Willie Rioli saga deepens as Caroline Wilson says Richard Goyder shown Chris Davies letter ‘too late'

7NEWS

12-05-2025

The saga surrounding Port Adelaide forward Willie Rioli appears far from finished, with Caroline Wilson revealing it has reached the desk of AFL chair, Richard Goyder.
Rioli last week made the decision to sit out last weekend's clash against Adelaide — a game for which he was later suspended by the AFL anyway — in the wake of threats he made indirectly to Western Bulldogs player, Bailey Dale.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Caroline Wilson shares new details on Willie Rioli saga.
Preceding that, Rioli was forced to take down a social media post in which he shared a clip of himself kicking the match-winning goal against Hawthorn, which was accompanied by an explosive caption that uncovered family reasons behind his 'hatred' of the Hawks.
'Play with fire, you're gonna get burnt. My hatred for this club goes way past last year's antics, what they did to my dad, and my brother, is why I can't stand them. Not the players. #cococlub,' he wrote in a post that was later deleted.
Rioli copped racial abuse in response, which he took screenshots of, before deleting his post.
Following that, another threat from Rioli to Geelong players was revealed, which dates back to last year.
Port Adelaide footy boss Chris Davies revealed last week that, in the wake of the Hawthorn incident, which happened around four weeks ago, he sent a letter to social inclusion manager and AFL executive, Tanya Hosch, expressing he and the club's devastation at the reporting of it.
In the letter, Davies outlined suggestions in dot-point form about training and education AFL accredited media should receive before reporting on Indigenous issues.
'Tanya, I hope that I have always been seen by our Indigenous and Multicultural players, and AFL staff members, as an ally in supporting the AFL in trying to stamp out racism in our game but I must admit, this incident has had an impact on me and all the PAFC Football Group,' the letter read.
That was written before the incident with Bulldog star, Dale.
Speaking on Monday night's episode of The Agenda Setters, Wilson revealed that the letter has now reached the desk of Goyder — but says it's far too late.
'Port were shattered by the reporting of this incident, and my understanding is this letter has been seen by a few people now, and today, it went to Richard Goyder, the commission chairman,' she said.
'I would say: too late. I mean, this letter was written nearly four weeks ago, and we know how it all played out last week.
'The racists taunts continued with Willie Rioli on social media, in the stands and, if you listen to Chris Davies, during the Bulldogs game.'
The AFL only issued its one-match suspension to Rioli after he had already declared himself unavailable for the Showdown against the Crows.
Wilson slammed league headquarters for going to ground at various stages throughout the saga.
'I think it's been the worst week in Andrew Dillon's administrative job as boss of the AFL, I think it's been a poor week for Laura Kane, I'm critical that we haven't heard from Tanya Hosch,' she said.
'But I'm not sure whether Tanya Hosch has been allowed to speak; I certainly was told today that I needed to go through (AFL media manager) Jay Allen or Brian Walsh if I wanted to speak with Tanya Hosch.
'Why do you have an Indigenous leader in the AFL if she can't speak?
'I talk for background to a lot of people at the AFL. I'm not normally told to speak to a media spokesman.
'And there was no real response from the AFL.'
The issue continues to linger at the worst possible time for the AFL, which is about to celebrate Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round for the next fortnight.
'It's Indigenous Round, it's the first of two weeks of Indigenous Round, some years since the now-famous Adam Goodes war dance that saw the AFL fail dismally — if you remember, it was a dismal failure by Gillon McLachlan after that Sydney Swans game,' Wilson went on.
'I just can't understand why this is not something that we are confronting in a week when we are meant to be confronting and celebrating our Indigenous heritage and our Indigenous players, and I don't understand why everyone at the AFL is avoiding it.
'We haven't heard from Andrew Dillon at all, we haven't heard from Laura Kane, or Tanya Hosch, or Richard Goyder.
'Hopefully, after today's commission meeting, where it was discussed, we will hear something.
'I think they're ducking for cover; why on earth was Willie only interviewed by AFL integrity — and I heard it wasn't the most brilliant interview at times — why did that not happen until Thursday?'
Nick Riewoldt said it reflects badly on Kane, the AFL's head of footy.
'Under Laura Kane, the AFL's disciplinary system has been a disaster. It's just been a spin the wheel and see where it lands,' he said.
Wilson added: 'I think it goes to Andrew Dillon and Stephen Meade, the AFL's general counsel.'