Olympian and former senator Nova Peris has condemned AFL great Jason Dunstall for a joke he made about late Indigenous player Willie Rioli Sr during a Hall of Fame speech last June, calling it "cowardly" and a "public humiliation."
Dunstall joked that Rioli resembled "an 18-gallon keg with legs" and used him as an example of poor fitness, Idman.biz reports, citing Daily Mail.
The remark, made while accepting one of football’s highest honors, sparked backlash—especially as Rioli Sr, who passed away in 2022, is no longer alive to respond.
Peris, who went to school with Rioli, said the joke was not only in poor taste but a calculated insult delivered with a smile. "It wasn’t just mocking a man—it mocked a whole people," she said.
The criticism follows a powerful post by Rioli's son, Willie Jr, who expressed his pain over the club’s treatment of his family and received online abuse in response. Peris said his anger comes from grief, not bitterness.
This controversy also resurfaces issues around Hawthorn's treatment of Indigenous players, including Cyril Rioli, who left the game and later joined other families in a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Idman.biz
