Port Adelaide star midfielder Jason Horne-Francis has confirmed that Willie Rioli will return to training after taking personal leave on Tuesday after receiving racist abuse on social media on Monday.
The abuse came after the Power forward posted a polarising statement on his Instagram story following Port Adelaide's stunning victory over Hawthorn, reposting his taunt at Hawthorn's Changkuoth Jiath before he kicked a goal from the goal square and captioning the post with "Play with fire, you're gonna get burnt. My hatred for this club goes way pass last year antics, what they did to my dad, and my brother, is why I can't stand them. Not the players."
Following racist retaliation from social media users, Rioli was granted permission to take indefinite leave from the club, with Port Adelaide releasing a statement on Tuesday to confirm the situation.
Horne-Francis revealed on Triple M Breakfast with Roo, Ditts and Loz, that Rioli is expected to be back with the club on Wednesday, and had messaged the playing group, thanking them for their support.
"He's going well, a lot of the boys have reached out for him," Horne-Francis said.
"He flicked us a message last night saying thank you to everyone for all the all the messages and stuff. I think he'll be back at the club today, which will be good to see him around again.
"He's just dealing with some stuff off-field. It's pretty harsh and we probably need to stamp it out of our game. He's got a lot of support around him, we all support him, we love him at the club.
"He's a great personality, brings a lot of energy to the group. I'm sure he'll be back today, and he'll be ready to go by Sunday."
Power coach Ken Hinkley spoke on Rioli's return to the club, but declared the treatment of the gun small forward as a "disgrace",
"It's a disgrace that racism still goes on in our world," Hinkley said.
"The way we talk about lots of things in society, yet that is still tolerated and still allowed to go on. None of us have the answer of what can be done better.
"Most commonsense people and really good people understand it's a no-go zone and should be a no-go zone. But some fools in this world don't change.
"Willie's a brave young person. I just love him and the person he is, and the smile he brings to our footy club most days. It's not a nice day when you know he's not smiling."
In the wake of the entire saga, Rioli broke his silence on Channel 9, saying he was doing "alright", but revealed that he spoke to Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell.
"I'm alright, it blows over pretty quickly. (I've) got all the support around me, and it just comes with this industry," Rioli said.
"It wasn't a target at the current playing group โฆ and I'm really close with Sammy Mitchell. I sent him an apology โฆ I'm one of those raw people that let my emotion sometimes gets the best of me."
Port Adelaide take on Sydney at the SCG this Sunday, the team and ground that wrapped up the Power's 2024 campaign in preliminary final defeat.
A win would place both the Power and Swans back on the right path, as either side sit 2-3 and just a game outside a top eight spot.
