Claim of racism at Tongan test
The NRL has confirmed it is investigating an allegation an NRL staffer made a racist comment at the historic TongaAustralia rugby league test in Auckland on Saturday night.
An NRL spokesperson told Newshub via a statement that it ‘‘takes the allegation very seriously and is investigating the circumstances’’.
The DJ for the soldout test at Mt Smart Stadium, Alfred Algoodie Aholelei, posted about the incident on Facebook, saying the dance cam at halftime ‘‘was fun and looked like lots of people were getting super hyped and dancing to the music’’.
‘‘So much so that an official with an NRL Polo shirt was in the production room at the time was standing behind me staring at the big screens with a big smile on his face and then shouted these exact words ‘Dance Monkey Dance’,’’ Aholelei wrote.
‘‘My ears, my mind and my heart could not ignore the ignorance any more and I turned to this man and said, ‘Did you just say, Dance Monkey Dance’? Really?
‘‘It was a quick verbal shove that I put on this guy, but it was enough to let him know that what he said wasn’t ‘OK’.’’
Aholelei said the man tried to apologise for the incident, adding he was so upset that he considered walking away from his role as DJ for the night.
‘‘In that tense moment, this guy knew what damage he had done and quickly moved away, he tried to come back to apologise, but, I shrugged my shoulders away from him and whipped my headphones back on as a sign to say ‘Go away, I’m working’ (the gangsta remix was running The Kiwis – fresh from riding camels in the desert near Dubai – have arrived in England determined to carry on the form that earned them an upset win over Australia.
Coach Michael Maguire staged a stopover in the United Arab Emirates where some players rode camels during breaks from training in searing humidity.
Senior forward Adam Blair declared it a good wind-down from the high of beating Australia 26-24 in Auckland on October 14.
‘‘A nice way to start off our three test matches over here by stopping at Dubai and enjoying ourselves as a group,’’ Blair said after the Kiwis arrived in Manchester.
‘‘I didn’t jump on the camels but I enjoyed the desert. And something I haven’t experienced before was the tough sessions we had in 38-degree heat.’’
The Kiwis are now in preparation mode for the first test against England at Hull on Sunday morning (NZ time).
through my head, though).’’
Aholelei, whose Facebook post had been shared more than 3000 times as of yesterday, said he would be ‘‘taking this incident further formally, but for now I needed to get this off my chest.’’
The test in Auckland was the first between Tonga and Australia, where a crowd of 26,214 watched the world champion Kangaroos win 34-16.