lot of the Freo guys were getting to Lachie as well. That was our first concern, given how nasty it looked.
“He was right in front of me so I could see how much he struggled walking.
“It felt like 20 seconds – it was a set shot anyway – so it felt like it was right in that moment (to stop the play).
“It felt like out here in the moment, (when) someone is in a state like that and we’re still running around chasing a footy – it didn’t feel right.”
In a statement on Friday, the AFL said umpires are instructed to stop play as soon as they are aware there is an injured player in the vicinity.
“In last night’s match, the umpires did not see the injured player at the time, so play continued,” the statement said.
“Upon review, if the umpires were aware, play would have been stopped when Daicos had possession in the centre of the ground.”
Both Collingwood coach Craig McRae and Fremantle counterpart Justin Longmuir agreed that play should have been stopped.
“Ideally you could stop the game,” McRae said.
“We were all just worried about his welfare, and we called for the stretcher, and our doctors were trying everything they can to sort of just get Lachie OK.
“My love and care for Lachie is paramount, and his well-being is paramount.
“We want to protect our players, and you don’t like to see your players laying on the ground.”
Given Schultz is a former Docker, Longmuir has a connection with the Magpies’ forward.
“It would have been nice if it had been stopped,” Longmuir said.
“I hope he’s OK. I know he’s had some concussion issues in the past, and it’s never great to see anyone in those moments, let alone someone who I’ve worked closely with and have a lot of respect for.”
“Fingers crossed he recovers well.”
© AAP
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