NRL News: Leniu pleads guilty to monkey racial slur, apologises to Mam - 'I said the word but I didn't mean it in a racist way'

My kids call each other names all the time, if one sooks I ask questions like "are you a whatever?" They reply "no" and I tell them to get on with life as they will always get called names by people with weak minds & how they react will be how they are judged. NB polynesian / european heritage.

Spencer plays for the roosters now, obviously a poorly disciplined team look at the record of JWH and Radley, disgraceful even with their multiple let offs! Ivan has nothing to worry about.

Nat - no idea with a comment like that.

:laughing: too many lefties .... just joking

leftish ideology... i think ..

i am with Mundine. it is not racial man up and take it on the chin. he plays in a very tough sport yet a simple everyday word sends him tearing up. on field it should stay on field. off field field its another story.

Likewise - thank goodness it will never be up to you as to what to do with anything like this! I think the traditional, commonsense view of a multiple weeks suspension is likely to be the outcome here - ie rather than an ideological-based call for years or decades (or worse?) out of the game....

Thank heavens it won't come down to what you think would be fair. Leniu had his shot at a sincere apology , albeit four days too late , and he failed miserably. Ideology , on the other hand seems to see things much more clearly.

ALL denial Plus issuing a challenge to Mam and his team-mates that they knew where to find him if they wanted to take it further. In other words, inviting them to make a bad situation worse .... and when they didn;t take him up on it , he confronted them instead, yelling that Mam should have 'left it on the field". Just a further indication that Leniu has zero regard for the efforts and investment that every player from all four teams had put in to present such a good image of our game , all playing their hearts out , all on their best behaviour. And what about the disrespect he has shown to v'Landys, Abdo, and the rest of the NRL., single-handedly smearing our image in the U.S. and virtually making himself the headline! An apology four days later that sounded more like patting himself on the back and indicating that he's still confused about what he did wrong , and all of that only because his advisors had told him his goose was already cooked and burning in the oven ? ..... Throw the book at him AND his gas-lighting coach ! Where was Robinson's apology ?

His guilty plea means nothing Cam ... ZERO ! If he'd have been contrite and apologetic in his first couple of interviews after the match I would agree , but he was the opposite. ... he was arrogantly dismissive saying he was definitely NOT worried at all, ignorantly calling it "fun and games on the field" but certainly not denying it. Then , also immediately post match, arrogantly inviting Mam or his team-mates that if "they want to take it further they know where to find me" , "we're staying at the same hotel" !..... an obvious indication that he's happy to make this bad situation even worse, like he was on a one man mission to destroy all the goodwill and good publicity that the NRL had invested millions in building, not to mention the extreme efforts that all the players from all four teams had put into presenting a flawless and hard fought image to the U.S. viewers. ... Then this idiot confronts Mam and two of his Brisbane team-mates at the Hotel , yelling at them that Mam should have just "left it on the field". Trent Robinson's contribution was to throw fuel on the fire by trying to "gaslight" Ezra by suggesting that "making the accusation doesn't mean it's right". Robinson should be sanctioned also , .. don't tell me he didn't know about Leniu's post match virtual admission before he'd even left the field !! The fool and his coach have clearly demonstrated that they Just Don't Get It ... and so The NRL and the Judiciary need to double, no , triple any normal punishment to make sure these (dangerous to the game's image) imbeciles DO GET IT , that coming out FOUR days later when media advisors have finally been able to get it through their thick skulls that Everyone Already KNOWS the truth and that Leniu should apologize. Where was ROBINSON"S apology by the way ?! And even Then Leniu couldn't get it right , between indicating that he still doesn't think it was racist whilst patting himself on the back for "putting his hand up". FAR too little FAR too LATE from the Roosters and from Leniu ..... Throw the book at them I say !

Yes things have definitely changed for the better in terms of raising awareness of the damage such unneccesary slurs cause to ppl especially kids, and hopefully this move will continue to eliminate the scourge of casual racism that infects this country and nz too. “Hence and why you get the hatred..’” so you’re implying that there’s more hatred? Where is this hatred and how do you measure it? Do you think everyone should just ‘have a go back’ and ‘settle it quickly’? Can’t be done these days, and why should ppl be forced into such a position. Why essentialise and degrade and dehumanise others.. I disagree that it’s more prevalent now, that can’t be accurately measured but racial profanities have rightly been targeted as a degrading unnecessary thing, in the workplace and other areas. It’s 2024.. Long may it continue.

And yet used liberally by other black communities Max. Do not delude yourself into thinking that's exclusively the domain of the African-American Australia has a long and shocking history with it's use of the word against the indigenous Australians in the late 19th and early 20th century.

It's not the worst question to ask by Rosie, RR. It is on record that Leniu was in a club culture where far far worse was said to each other socially on Instagram. So many of the Penrith players would casually toss around extraordinarily poor words. He simply doesn't know what he said is offensive. Ignorance of the law is no defence though. He'll deservedly cop his punishment. But he is not the face of racism in the code. Much worse has been said with full malice in this game.

The point is that Leniu was in and amongst a culture where far far worse words were said and tolerated. Casual racism is a massive issue in the NRL. Leniu is not the face of racism in the code

Please explain? Like I said, why is it ok for a derogatory term to be used when it suits, but when it doesn’t suit they run to the authorities.

What does that mean? When did I once say that racism is ok?

I'm a roosters fan and to me it seemed bloody obvious something happened

It was Billy Walters chasing Leniu and having a go at him after the incident. He seemed to be more upset than Mam. There can be no doubt the Roosters players in the vicinity heard. Mam needed to own up on the spot or immediately after the game and apologize. The offence grows as time goes by. So Leniu is tainted for life by his studidity. He needs to knuckle down, shut up and play great league from now on. and let his play do the talking. I think 4 to 6 weeks is a big hit for a player who has already reduced his market value substantially.

Maybe you should use Tosser as it doesn't have a racial connotation either, much better than toaster :laughing:

Have they jimmy jones, profanities are used more and more and have become part of the Ozzie language, if you listen to the young kids today, their every second word is either the F or C words or other derogatory terms and racial abuse is part of all those profanities. Its way more than when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, as we never bit our bottom lips, we had a go back, and it was settled very quickly but today its dragged through the courts and extended way beyond what it should be, hence and why you get the hatred that is around today.