PORT Adelaide forward Willie Rioli says he considered quitting the game earlier this year and feels some responsibility for the drop in Indigenous players being drafted in the AFL.
Rioli has revealed he pondered retirement in the midst of controversies in late April and early May, which led to him taking time away from the club and copping a one-game ban.
Rioli says he considered retirement to avoid the club being under the spotlight because of his actions.
"Definitely it gets to a point where it's a bit too much sometimes," Rioli told Port's club podcast, Peeled.
"And yeah I have spoken to my manager and the club a couple of times about walking away from the game, which I am not shy to talk about.
"More so ... trying to not be putting any more pressure on the club. Get them out of the spotlight as well, in terms of not have to deal with my issues so much as a person off-field."
Rioli has revealed he has also carried a weight of past indiscretions, including his 18-month suspension in 2019 for trying to swap his marijuana-tainted urine sample with a clean sample in a drug test.
Describing the suspension as a "dark time", Rioli feared he may be scaring recruiters from drafting Indigenous players.
The number of Indigenous players has dropped to 62 this year, from a high of 87 in 2020.
"I know it's mainly because of COVID," Rioli said of the declining Indigenous representation.
"I do hold a bit of blame myself a little bit for some of the stuff I have been through, in terms of clubs not trusting Indigenous players."
The 104-gamer said he continued his career partly to rectify any such perception.
"I felt that was my driver to come back to footy ... be the light in terms of 'we can go through this'," he said.
"I look at the drop in terms of Indigenous players in the competition ... that gives me the motivation to stick around longer, to help the next generation do better than what we are doing or what I am doing.
"It's more just trying to show the real person I am.
"And be a leader and be a role model for the next generation to be like, 'Look, he can take this stuff' but he's still been strong enough to hang around.
"I want the next (Indigenous) generation to be better than what we are right now.
"And I want them to have their confidence to make mistakes and not be judged by their mistakes."
