Hawthorn captain Jai Newcombe has condemned regular social media abuse levelled towards AFL players.
Speaking at Hawthorn's open media call on Monday, Newcombe gave an insight into the landscape AFL players are confronted with.
"It can be pretty toxic and pretty ugly. There's a lot out there that doesn't get shown," Newcombe said.
It follows Adelaide's Jordan Dawson calling out vile social media abuse he received on the weekend which referenced self-harm.
Dawson shared the vile abuse on his Instagram story with teammate Callum Ah Chee also a victim.
The league and the Hawks stood behind Mabior Chol when he received racial vilification via Instagram messages earlier in the year.
"It's important that Jordan has done what he's done, we had similar with Mabior (Chol) earlier in the year and actually calling that stuff out, it's pretty ugly, it's disrespectful, it's so many things we shouldn't have to deal with in a way but I would say that's just the tip of the iceberg," Newcombe said.
"There's a hell of a lot that goes on pretty frequently that players have to deal with and talk to the people they need to but there's too much of it I'd say."
The Hawks skipper has become adept at compartmentalising the commentary directed towards him and broadly supported AFL action.
"As much as I'd love to (spend time looking), I'm quite good at skimming through at some of the hidden requests that pop up. I don't read them too often," Newcombe said.
"I don't know how (the AFL) would mandate but it's something to look into for sure.
"There's so many more we don't see. It's a tricky one but acting on it when players are comfortable enough to put themselves on the line to show what's being said, making sure they're comfortable enough and know they've done the right thing is pretty important."
The Crows released a statement addressing the abuse towards Dawson and Ah Chee.
The abuse towards Dawson comes after he used the AFL awards night to give a touching speech about the importance of mental health after dealing with the death of his brother earlier this year.
"We will provide Jordan and Cal with the appropriate support, as is the case when any of our people are subjected to online attacks and abuse," Crows chief executive Tim Silvers said in a statement.
"We will also be reporting these latest incidents to SA Police and the AFL's integrity unit."
Meanwhile, Newcombe's teammate Josh Ward revealed he removed social media in September last year for a variety of reasons and has noticed great benefit off-field as a result, producing a career-best season.
"I don't have any social media anymore so that's been a blanket fix for me, so I've been lucky I haven't experienced as much as a lot of players have so it hasn't been as much of an issue personally but it's a terrible thing to happen," Ward said.
"You can have 10 good comments but the bad one is what sticks with you, (people) need to realise the impact that can have.
"(I deleted it) for multiple different (reasons), a bit of peace and quiet as well and lifestyle trying to get a bit more time to think in my day. (My life's) been a lot better since I've gotten rid of it."
