Essendon coach Brad Scott has dismissed the impact of an alleged on-field threat made by Willie Rioli in the Bombers' clash with Port Adelaide earlier this season after media reports uncovered two more threats made by the Power forward following his Instagram message to a Bulldogs player last weekend.
Rioli sent a DM to a Bulldogs teammate of Bailey Dale to reportedly threaten the defender after the two had a physical battle in the Power's 90-point defeat in Ballarat on Saturday.
The message allegedly was along the lines of "I have lots of friends in NT, he (Dale) should be careful about leaving the hotel in Darwin next week," according to Nine's Tom Morris.
The saga was initially met without sanction by the AFL, however, as two new cases come to light, the AFL could potentially override that decision and hand Rioli a punishment for his actions.
One of those new cases was reportedly a comment to a similar effect as the one made to Dale and was said on-field against the Bombers in Round 3.
However, when questioned at a press conference on Wednesday, Scott was quick to dismiss having any concerns about the matter.
"It's not our issue, it's a Port Adelaide, AFL issue. As far as I'm concerned, it's not an Essendon issue," Scott said.
"Our players have zero concerns. Clearly, I've been made aware of it (but I didn't know about it at the time)."
Scott was solid in his views that competitive on-field chirping should remain just that, although only if those comments remained within community expectations.
"There are community expectations around player behaviour on and off field, but within those expectations, I still have a pretty firm belief of what happens on the field should stay on the field, provided it's within general community expectations," he said.
"Our players feel whatever was said or done on the field against Port Adelaide should stay on the field, and we're not interested in engaging beyond this.
"...I think that over the decades, expectations have quite rightfully changed in line with broader community expectations. I think the AFL have been an industry, if not world, leaders in terms of tackling issues like racism.
"We absolutely know that there is no space or place for racism on or off-field, but on-field it's a competitive environment, so what would be defined as a threat could be a pretty loose term.
"We play combative competitive sport, and I would expect our players to be combative, but I would expect them to do that within the realms of sportsmanship and community expectations.
"I think there still is a place for what happens on the field stays on the field, but I'd stress again, provided it's within what we all know are community expectations of levels of behaviour."
Scott ensured that the Bombers, who originally took no action on Rioli's comments following Round 3, would maintain that view, as no one at the club has felt any concern or worry for their safety following Rioli's alleged threat.
"We're done. We don't have any issues with Willie or Port Adelaide, our game was played and there were no reports made," Scott said.
"Clearly, we've been made aware of it, but our players, and I've canvassed them, have absolutely no issues. As far as we're concerned, it's not our issue."
The Bombers have concerns of their own with a growing injury list, likely to put together a fresh line-up to take on Sydney this weekend.
The AFL have yet to announce any further penalties for Rioli.
