There are several important lessons flowing from the appalling racial abuse which marred the NRL’s season opener in Las Vegas and has dogged the game in the week since.
The first is that Roosters prop Spencer Leniu inflicted serious hurt on Ezra Mam by calling the Broncos five-eighth a “monkey”. Leniu has argued he didn’t understand the racial nature of the word but whether he knew its terrible connotations or not is irrelevant.
The key point is Mam has been deeply affected by the slur, and will need to be supported by the NRL, his club and fans over the months and years ahead.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo got it right when he said on Tuesday that racism and vilification have no place in modern society. “Our game takes pride in being inclusive and in driving social change,” Abdo said. “The events of last week go against everything the game is built on. We all take great pride in the game’s strong links to Indigenous culture, its representation of Indigenous and Pacific Islander players and its ability to meld communities together.
“Naturally, the shock of this event caused an outpouring of emotion. We must always call out bad behaviour when we see it.”
The Herald strongly endorses Abdo’s sentiments and his excellent leadership on this matter. It also believes the NRL judiciary made the right decision in rejecting the spurious arguments advanced by Leniu and Roosters lawyers during the hearing on Monday night.
The Roosters had argued Leniu should only cop a four-week ban because he was remorseful, wanted to apologise to Mam in person, and did not understand the racial meaning of the word “monkey” prior to the Las Vegas incident.
“I thought it was just one brown man sledging another brown man,” Leniu said at the hearing. “I have no racial intent towards Ezra or the Indigenous community.”
Why the NRL judiciary was right to come down hard on Spencer Leniu
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12.03.2024
There are several important lessons flowing from the appalling racial abuse which marred the NRL’s season opener in Las Vegas and has dogged the game in the week since.
The first is that Roosters prop Spencer Leniu inflicted serious hurt on Ezra Mam by calling the Broncos five-eighth a “monkey”. Leniu has argued he didn’t understand the racial nature of the word but whether he knew its terrible connotations or not is irrelevant.
The key point is........
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