Willie Rioli has withdrawn himself from Saturday night's Showdown amid allegations he made threats towards opposition players, dating back to 2024.
On Wednesday night, Port Adelaide general manager of football Chris Davies said the club would not stand Rioli down, but left the door open for the small forward to make the decision on his availability.
Rioli trained with teammates on Wednesday, while also attended a meeting with the AFL.
Per reports on Thursday, Rioli withdrew himself from the blockbuster cross-town rival clash.
The AFL are yet to announce their decision following investigations into the alleged threats.
Earlier this week, reports emerged Rioli sent a text message with an alleged threat for Bailey Dale to a Bulldogs teammate following their match against the Power last weekend.
Rioli received a $1000 fine for striking Dale during the match, which included fiery exchanges between the pair.
Additional allegations of on-field comments in matches against Essendon and an earlier example involving Geelong have also surfaced.
Davies confirmed private dealings with the Bombers, Cats and Bulldogs on the matters.
It's the second high-interest matter involving Rioli in the matter of weeks, the first involving his declared "hatred" for Hawthorn via social media, which resulted in racist and hompohobic attacks from users online.
Without ignoring the seriousness of the off-field text, Port's footy boss also stated the club were prioritsing Rioli's wellbeing during a what "hasn't been an easy period of time for him", adding "in the last 24 hours, I think the pile-on (Rioli) has been over the top".
Club chair David Koch earlier said he was "incredibly angry" with Rioli.
"I don't believe that sending Willie away from the club is the way to deal with this issue," Davies said on Wedneday night.
"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; people who are supportive, for him to sit at home and continue to read the rubbish that he gets constantly on social media."
More to come.
