Rugby league-Banned Leniu is not racist, says Roosters coach

Leniu, born in New Zealand but raised in western Sydney, admitted to using the racially-charged term towards Brisbane Broncos' Ezra Mam, who is an Indigenous Australian, during the season-opening doubleheader in Las Vegas. Robinson said Leniu's "use of language was on trial" but critics calling him racist were wide of the mark.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has defended prop Spencer Leniu against accusations of racism following his eight-week suspension by the National Rugby League for calling an opponent a "monkey". Leniu, born in New Zealand but raised in western Sydney, admitted to using the racially-charged term towards Brisbane Broncos' Ezra Mam, who is an Indigenous Australian, during the season-opening doubleheader in Las Vegas.

Robinson said Leniu's "use of language was on trial" but critics calling him racist were wide of the mark. "He is not racist," Robinson told Australian media on Wednesday.

"His use of language was on trial. "This is a language issue, this is common between people of all ages in sport or in the playground ... It's not because they're racist or they're trying to put power there.

"It's banter between guys and I'm not saying it's right. "But we need to change the language with which we speak to each other."

Leniu apologised to Mam before his ban was handed down on Monday but denied he meant it as a racial slur. The NRL panel that issued the ban said its members believed Leniu's remorse was genuine but they needed to send a "strong deterrent".

Robinson said Leniu did not fit the profile of a person trying to "use (his) power to put someone down a class and degrade that person". "If you think that an immigrant with parents from Samoa and New Zealand and then (from) Mt Druitt is trying to put someone down through power, then we're way off the mark," he added.

Leniu's ban drew a mixed reception, with Indigenous former player Johnathan Thurston condemning it as too light. Leniu drew support from rival players, though, with Manly's Haumole Olakau'atu saying he had been "called everything" on the field but shook it off as banter.

"We do use those words for banter, and for a laugh, we don’t use it for anything else, or have any emotions behind it," Olakau'atu said on Tuesday. "We’ve been called everything growing up. Us Polynesians have it tough growing up."

 

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