Former Olympian and senator Nova Peris has stood up for a one-time school friend and proud Indigenous man who passed away two years ago who "cannot speak back", against his ex-Hawthorn teammate Jason Dunstall.
This week Peris labelled Dunstall's AFL Hall of Fame speech 10 months ago as "cowardice" and a "public humiliation" of Willie Rioli Snr's legacy.
Ms Peris raised the issue after Willie Rioli Jnr's now deleted social media post cited the deep roots of his antipathy for the Hawthorn Football Club.
Dunstall's story appears to have been an attempt to deprecate his own image as unathletic while accepting accolades as one of the great full forwards in the history of game.
But Peris was disgusted as Rioli Snr was described as lacking any conditioning and appearing like an "18-gallon keg with legs" when the pair were the last two men amid a club preseason run.
"Out of the entirety of what (Dunstall) could have said as a newly inducted legend, he chose to kick someone, who isn't here to defend himself," Peris said.
Peris said Rioli Jnr was "deeply" impacted by Dunstall's lines on his father "not because he's bitter, but because he's grieving".
"It was a calculated moment, delivered with a smile, met with laughter," she said.
"It was a public humiliation of a man, who should be remembered with honour."
Rioli Jnr's uncle, Cyril Rioli, won four premierships with the club, but quit the game over racist treatment he allegedly received, where on behalf of two First Nations teammates and a staff member he took Hawthorn to the Australian Human Rights Commission and into the courts before accepting a financial settlement.
Rioli Snr's AFL stint lasted just the one season, delisted at the end of 1990 without playing a senior game.
He died in 2022 of a heart attack and Rioli Jnr took on the first name Junior for a traditional 12-month grieving period, as is Tiwi custom.
"Willie wasn't just a footballer," Peris said.
"He was a father. A cultural leader.A son of the Tiwi Islands, who returned home to care for Country, to mentor young people, and to pass down traditions.
"He was deeply respected."
