Western Bulldogs V Port Adelaide R8, Saturday 3/5/25 at Mars Stadium, Ballarat at 1:20pm

[whythelongface]

Gets off with a slap on the wrist by the AFL. Pretty poor. You can’t go around making threats without a consequence.

[GVGjr]

Repeat offender. Willie needs to be banned for a period of time to sort himself out. Cooked af. Can you imagine being Bailey Dale in Darwin? It will be a completely unnerving experience for him now.

Here is the thing, how is the AFL placed if Bailey Dale is harassed and assaulted at Darwin? The onus should be now on them to provided a couple of minders.

[The Bulldogs Bite]

Weak Rioli.

He's pathetic as he's proven a number of times.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Gets off with a slap on the wrist by the AFL. Pretty poor. You can’t go around making threats without a consequence.

It's ridiculous but typical.

[Grantysghost]

Here is the thing, how is the AFL placed if Bailey Dale is harassed and assaulted at Darwin? The onus should be now on them to provided a couple of minders.

Libba and Bevo

[Rusty12]

It's interesting because I thought Tim English was better in this game alone!

Yeah, he was alao unreal, no doubt.

[Axe Man]

AFL under fire for failing to penalise Port’s Willie Rioli for sending threatening message to opponent

An AFL player giving the bird to the crowd gets fined but another sending a threatening message to an opponent escaped penalty and that hasn’t gone down well.

AFL great Tim Watson says he’s “staggered” Willie Rioli escaped any sanction amid a “lily-livered” league response despite the Port Adelaide forward sending a threatening message towards Western Bulldogs defender Bailey Dale.

Rioli went unpunished after an AFL investigation into the private message, which was sent to a teammate of Dale after he and Rioli were involved in a scuffle at Mars Stadium in Ballarat on Saturday, prompting the Bulldogs to act.

It’s understood Rioli messaged the teammate to say he had friends in Darwin, where the Bulldogs play this week, and Dale should be careful about leaving the team hotel while in the city.

There was no disputing the message was sent, but the league and both clubs deemed an apology from Rioli was sufficient to end the matter.

That hasn’t gone down well in the AFL world, however, and Watson said the lack of penalty didn’t address the need to police player behaviour standards.

“I’m staggered that the AFL has (not punished Rioli),” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.

“OK, Willie Rioli reaches out to Bailey Dale and apologises, that’s fine. Everybody apologises once they’ve been caught out, that’s just standard behaviour of human beings.

“That doesn’t mean to say that it can just be swept under the carpet and there not be any form of penalty or discipline applied by the AFL.

“I am staggered that they have just allowed what they did allow yesterday to be the course of action that was taken on their behalf.

“If you say the wrong thing out there on the football field and the AFL becomes aware of it or the umpire reports it, or whatever, you are then responsible even in the heat of the moment.”

Both clubs issues statements in the wake of the investigation, but the AFL’s came in for particular scorn, with Melbourne great Gary Lyon calling it “lily-livered”.

“The general public are saying why didn’t the AFL extend the lily-livered explanation about reminding both clubs to ensure any communication remain respectful? Why hasn’t that been applied in the past?” he said.

“Why is this when someone is threatening violence to an opposition player they get a pretty light, soft reminder to ensure communication remains respectful? Why hasn’t that been afforded to other players in the past?”

Both compared the matter to fines being handed out for obscene on-field gestures and were adamant there should have been a penalty.

“There needs to be a lot more explanation around why they arrived at a statement like that and there was no other course of action taken against Willie Rioli,” Watson said.

“If you flip the bird, you’re getting a fine of $1000 or $1500. There’s no penalty that’s been applied to Willie Rioli. None. Zero.

“What people want – and it’s not too much to ask – is consistency. We just want consistency of messaging from the AFL on all matters.”

[Scott2016]

Its wrong the level of penalty applied on this occasion. In a workplace that could be seen as Bullying, Harassment and potentially gross misconduct leading to termination. Image if Bailey had mentioned something that was race orientated and the penalty that would have been applied. Doesnt seem to be fair and reasonable

[Sedat]

A number of GWS players who played dress-ups at a private end-of-season function got between 2 and 5 week suspensions
Will Powell got 5 weeks for a homophobic slur uttered on the field
Tex Walker got 6 weeks for a racial slur made off the ground at a pre-season match

The above penalties are commensurate with expected standard of behaviour for professional footballers, and yet verbally threatening and intimating violence against another player is swept under the rug.

The AFEL is not a serious competition and it is run by deadshits.

[jeemak]

A number of GWS players who played dress-ups at a private end-of-season function got between 2 and 5 week suspensions
Will Powell got 5 weeks for a homophobic slur uttered on the field
Tex Walker got 6 weeks for a racial slur made off the ground at a pre-season match

The above penalties are commensurate with expected standard of behaviour for professional footballers, and yet verbally threatening and intimating violence against another player is swept under the rug.

The AFEL is not a serious competition and it is run by deadshits.

The AFL is seriously compromised when it comes to addressing any issue involving indigenous footballers, in lieu of the lower representation of indigenous players over time and the ongoing mismanagement of indigenous issues at clubland and more broadly.

They are not equipped with sufficient empathy or understanding at any level. Rioli is clearly experiencing something, though that doesn't mean he shouldn't be held to account for acting in the way he has. That the AFL can't navigate both of those things means you're absolutely right. They're not a serious organisation and they are run by deadshits. They'll still have their Dreamtime at the G event though.

EDIT - this post is genuinely focused on the inadequacies of the AFL and its handling of indigenous issues.

[SquirrelGrip]

The AFL is seriously compromised when it comes to addressing any issue involving indigenous footballers, in lieu of the lower representation of indigenous players over time and the ongoing mismanagement of indigenous issues at clubland and more broadly.

They are not equipped with sufficient empathy or understanding at any level. Rioli is clearly experiencing something, though that doesn't mean he shouldn't be held to account for acting in the way he has. That the AFL can't navigate both of those things means you're absolutely right. They're not a serious organisation and they are run by deadshits. They'll still have their Dreamtime at the G event though.

EDIT - this post is genuinely focused on the inadequacies of the AFL and its handling of indigenous issues.

Yes, and their other challenge is that this is Doug Nicholls Round, so PR timing isn't great to sanction an indigenous player in this way.

[dukedog]

The AFL is seriously compromised when it comes to addressing any issue involving indigenous footballers, in lieu of the lower representation of indigenous players over time and the ongoing mismanagement of indigenous issues at clubland and more broadly.

They are not equipped with sufficient empathy or understanding at any level. Rioli is clearly experiencing something, though that doesn't mean he shouldn't be held to account for acting in the way he has. That the AFL can't navigate both of those things means you're absolutely right. They're not a serious organisation and they are run by deadshits. They'll still have their Dreamtime at the G event though.

EDIT - this post is genuinely focused on the inadequacies of the AFL and its handling of indigenous issues.

This is 100 percent spot on. Unfortunately, racism is only handled one way. In this situation Rioli is definitely being looked after because he is indigenous. In no circumstance should what he did be handled the way it has. The reason for no explanation is because it is race based. FYI im 100 percent behind indigenous players and people. This should have been handled like the general public has been saying. Better.

judging by the comments here i do not even think this is because its involving our player. This would be from every clubs members,

[GVGjr]

It's a real shame that straight forward issues with regards to what is right or wrong have so many other considerations that determine any penalties.
Flip someone the bird in the heat of the moment and cop a fine
Threaten someone's safety even after due consideration and the AFL accepts an apology.
The AFL are very flexible with their determinations even if there has been previous examples.

[hujsh]

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1316061/port-adelaide-incredibly-angry-after-more-willie-rioli-allegations-emerge

tldr Willie might have made "verbal threats against opponents during two games in the past 12 months" specifically to Geelong and Essendon players. Port not happy.

Interesting points "The League was not aware of those allegations when it decided not to penalise Rioli on Monday over the threat to Dale." - how is that the case?

Koch said "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." - goes against the initial reporting suggesting it was done on purpose, a very strange explanation but possibly explains the AFL decision. It's all a bit off though.

[Sedat]

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1316061/...gations-emerge

tldr Willie might have made "verbal threats against opponents during two games in the past 12 months" specifically to Geelong and Essendon players. Port not happy.

Interesting points "The League was not aware of those allegations when it decided not to penalise Rioli on Monday over the threat to Dale." - how is that the case?

Kock said "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." - goes against the initial reporting suggesting it was done on purpose, a very strange explanation but possibly explains the AFL decision. It's all a bit off though.

The AFEL - we're very angry today and will punish Rioli, only because we've been embarrassed by the media for doing the job we should have been doing and subsequently making us look like the inept dickheads that we are.