‘A bit too much': Willie Rioli's shock revelation after threat ban fallout
Rioli was suspended for a game in May and hit with fines after revelations of a social media threat to Western Bulldogs defender Bailey Dale with a further two instances of similar aggression to opponents coming to light.
He earned support from Port chairman, David Koch, who suggestion Rioli was subjected to 'culturally insensitive' remarks, which was shot down by the Bulldogs in a war of words between the two clubs.
It was putting Port in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, and the fallout from the incident moved Rioli to contemplate walking away.
'Definitely it gets to a point where it's a bit too much sometimes,' Rioli told Port's club podcast, Peeled.
'And yeah I have spoken to my manager and the club a couple of times about walking away from the game, which I am not shy to talk about.
'More so ... trying to not be putting any more pressure on the club. Get them out of the spotlight as well, in terms of not have to deal with my issues so much as a person off-field.'
Remarkably, Rioli even said he took a 'bit of the blame' for a drop off in indigenous player numbers, a feeling dating back to copping an 18-month suspension for tampering with his marijuana-tainted urine sample while at West Coast.
'I do hold a bit of blame myself a little bit for some of the stuff I have been through, in terms of clubs not trusting Indigenous players,' he said, declaring righting that wrong, and improving perceptions was why he's still playing.
'I felt that was my driver to come back to footy ... be the light in terms of 'we can go through this'.
'I look at the drop in terms of Indigenous players in the competition ... that gives me the motivation to stick around longer, to help the next generation do better than what we are doing or what I am doing.
'I want the next (Indigenous) generation to be better than what we are right now.
'And I want them to have their confidence to make mistakes and not be judged by their mistakes.'
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