Port Adelaide footy boss Chris Davies has fronted a packed media press conference at Alberton after an intense 24 hours of scrutiny for star forward Willie Rioli, following his hostile message to a Western Bulldogs teammate of Bailey Dale, an opponent who Rioli found himself battling with physically in the Power's 90-point loss last Saturday.
Since the allegations of Rioli's threatening message were revealed, two more verbal stoushes have since been reported to have occurred, with Rioli allegedly threatening Brad Close after giving away a double 50 metre penalty against Geelong in Round 9 last year, as well as a similar remark made to an Essendon player in Round 3 this year.
Rioli was initially not charged by the AFL with any misconduct for his Instagram message, but following the revelations, the AFL have made further inquiries into the new cases, which could see an outcome delivered on Thursday, potentially rubbing out Rioli with suspension or handing the small forward a financial penalty.
After an hour-long delay to the press conference beginning due to the AFL's conversations with Port Adelaide, Davies first stated the likely result from the investigation would be delivered on Thursday, before highlighting the club's support for a distressed Rioli.
"The AFL have met with both Willie and myself today. They've asked a number of questions of him. Understandably, I'm not in a position to go in a position to go into the specifics around that, on the basis that the AFL investigation is ongoing, but a couple of hours of talking to the AFL this afternoon," Davies said.
"They're (AFL) dealing with some things that they weren't aware of, contextually, that they're now considering in conjunction with the matter from the weekend.
"(Rioli)'s obviously out training right now. It hasn't been an easy period of time for him, but he knows that he needed to front up today and answer those questions and do whatever he can to try and move the situation forward.
"...The club's natural reaction is to move towards Willie and try and provide the right support to him in a moment where he clearly needs some support, but also acknowledging the fact that Willie made a pretty significant error after the game on the weekend in sending the text to the Bulldogs player about Bailey Dale."
Davies doubled down on his support for Rioli by stating that the commentary surrounding Rioli has been harsh and a "pile-on", with those who make comments unaware of the layers of issues that Rioli has to deal with.
"I think the challenge that has happened over the last 24 hours specifically, is a whole host of people across the industry talking about Willie Rioli without having an understanding of the cultural significance to Willie of different things that happen," Davies said.
"I've actually found that quite confronting over the last little bit, seeing a whole heap of people who I don't think have the necessary depth of understanding of what Willie goes through regularly, having their own judgments before understanding maybe some of the things that sit beneath what Willie deals with.
"Now this is not in any way to suggest that the text message after the game should not be addressed by the AFL, and in fairness, has been addressed.
"The people involved, the Bulldogs, Bailey Dale specifically, have moved through this incident, and as I understand it, are willing to move forward, and I think that's important.
"But as I say, I absolutely want to reiterate the fact that people should spend some time educating themselves on the things that sit behind some of the things that Willie deals with.
"I'm not going to go into specifics, but all I will say is that there are things that hurt Willie that are said from time to time, which people don't understand the context for him. Willie deals with a whole heap of stuff that I'm 100 per cent convinced that you and I don't have to deal with, and that that is an ongoing issue that Willie has to deal with, and he clearly has to deal with better at various points in time.
"But that doesn't dismiss the fact that these things are constantly happening to him."
Davies said that a stand-down punishment or a leave of absence for Rioli would not be appropriate, despite calls that that action may be necessary given his threatening comments.
The Power footy boss reiterated that Port Adelaide will only support Rioli through this period and that standing him down for a period of time would only create more harm for a vulnerable individual.
"I don't believe that sending Willie away from the club is the way to deal with this issue," Davies said.
'We are putting our arms around Willie. He has got an issue to deal with here, but we are not going to kick him out of our club and stand him down for any period of time that would suggest that he can't be around teammates and people who are supportive, for him to sit at home and continue to read the rubbish that he gets constantly on social media."
Davies also said he was unsure if Rioli would play in the Showdown on Saturday night after a report by journalist Caroline Wilson onย FiveAAย stated Port Adelaide were worried Rioli "may never play again."
"Caroline is pretty well connected around the place, so maybe someone has said that to her," Davies said.
"I'm specifically, as I say, dealing with myself and Willie right now. Whatever happens, what I do know is the best way to prolong Willie's career is to support him."
The findings from the AFL investigation are expected to release on Thursday, with the Power likely to hold another press conference to discuss the outcome.
Full teams for the Power-Crows clash are released on Thursday at 6:20pm AEST.
