Luke Beveridge fires back at claims Bulldogs provoked Power's Willie Rioli

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has warned Port Adelaide chair David Koch of retribution over a claim Willie Rioli was sledged by his players.

Koch said Rioli was subjected to "cultural disrespect" from Bulldogs players during their round-eight fixture, which led to the forward striking Bailey Dale off the ball.

After the match, Rioli sent a threatening message to Dale through one of his Bulldogs teammates.

Rioli was initially cleared by the AFL but was later suspended for one match after it emerged he had previously made threats against Essendon and Geelong players.

Willie Rioli served a one-match suspension in round nine. (ABC News)

He did not claim he was subjected to racism and the matter appeared to have been settled until Koch said the 29-year-old had been provoked.

"It was, if you like, cultural disrespect during the game, referring to where he had come from, community habits and things like that," Koch told FIVEAA radio on Thursday.

"As an industry, we have to be aware of that.

"And as I have said, it's no excuse for sending a private message after the game, but it helps us understand the build-up and frustrations."

Willie Rioli withdraws from Showdown Photo shows A man walks towards left of camera on an AFL oval with Port Power and Sydney Swans players behind him The AFL has handed a one-match ban to Port Adelaide's Willie Rioli despite the forward already withdrawing from this week’s Showdown against the Crows.

On Friday, Beveridge launched a staunch defence of his players and club when asked by reporters to respond to Koch's comments.

"I can tell you as a matter of fact that the comments weren't culturally insensitive," Beveridge said.

"It surprises me that he (Koch) would insinuate or accuse our players of going down that track.

"Especially our football club and our people … we'd never disrespect First Nations people in our language or our actions."

Beveridge accused Koch of "enabling" Rioli, setting the tone for an explosive encounter next time the clubs meet.

"I said at the time, Willie's made a mistake, we'll forgive and we'll move on and he'll learn from it," Beveridge said.

"Will he learn from it if his own club's enabling him by making excuses for him? Because it didn't happen.

"There's always a little bit of edginess in the way players talk to each other, but our players would never say anything to an Indigenous player that's culturally insensitive.

"But we won't ask for an apology, we'll just obviously remember it for next time."

David Koch's comments drew a heated response from Luke Beveridge on Friday. (AAP Image: Julian Smith)

Asked if there had been a misunderstanding or if Port Adelaide had made up a situation around cultural disrespect, Beveridge said: "You'll have to ask them. We've got no misunderstanding."

Beveridge said he had not spoken to anyone from Port Adelaide about Koch's accusations and did not expect any further action from the AFL.

He also backed All-Australian defender Dale.

"Bailey Dale, who wouldn't agitate a milkshake, he's an outstanding player but he's not an adversarial, front-foot type of player. He plays football," Beveridge said.

"He wanted to move on extremely quickly because he was surprised by what had happened.

"We thought it was behind us. I'm sure the AFL feel the same, so I'm not sure why that angle has come up after the fact now.

"Maybe it's because Willie's back playing this week, I don't know."

Rioli sat out the Power's defeat to Adelaide last week and will return on Saturday against Geelong.

AAP

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