Nova Peris brands AFL legend Jason Dunstall a COWARD over ‘appalling’ joke he told about an Indigenous footy star

Olympian Nova Peris has voiced her outrage over a joke AFL legend Jason Dunstall told about an Indigenous former teammate, branding it a ‘public humiliation’ of a man who couldn’t defend himself.

Dunstall joked about Willie Rioli Sr as he was elevated to Legend status in an AFL Hall of Fame ceremony last June.

During his speech, the 60-year-old admitted he was never known for his athletic ability and fitness, and illustrated his point by saying in his 14 years with Hawthorn he only beat two other players when it came to endurance – one of whom was Rioli.

‘I remember we had a young man come down from the Top End, by the name of Willie Rioli,’ Dunstall began. 

‘I don’t think Willie had done a lot of conditioning; he looked like an 18-gallon keg with legs.’

The former full-forward recalled that he was catching up to Rioli as they ran laps, with their Hawks teammates cheering Rioli on before Dunstall just pipped him at the finish line.

Dunstall spoke about Rioli when he was elevated to Legend status in an AFL Hall of Fame ceremony last year (pictured)

Willie Rioli Sr is pictured during his time with Hawthorn, where he was Dunstall’s teammate

‘I got the scent of my first kill – it was invigorating, let me tell you … a week later, he was back in the Top End, poor old Willie.’

Peris blasted Dunstall on Thursday, just after Rioli’s son, Port Adelaide star Willie Jr, made headlines when he used a fiery social media post to explain that he hates the Hawks because of the way they have treated his family.  

‘I was stunned and appalled by Jason Dunstall’s decision to use his Australian Hall of Fame platform to mock the late Willie Rioli Sr,’ she told News Corp.

‘To make a joke at his expense from the podium of one of football’s highest honours is not just poor taste, it is cowardice.

‘It is a stark betrayal of what that honour is meant to represent.’

Peris specifically brought up Dunstall’s remark about Rioli returning to his home in the Northern Territory.

‘That wasn’t a throwaway line,’ she said.

‘It was a deliberate attempt at humour at the expense of a man who had passed away, a proud Aboriginal footballer who cannot speak back.

Peris (pictured) branded Dunstall a coward for making fun of ‘a proud Aboriginal footballer who cannot speak back’

Dunstall (pictured playing for the Hawks in 1991) said Rioli Sr ‘looked like an 18-gallon keg with legs’ when he was training with Hawthorn

Rioli’s son Willie Jr (pictured playing for Port Adelaide last month) voiced his hatred for Hawthorn in a fiery social media post this week

‘It was a calculated moment, delivered with a smile, met with laughter.

‘It was a public humiliation of a man who should be remembered with honour.’

Rioli Sr – who went to high school with Peris – died of a heart attack in 2022, aged just 52.

He did not play a first-grade game with Hawthorn after leaving his home in the Tiwi Islands to try to make it in Melbourne.

‘You don’t just mock a man; you mock a people. A people who have already been knocked down by history time and again,’ Peris said. 

‘And to do that from the most prestigious platform in the sport is not only gutless, it is disgraceful.’

Willie Rioli Jr was given time off by Port Adelaide after his post about Hawthorn resulted in him suffering racist abuse online.

Peris said the Power star was ‘deeply’ impacted by Dunstall’s joke ‘not because he’s bitter, but because he’s grieving’.   

Rioli Jr’s uncle Cyril Rioli, who won four flags with the Hawks in a stellar career, left the game due to allegedly racist treatment he received while he was with the club, and was involved in taking the Hawks to the Australian Human Rights Commission along with three other First Nations families.